Why not?

The choice of whether to drink or not rarely has anything to do with age. Some drinkers will wait until their 21 birthday, but usually not. The decision of whether or not to drink and when to start is one based on upbringing, friends, and education. Having been raised in an extremely conservative, hell-fire and brimstone believing Baptist family, from a young age, I was aware of where drinking is supposed to send you, no matter how old you are. I do not think the difference between 18 and 21 will make a difference other than lowering underage drinking arrests. In fact, God and mama forgive me, I am all for lowering the drinking age.
According to the Ad Council for Underage Drinking Prevention, 20% of surveyed eighth graders claim to have been drunk at least once. Despite the millions of dollars being spent on underage drinking prevention, more and more underage kids are picking up the infamous red Solo cup.
The United States reports the most underage drinking problems of any other country, however, it also has the highest legal drinking age. Countries such as Portugal and China have no legal drinking age. France, Germany, and a number of other countries have a drinking age of 16. A whole host of countries have a drinking age of 18. We call ourselves progressive and modern, so let's get with it!
I propose we lower the drinking age and use the money being spent on underage alcohol prevention to educate the newly legal drinkers on being smart. Add a section into high school health classes about drinking dangers and how to avoid them. Teach moderation. Again, those who are going to drink, are going to drink no matter what age limit is put into place.
Alcohol was once a prohibited drug, but society has changed and now it is more accepted. Has our society evolved enough to lower the drinking age? If not now, it will very soon.

Assignment Due Wednesday, September 3rd

Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18? Give your opinion and back it up with factual information and first-hand reporting. Remember to attribute all information that isn't common knowledge or that you didn't witness yourself. Consult your textbooks, AP stylebooks and dictionaries and use proper style, spelling and grammar.

Welcome Students of MCOM 220

Welcome to the blog for MCOM 220 Writing for Newspapers and Magazines, Spring 2008. This is where you find your blogging assignments and post your responses. To view blogs written by previous classes, see http://220spring08.blogspot.com http://220fall07.blogspot.com http://220spring07.blogspot.com http://220fall06.blogspot.com http://mcom220.blogspot.com and http://simon220.blogspot.com .