A widespread debate among Americans is the legal drinking age. Across the United States, the age you must be to consume or buy alcohol is 21. Some people find this age too high and think that is should be lowered. Reasoning for this varies, but a common reason is that introducing alcohol to youths at an earlier age will lower the likelihood they will develop an alcohol use disorder.

Another reason Americans think the drinking age should be lowered is that other countries have done it and it has worked out in their favor. Americans believe that because the other countries allow their children to drink wine at dinner, they are trained to drink responsibly and correctly. But this is not the case. In fact, alcoholism is a problem in teenagers across Europe. In European teens aged 15-16, binge drinking happens twice as much as it does in the United States.

Many people have even started petitions with support of college students and college officials. They claim it will lower the possibilities of underage binge drinking at parties, therefore lowering alcohol related accidents on campus. People against this see this as a loophole to get the colleges out of trouble for high amounts of underage drinking on their campuses.

Researchers have looked at all aspects, but the answer always remains the same. The legal drinking age should stay at 21. Researchers found throughout the studies that regardless of the legal age, teens are always going to find a way around it. Instead of fighting to lower the drinking age in order to avoid alcohol abuse, teens should be educated on the topic and taught responsibility.