A young boy was driving very precariously. So much so that he had a brutal accident in which his car rolled over nearly half a dozen times until it finally landed upside down on the side of the road. A passing motorist stops and after having dragged the driver out from the wreckage, asks him, Why in God’s name were you driving so insanely?!?! Are you drunk?!?! To which the injured boy replied, Of course I am! What do you think I am, a stunt driver!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am <Student’s Name>, and in the few minutes that will follow, I will prove to you why the legal drinking age should not be brought down to 18 under any circumstances. Support 21 notes and I agree with the stance that the number of drink-&-drive fatalities has decreased marginally since the minimum drinking age was brought to 21. Statistics by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis come as proof of the fact that setting the minimum drinking age to 21 was the right decision.
Statistics have shown that minimum drinking age laws have saved tens of thousands of lives since 1975. However, there is a way out of the deadlock. As former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, John Mc Cardell suggests: if the legal drinking age has to be brought down to 18, then a more practical approach would be through an educational program where youngsters are given complete knowledge of all the aspects of social and personal relevance that are influenced by drinking.
Only once they have completed the educational course would the youngsters be allowed to drink at the age of 18. The permission would be officiated by the issuance of a license of sorts that the youngsters will be obligated to present whenever they wish to have a drink. As an extension to the idea, this would also allow law enforcement agencies to monitor drinking abuse and other violations of the law pertaining to drinking. Yet, the number of deaths because of underage drinking remains precarious.
In 2003, over 20% of all youngsters from 15 to 20 years old were recorded to be under the influence of alcohol while driving.! The law, in this regard, is perfect. Not only this, but from what I have presented to you just now, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that not only would it be wrong to bring the minimum drinking age down to 18, but it is a legislation that should be implemented with increased aggression to discourage underage drinking altogether!
Works Cited Fell, J. Underage Drinking. 6 June 2005. 2 February 2009 <http://www. scribd. com/doc/5159819/underage-drinking>. Johnson, A. Debate on lower drinking age bubbling up. 14 August 2007. 2 February 2009 <http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/20249460/>. Parker, J. Group Stirs Debate on Legal Drinking Age. 9 October 2007. 2 March 2009 <http://abcnews. go. com/Politics/story? id=3708133&page=1>.
