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Hello, I really enjoyed reading your essay, and I would give it a 9, listing the positive points I liked. 1. The use of transition words was organized. 2. The sentences follow easily 3. A lot of examples were given 4. I haven't noticed any grammatical or spelling mistake 5. It was directly to the point (straight forward) I might not be so good in english, however in the third paragraph 2nd line, it should be " ..to secure 'myself'.." Great work overall and keep it up, Greetings

“We can’t stop kids from drinking, so why don’t we just lower the drinking age back down to 18? They are adults for all other purposes. Eighteen year-olds can vote, smoke, marry, drive, fly, pay taxes, take out loans, hold public office, serve on a jury and fight for their country,, so what’s the big deal? Let’s stop spending all this tax money and law enforcement officer time fighting a losing battle!” This sentiment is the most said by those who want to lower the alcohol-consuming age to 18 based on my research. In fact, many of those are parents that grew up in an era when they were authorized to drink 3.2% beer when they were 18. Why did that change and should they change it back? Some believe that by allowing 18s to consume alcohol would mitigate the youthful desire for it as the "forbidden fruit." Before I discuss why the drinking age should stay as it is, I would like discuss the data compiled by me of how the current law in the USA came to be in brief. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the decision as to what the legal drinking age should be was left up to each individual state in the USA. As part of the war protests of the 1960’s, youth started pushing for a lowered voting age. “Old Enough to Fight…Old Enough to Vote” were popular stickers of the era. Until 1970, the minimum drinking age in most states was 21. However, in 1971, the voting age started to be lowered around the USA which led the drinking age to be lowered too. Between 1970 and 1976, 21 states reduced the minimum drinking age to 18. Another 8 reduced it to 19 or 20. However, these states immediately noticed sharp increases in alcohol-related fatalities and accidents among teenagers and young adults. As a result, out of the 29 states that had lowered their drinking age, 24 raised the age again between 1976 and 1984. By 1984, only three states allowed 18-year-olds to drink all types of alcoholic liquor. The others adopted some sort of stair-step age requirement based on the type of liquor being consumed. (Koroknay-Palicz, 2000) Health and body The drinking age in America should remain 21, because the human brain continues to develop between the ages of 18 and 21. Studies have shown that the human brain continues to develop past the age of twenty, mostly at the age of 25. People should wait until they are sure that they have the capacity to make proper life decisions, before they are permitted to drink alcohol. Underage drinking can be dangerous, as people may not yet fully understand the consequences of their actions. Drinking at a young age damages the learning and the memorization process in the brain. Every time you drink, part of your brain is impaired. Alcohol's stimulating effects are replaced by an anesthetic effect that causes depression, and when teens are depressed, they may commit a crime, or even suicide. Nevertheless, Alcohol impairs judgment and heightens risk-taking behavior as well as slowing perceptual and motor skills, so given to a person who has an immature brain function in these areas already, the effects of consuming alcohol may even be more exaggerated. And finally, alcohol or drug use during these formative years can cause long term, irreversible damage to the brain and its nerve cells. By performing more than 500 different functions, the liver is essential to our health. Its primary role is to filter all the blood in our bodies by breaking down and eliminating toxins and storing excess blood sugar. It also produces enzymes that break down fats, manufactures proteins that regulate blood clotting, and stores a number of essential vitamins and minerals. All told, the liver keeps us alive by enabling us to digest food, absorb nutrients, control infections, and get rid of toxic substances in our bodies. Drinking excessively causes the liver to accumulate fat and become inflamed which might lead to hepatitis. It also leads to cirrhosis, a condition in which liver cells are so damaged they cannot regenerate, and liver failure. Long-term drinkers are more likely to get certain types of cancer, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. Alcohol consumption has been associated with higher risks of cancer of the head and neck, stomach and breasts. Alcohol can also harm the pancreas, causing a severely painful condition called pancreatitis. Roads Lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill more of them in traffic accidents as pros would say. In 2006, 2,121 people ages 16 to 20 died in alcohol-related fatalities on U.S. roads, according to data compiled by me from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it also states that drunk drivers kill someone every 53 minutes. According to a review of literature published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, author Ralph Hingson cites several studies on the issue done in the 70s and 80s. In 1971, some states did try and lower the drinking age to 18 as mentioned before, and in the years following had an increase in fatalities from alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. These numbers declined after 1988, by which time most of the states had raised the minimum age back to 21. If the drinking age is lowered, then there will be more people dying quicker than there is now. Additionally, if a sixteen year old is permitted to drive a car in most jurisdictions, imagine what a dangerous situation could result on the roads if he/she is also permitted to buy alcohol and does not yet have the maturity to comprehend the consequences of drinking and driving. High school students There is no compelling reason to lower age restrictions associated with the purchase of alcohol. Let's not forget that these laws aim to prevent teens and children from going into a store and purchasing alcohol, or buying it in a bar. Parents and guardians, however, can still offer their children a drink during special occasions or with dinner, if they wish to do so. Purchasing alcohol takes a lot of maturity and a sense of responsibility. When teens start drinking at an early age, their younger siblings are subjected to drinking earlier because they follow in the siblings' footsteps. An article by Robert Voas and James C. Fell also argues that lowering the drinking age to 18 will have too many unintended consequences. Aside from increasing motor vehicle accidents again, they claim that this will make it easier for the even younger, for example high school students, to obtain alcohol from their 18 year old peers. Many activities have ages of initiation. A person must wait until age 16 to start driving (according to the USA law), age 18 to marry without parental consent, age 35 to become president, and so on. The age limit for alcohol is based on researches which show that young people react differently to alcohol. Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults and have more trouble knowing when to stop. Teens naturally overdo it. 18 year olds are not mature enough to understand the damage alcohol can cause. They are still teenagers and proved incapable of handling the effects of consuming alcohol. Drinking is one of the main reasons 16-18 year olds females are getting pregnant. These kids, saying that they are old enough for alcohol, are just immature. Teenagers are preoccupied with issues of identity and social relationships. In this formative period, they experiment with different styles of clothing and makeup, try out unique variations of their names and may hang out with different social group at school. Peer pressure becomes a big factor in the choices that a teen makes as he or she develops socially; that’s why it is crucial that parents get to know their children’s friends and their families. For a lot of teens, alcohol may seem like a magic elixir that allows them to overcome shyness and social insecurity. But after awhile, those teens, who drink heavily on a regular basis, will start to get a negative reputation at school. Kids who participate in sports, musical activities or school clubs will often avoid the teenagers who party all the time. In conclusion, the negative effects of lowering minimum drinking age to 18 can be tremendous. It has not only short-term and long-term damage to one’s physical and social health, but also causes more alcohol-related fatalities, accidents and injuries. As a result, drinking age should not be lowered to 18 and the government should increase enforcement of underage drinking laws and provide more education about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse because it seems like many people are still not aware of them. Thanks, it is my first thread, any comment is appreciated.