Although many people are not advocates of lowering the drinking age, the changing of this law would further “encourage society to educate teens about alcohol rather than sweeping it under the rug”, and by doing so young adults would be more cognizant of their actions and the ramifications …show more content…
Teens and young adults see alcohol as a symbol of rebellion and adulthood, thus they treat drinking alcohol irresponsibly because they do not fully understand its aftermath. Because alcohol has a rebellious and adult-like appeal(Engs), a large amount of people under the age of twenty-one regularly consume alcohol for these various reasons, thus if the drinking age was lowered, the people participating in underage drinking to conduct an act of rebellion, would have no reason to do so anymore. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “about 8.7 million people ages 12-20 reported drinking alcohol in the past month” (NIH), signifying that a staggering amount of people under the age of 21 are regularly consuming alcohol. This number shows that illegal drinking is happening regardless of the law, due to many different circumstances. If the age limit for drinking was not a factor, less people would feel the need to drink in order to indulge on the “forbidden fruit”