Teens and Alcohol

Being a youth myself, youth rights have always interested me.  One issue in particular that has come to mind  is teens and alcohol.  After researching the subject, I learned that the drinking age was not imposed by the federal government, but by each individual state.   The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 prevents anyone from under 21 to purchase alcohol.  Despite this, some states allow teens to drink in the prescence of parents or in certain places while some outright ban it.  The legal drinking age in my state is currently 21 years which I believe to be very reasonable; however, there are many people who oppose this and are pushing to lower the drinking age to 18.  I hold firm to my belief that drinking is not something kids my age should be doing.  Teen alcohol use kills about 6,000 teens each year- more than all illegal drugs combined. I do not believe that lowering the drinking age will lower this number in any way shape or form.  In order to drink, one must be responsible and not go overboard, which is harder to do with alcohol messing up your head.  People under the age of 21 are more likely to become binge drinkers.  Seeing as how the majority of teenage drinkers do not show this responsible attitude, why should the government help them in destroying their lives?  Death is of course the ultimate result of irresponsible drinking, but it can also lead to many other negative results.  Though it is not the cause, alcohol consumption by the underage can lead to unplanned, unprotected sex, and even teen pregnancy.  I don't know about you, but I have yet to hear a girl in all of high school say that she was ready to be a mother.  Even if pregnancy does not occur, having sex while under the influence is something both boys and girls will regret and it will possibly affect them mentally and emotionally.  Yes, alcohol may seem like the cool thing to do, or heck, maybe even what kids like to drink but the drinking age is and will hopefully stay 21 for their good.  I believe that if kids my age starting drinking, the people they will become will be so much different than the people they could have been.  Teens who drink are more likely to drop out of school for some reason and that is so sad and stupid in this day and age.  Education is so important, it's something we need to gain every single day of our lives.  Almost all teens know the consequences and the statistics of underage drinking, but to many of them, it does not matter, they just want to do it.  But, they are young and they are not ready to enter into that world.  It is better for teens to live their high school lives wishing and wanting to drink than ending up in Alcoholics Anonymous in their 30s, broke and lost in life.