Eighteen years old; the ending of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. The age when an American is allowed to die and kill serving their country, when they are allowed to vote and have a say in who will lead their country, but not allowed to drink alcohol?

For years the United States’ rather old drinking age of 21 has sparked much controversy throughout the nation. In the 1970’s the legal drinking age was lowered to 18 in many states. But, in 1984, the high number of deaths caused by drinking and driving led to the federal government’s decision to enact The National Minimum Drinking Age Act. This act required the states to raise the drinking age back to 21 or have the states lose a chunk of their funding for transportation systems.

It is time that our government lowers the drinking age back down and starts treating our 18 year olds like actual adults. By lowering the drinking age teens will be less inclined to partake in dangerous drinking behavior and be overall be more responsible with alcohol.

Teenagers are constantly thrilled seeking by breaking the rules. One of the reasons why teenagers find alcohol so appealing is because it is their “forbidden fruit”.  Since alcohol is illegal it gets this “cool factor” from many teens. By lowering the drinking age to eighteen, you can eliminate this taboo temptation.

The experience in Europe has been that teenagers who are exposed to alcohol by their parents at a younger age are less likely to put themselves in dangerous situations with alcohol compared to teens without this exposure. If the drinking age was lowered, teens could get taught by their parents how to drink responsibly and not be so tempted to binge drink.

Binge drinking which is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting is a major health hazard among teenagers. According to the Camp Recovery Center, about 90 percent of teens who drink in the United States binge drink.These alarming numbers are probably due to the fact that they weren’t exposed to safe drinking at a younger age.

Officials are worried that lowering the drinking age back to 18 would increase drunk driving rates, as seen in the 1980’s. But, when The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put in place adults were responsible for many of the drunk accidents as well as teenagers. Drinking while driving was looked at in a much more casual manner several decades ago. It was a lot more common to see people drinking alcohol while driving, as seen in many popular television shows from the time. Back then, people were not as aware of the dangers of drinking while driving as they are now. Our knowledge on drunk driving has expanded greatly and people are much smarter about drinking.

Many of the drunk driving related accidents that occur currently are due to under aged drinkers. After a night of drinking, under aged teens are often too scared to ask for a ride from their parents, so they typically find themselves driving under the influence to avoid getting in trouble. But, if the drinking age was lowered these under aged drinkers would feel more comfortable asking their parents for rides. Also, they would be able to use  designated driver services which would keep more and more intoxicated drivers off of the roads. Safe-T-Ride is a designated driving service with affordable rates that helps keep drunk drivers off the road and safe.

Some may point out that teens mixed with drinking can lead to no good. But if the government gives teenagers more responsibilities such as being allowed to drink, they will be more likely to act responsible.