Demystifying Drinking Age and Drinking Habits (Essay Sample)

Demystifying Drinking Age and Drinking Habits
Robert Machoka
Topwriterlist.com
The consumption of alcohol is mostly associated with negative effects in the society that we live in today, especially when the young aged indulges themselves to this habit of drunkenness. This is imputable to the effects that alcohol has on one’s health such as irresponsible behavior. It has thus contributed to heated debates as to what measures to practice so that the reduction of alcohol intake among the under-aged is minimized. In addition, several people have also suggested different views in the decision of whether to either increase or decrease the legal age of drinking alcohol among countries or states.
In most states or countries, the age limit of drinking is set at 18 years or 21 years. Some countries allow young teenagers to drink, but under adult supervision. Countries such as France and Italy practice a cultural model where parents serve their children with small amounts of wine at family meals, (Griggs, 2015). The history about drinking habits has seen dynamics in the drinking age limit. It has been fluctuating from 18 to 21 and then back to 18 due to several reasons as identified in each research, (Engs, 1997, 2014).
The most studied alcohol-control policy is that on the minimal drinking age, (Wechsler & Nelson, 2010). Wechsler and Nelson further state that higher minimum legal drinking age is concomitant with lower alcohol consumption rates as well as other problems related to alcohol. Nonetheless, most under-aged teenagers would get an extra mile of cheating so that they can consume alcohol. They use phony identification cards or use other adults to obtain alcohol from the stores or bars. Hence, it gets difficult to monitor such cases among under-aged teens.
Increasing the minimum legal drinking age might reduce the alcohol-related problems significantly. Nevertheless, the extent to which this age limit is actualized should be critically looked at first to avoid contention. For instance, it is not rational for a person legally allowed to vote to be disallowed to consume alcohol. Responses to such precarious questions should be critically looked at to determine the right age...