I know its really bad, but I'm not looking to get an A on it. I am getting marked on style, structure,and cohesion.
Alcoholic drinks are the most popular beverages in the world. Beer is the third best selling drink after water and coffee. However it is a drug and because of this there are laws all over the world that specify the minimum age to drink alcohol. In Ontario the legal drinking age is 19. The age that you become a legal adult in Ontario is 18, and if you are a legal adult you should be able to drink alcoholic beverages. On top of this many people under the legal age drink alcohol, and there are even some countries where the legal age is 16. Also the reason people act the way they do when they are drunk is because of a placebo effect, because of the media. The legal drinking age in Ontario should be lowered to the age of 16 or at least 18 to stay consistent with the law.
The first problem with the legal drinking age is that you are not able to drink when you are 18. When you are an adult you should be able to drink alcohol. The age restriction just seems arbitrary. If you are an adult, you should be able to drink alcohol. The definition of an adult is 'a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by the law'. By not being able to drink alcohol the government is saying that you are not mature enough to handle it, even though by definition you are mature. The reason the government gives as to why the legal drinking age is 19 is because, a lot of high school students were getting drunk. The thing that's wrong about this is that, when you drink alcohol you get drunk. So of course they will; get drunk, it's because they are of age. Another reason people have against the drinking age being 18 is that is the drinking age is lowered; people around the age of ten to fifteen can get alcohol more easily. However 71% of young teens already say that they have easy access to alcohol. Another reason the government gives for why 18 year olds can't drink alcohol is, that they are not mature enough. This is preposterous. If you can vote, you should be able to drink. If you can drive you should be able to drink. If you can view pornographic content you should be able to drink. If you can join the army you should be able to drink. If you can get married, you should be able to drink alcohol. If you can adopt a child you should be able to drink. If we infantilize the young adults, they will become restless and would be more likely to do the things they shouldn't be doing, like binge drinking for example. There is absolutely no good reason why the drinking age is 19, and it should be lowered to at least 18.
The second quandary is the fact that there are places in the world where the drinking age is 16, and in most places 18. The reason why there are places in the world like Europe where the legal drinking age is lower is because there are different alcohol expectations. Alcohol expectations are expectations a person has when they drink alcohol. There has been a study for years in the U.S. where they gave a group of people tonic water and told them that it contained alcohol, they became aggressive, and would become less aggressive when they drank tonic water that had alcohol in it, but were told it was non alcoholic. So the expectations are different in America and Europe, but it is all in the drinkers mind on how they should act. We use alcohol as an excuse to act inappropriately. If you try and make alcohol a big deal people will treat it like a big deal. It's a big deal in North America, and people think it's a big deal, and it's not such a big deal in Europe and people there don't make such a big deal of it. Laws don't make better people. There are places in the world where the drinking age is 18 and that is also the most common legal drinking age in the entire world and Ontario should lower its drinking age to 18 to stay consistent and again there is absolutely no good reason why the drinking age is 19.
Another reason why the drinking age should be lowered is because society's values change all the time. The laws should reflect the values and beliefs of the society. Most parents will let their children drink wine, and sometimes even beer. I have a friend who is allowed to drink beer. All of my cousins start drinking at the age of 16 and their parents are ok with that. Alcohol is not that big of a deal to people. Alcohol is not like a drug like cocaine or heroine, and trying to regulate it does not work. In the early 1900's when alcohol was prohibited, people still drank alcohol any ways. This was not working so the government legalized it again, because of the values and beliefs of Canadians did not change. The values do change and are changing, so the government should take action and lower the legal drinking age.
All things considered, the legal drinking age should be lowered. For far too long the drinking age has been unjustly put in place arbitrarily. When you turn 18 and legally become an adult you should be able to drink alcohol. When you are 18 and in some cases 16 you can go to many places in the world and drink. The values and beliefs of society are changing and allow younger people to drink alcohol.
I think you should scratch out this sentence and replace it with a sentence says something about countries with lower drinking ages are not having harmful consequences:
On top of this many people under the legal age drink alcohol, and there are even some countries where the legal age is 16. Also the reason people act the way they do when they are drunk is because of a placebo effect, because of the media. The legal drinking age in Ontario should be lowered to the age of 16 or at least 18 to stay consistent with the law.--- I scratched out the thing about the placebo effect and media because they do not sem to go with this paragraph or make sense here. Dedicate a body paragraph to each of them, but leave them out of the intro.
This is a great thread, thanks everyone.
