Lower the Drinking Age in the USA

As an adult, I am angry at the way I am treated just because I am 19 years old. My main problem is the restrictions on alcohol. "Minors," as we are called when in the presence of alcohol, have the right to fight for this country and vote. And not only am I upset that I cannot even have one drink, it is also the restriction from just about everywhere that serves it. Limitations should not be put on adults simply based on their age.

Anyone under the age of 21 cannot walk into TGI Friday's, a simple restaurant over the hours of 10:00 PM. That same person though, can sit down for a meal at 2:00 in the afternoon with a table of 30-year-olds drinking margaritas at the next table. There are hardly any nightclubs that allow anyone under 21 just because they are in the presence of alcohol. Being denied access to a nightclub gives minors very little options of what to do during their weekends. Most of the time, this leads to staying at home, or going to a friend's house where they are out of the public's eye and are able to drink. This can become a problem because they hardly have the chance to learn to drink responsibly. Being in the comfort of someone's home allows him or her to drink too much because the opportunity to just stop and "crash" on the couch, is there.

A lot of minors do not even want to go to a nightclub to just drink. They want to dance and they hardly get the opportunity to. The music in the 18 and over club is very limited and it is wrong to assume that everyone in a certain age range wants to listen to one type of music. It is so insulting to be an adult who is able to take care of their own responsibilities, but yet is so limited as to what they can do.

An adult is an adult and to separate a group from another just because of age is discrimination. This is supposed to be a country of equal rights and if we are all equal between skin color and sex, then an adult should not be less privileged than another because of his or her age. If 18 to 20-year-olds are not meant to share the same privileges as others, then take away their adulthood altogether. The privileges to serve the country and vote should also be taken away. Everyone matures differently and there is no way you can assume every 18-year-old is not yet responsible to drink and that every 21-year-old is. Many claim that if the age limit is lowered to 18, then the demand to lower it even further will rise. These people seem to forget that the difference between an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old is the simple fact that you are legally an adult at the age of 18.

When one hits the age of 18, they are most likely still living at home with their parents. If you give these young adults the chance to go to a bar with their parents to have their first drink or two, you let them learn responsibly from their parents the way to handle alcohol. At the age of 21, many adults are out of their parents' homes and experience what is supposed to be their first drink without any supervision. They drink too fast without knowing their limit because no one is there to warn them.

To most who are banned from it, alcohol is a sort of "forbidden fruit." As Dr. Ruth Engs, a professor at Indiana University has stated, "Lowering the drinking age would help send the important message that drinking is, in itself, not evidence of maturity... that responsible consumption for those who choose to drink is evidence of maturity." Japan is a country with a 20-year-old age limit for alcohol, but is not strictly enforced. Many have easy access into clubs and bars and when you are used to this as a minor, drinking is not a huge deal. You are treated more respectfully and there is no need to go against the law. By going out at an early age, you learn to drink responsibly at an early age.