Drinking Age

The legal drinking age in the United States is a topic that has been debated for many years. This issue is, as some say we should keep it at the age of twenty-one, others say it should be lowered. Due to the minimum legal drinking age being twenty-one, alcohol has been even more appealing to kids whose brains naturally seek out risk more than adult brains do, but lowering the drinking age to reverse this effect would be detrimental to the developing body. After the drinking age was raised to twenty-one, the amount of fatal crashes and driving under the influence has decreased drastically. Also lowering the drinking age would also have a major impact on the development of the brain mainly targeting the parts of the brain that doesn't fully develop
From an article written by Jen Christensen called “Sciences Limit When It Comes to the Drinking Age.” It says: “Scientists say the teenage years are one of the most important times for brain development, next to infancy. Neurons in the brain are growing and strengthening, connections are developing to allow the brain to transmit information faster and allow the brain to process more complex thoughts, and the brain goes through a kind of pruning process to eliminate synapses that are infrequently used.” (Christensen). Lowering the drinking age could ruin the important brain development that happens during the teen years. Damaging the brain with alcohol can have its effect on the mental well being of the teen who is drinking and can damage the teen’s most important part of the brain that developed the most at this time, which is the prefrontal cortex which helps develop judgement which could leave long term effects for the person drinking. The issue of teenage drinking and its effect of the developing brain is also stated in the article “Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage.” By Michelle Trudeau a neuroscientist who studied the effects of alcohol on the teenage brain writes: “Researchers believe this damage negatively affects attention span in boys, and girls' ability to comprehend and interpret visual
In the article “Fact Sheets - Age 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age.” By CDC it states that “Students in states that had a MLDA of 18 had a 13 times greater chance of dropping out of high school compared to states with an MLDA of 21.” (CDC). Lowering the legal drinking age promotes kids to drop out and turn to a life of addiction and alcoholism, but keeping the age twenty-one promotes kids to stay in school and stay focused to a successful and healthy future. Also in the article “Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage.” By Michelle Trudeaua, she writes: “Researchers believe this damage negatively affects attention span in boys, and girls' ability to comprehend and interpret visual information.” (Trudeau). Setting a lower legal drinking age could damage teens ability to learn and focus in school. The inability to comprehend and interpret visual information could affect the teens ability to graduate and be able to find a job that pays a good amount of money for a better and healthier future. Therefore, keeping the legal drinking age to where it is now will benefit students and keep them on track in school to a better