. Studies show that students under 21 are more likely thanany other age group to discourage peers from driving drunk (Rally). Therefore our rolemodels, our law makers, should introduce legislation for stricter drunk driving laws andour educators implement drinking education programs in our schools. Fake forms of identification are being purchased by underage adults to allow them to drink alcohol. Raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in the 1980s triggereda boom in the business of creating fake ID cards (Mooney 34). People twenty-years ofage and younger are purchasing these fake forms of identification in order to allow themto enter and drink in bars with their friends who are of age, and to allow them to purchasebeer in stores. Many say that no matter what age the government sets as the standardlegal drinking age, people who are underage are going to have friends who are older andof age. If the legal drinking age were lowered down to eighteen, there would be fewerinstances where this situation would occur, because the majority of eighteen-year-oldsattend college with people who are older and of age. Students need to learn how to drink in a mature, relaxed environment, the kind ofenvironment found in Europe and other foreign countries. Students who can approachalcohol as a familiar and socially acceptable substance are more likely to behaveresponsibly and rationally than those who must hunt it down and drink in secret. Studentswill drink whether the minimum age is 21, 25, or 30. Because alcohol is not presentedas the normal adult activity that it can be, underage students view its consumption witha “forbidden fruit” mentality that almost always end in excess (Jones 21). Lowering theminimum age back to 18 would require a significant shift in this country, but it is a shiftthat is crucial to the alcohol problem many college students and young adults face. WORKS CITED ...
