18 or 21 for the drinking age?

The drinking age has now become more and more concerened about in the recent news. I recently watched something on 60 Minutes (CBS) and it intrigued me. There are two sides to the drinking age and I am still undecided.

For the side for the drinking age being lowered. There is some speculation that lowering the drinking age will lower death rates as well. This also brings up that if the drinking age is lowered, that the younger children will think about drinking even more. Another strong point is that we allow 18 year-olds to enter in the armed forces, now shouldn't they be able to drink too? After the risk their lives for others, which show maturity.

"The current drinking age has just driven the drinking out of public view," McCardell told ABC News. "It has meant that instead of drinking in bars or restaurants where there is supervision, it's happening in dorms and dark corners." He argues that young people should be given alcohol education, much like driver's education, and then rewarded with a drinking license, for which they become eligible at 18.

ABC News: Group Stirs Debate on Legal Drinking Age

On the other side, against lowering the drinking age.

Proms and Homecomings are sometimes nightmares for parents and teachers. Lowering the age would make it easier for High School students to access alcohol for themselves and their friends. This would create tremendous pressure on parents, school administrators, teachers, and law enforcement officials. There are many 18 year old in our secondary schools. Most major partying is done during the second half of the school year. Social events like proms, senior trips, senior skip days, homecomings, and graduation would be an invitation for disaster in more ways than just a death. Death of course being the worst. However, death is not the only factor. You have athletes, workers, driving, sexual situations, and drinking by underage individuals to consider if the law is lowered.

Is it Time to Lower the Drinking Age? - Associated Content

Even Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization are in support of keeping the leagal age 21. There are many people that strongly believe that the drinking age will lower death rates as well.

The safety groups noted that alcohol-related fatalities remain the leading cause of death among teens -- taking more than 5,000 lives a year -- and that lowering the drinking age would only compound the problem. "If we lower the drinking age we will be killing more children on the highways," said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at a news conference Tuesday

ABC News: Group Stirs Debate on Legal Drinking Age