Essay on Drinking Age

Submitted By arogers17
Words: 341
Pages: 2

The age that a citizen of the United States of America is considered an adult should be 18. Many rights and liberties that characterize adulthood are granted at this important milestone. To name a few: The right to vote and the ability to join the army. However, many other liberties are not accessible until the age of 21. I believe the age at which a citizen is considered an adult, and is permitted to partake in the all rights therein, should be 18. First, let’s examine the rights already available at 18 years of age. The age of 18 allows a US citizen to vote, join the military, register for the draft, get married and receive medical care without parental consent (Source A). All of these are important rights. At 18 we, as a people, have decided that a person is old enough to understand the gravity of such decisions as medical care and active military combat. However, such rights as the ability to drink, smoke, and use tobacco products aren’t accessible until 21(Source C). As it stands right now, our country believes that a young person is mature enough to decide to lay down his life for the nation but not mature enough to drink responsibly (Source C). Compounding this, the current Age of Majority in all but five states is 18(Source F). If we are enlightened enough to deicide to consider our 18 year old children competent enough to fight for us, then I believe they should be able to drink with us as well. The legal age of adulthood should happen only once, at age 18. We