The Responsibility Does Not Match Up

Audience Analysis

The audience for my paper are the Resident Assistants at the University of North Florida. These Resident Assistants are required to live in the dormitory with their fellow students and maintain order on their assigned floor or section. If they do find something out of order like drinking or drug use, it is there obligation to notify the University Police. Because UNF has co-ed dorms the RAs can be male or female and for the most part are in their twenties. This audience of RAs are usually responsible, well behaved people because of the important job they have.

The Responsibility does not match up!

During the late1960's a trend began in the United States to raise the minimum legal drinking age to twenty-one. This new policy was intended to lower alcohol use and its associated problems among the intoxicated youth. This policy did exactly the opposite. There should not have been a bill to raise the legal drinking age because there are many benefits of drinking, drinking is a well known tradition in every country, and we already have the responsibilities of adults.

High school graduation was the most unforgettable time of our lives. We were so excited about moving out of our houses and away from our parents. The comforts of having our parents around to provide for us and deal with our everyday problems were going to be missed. Did any of us take into consideration the severity of leaving our own social bubble and comfort zone of our closest friends? Alcohol is the world's favorite mood-altering drug. Drinking alcohol allows people to lower their inhibitions and feel more comfortable in an environment full of students who want to be accepted in a group

full of strangers. It relaxes the mood and stimulates conversation. It makes us feel more comfortable around each other, and gives us a mental vacation from the tragedies in our lives.

Alcohol is a tradition at any holiday banquet or party. Almost every country around the world has food and drink as a center piece of their culture. Italians drink wine and Irish drink beer. Who should be able to partake in this traditional event? Most countries around the world say that at the age of eighteen people are mature enough to handle the responsibility of drinking. The United States has one of the highest drinking ages in the world. Is it that Americans are less responsible, or that young people are not given responsibility?

On July 17, 1984 The Minimum National Drinking Act of 1984 was put into place to raise the drinking age to 21. The actual bill required all States to raise their minimum drinking age to twenty-one within two years or lose a portion of their Federal-aid highway funds.( International Center for Alcohol Policies.) This also encouraged states, through incentive grants programs, to pass mandatory sentencing laws to combat drunk driving. Yet, this bill seemed to not have any effect in the area of college drinking. Research conducted during three different periods from 1982 through 1988, revealed few changes in collegiate drinking patterns and problems attributable to the nationwide increase in the minimum age for alcohol purchase and consumption. (International Center for Alcohol Policies.) Because this bill only affected those who drank between the age of eighteen and twenty-one, it was successfully passed. Would they then raise the legal age of adult hood to twenty-one?

Now that the drinking age is twenty-one, does this mean that you are not an adult until that age? We are allowed to vote at eighteen but not drink. Think of the responsibility people can have between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. It seems unfair to allow eighteen through twenty year olds to marry, have children, own cars, homes and firearms and be financially and socially independent, and yet to be legally prohibited from drinking a glass of wine in a restaurant, or even a glass of champagne at their own wedding. Next, take into consideration those in the military. The people who are veterans, who are not of legal age to drink, are representing our country for us, and still the federal government says they are too immature and lack the responsibility to drink. These men and women can take orders, kill the enemy in combat, and die for our country, but not have a drink at the end of the day to blow off steam. This is wrong.

There are many advantages of lowering the drinking age. Just as driving a car is a privilege, drinking is one too. If someone is not responsible they are not allowed to drive, and likewise if a person is not responsible they should not be able to drink. If people are introduced to alcohol at a younger age they will gain respect for it and will be more likely to drink sensibly when they leave the house. When someone is learning to drive a car they do not just jump in a vehicle and go, they are taught usually by their parent. They are taught good judgment and how to get out of rough situations. This principle should also be related to drinking. A person should not leave the house without being taught responsible drinking.

When people are treated immaturely they will act immature. If a parent always babies and shelters a child, that child will never grow up and will always be a baby. This

is related to the drinking age as well. When people have to wait until they are twenty-one to drink, they have been sheltered their whole life from the substance. Once they turn twenty-one they do not just magically know how to handle alcohol. In this case many people abuse alcohol because they did not gain respect for it at a younger age. Now this twenty-one year old is irresponsibly drinking and probably driving, not knowing the consequences.

If people are introduced to alcohol at a younger age they will be more respectful of it by the time they are in their twenties. Another advantage to a lower drinking age is that the police force will be freed up because they will no longer have to bust up underage drinking in colleges. They will then be able to concentrate on violence and theft.

Adults of any age will tell you that college will be the best time of your life. That is because they think back to the memories of tail gaiting before a football game, going to social functions for their fraternity or sorority, or just relaxing at a friend's party. When our grandparents and our parents were in college the legal drinking age was eighteen years old. They did not have the stress and pressure of hiding it behind closed doors. Even though the drinking age has risen to twenty-one, this law can not stop college students from drinking.

It is a well known tradition to tailgate before a college football game. Alcohol helps in bringing the fans closer together before the game has begun. Once the game starts, the drinking enhances the