Drinking Age - Stasis Theory

The legal drinking age is something that has constantly been argued over, there are multiple arguments on each side about lowering or keeping the drinking age. To fully comprehend this issue, we must use the Stasis Theory to analyze all aspects of this controversial topic and see if this is a topic that is able to reach a stasis point at the end.

The Facts:

The facts according to ProCon.org are as follows; America is one of five countries with the highest drinking age in the world. The drinking age to purchase and consume alcohol on premises is 21 (Pro Con, 2011, para. 1). But drinking in about 29 states underage is allowed with parental consent on a private premises. At one point the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 18,19, or 20 in the year 1970-1976. The creation of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was what prompted all the states to raise the drinking age to 21 in order to preserve the millions in federal highway funds. (Pro Con, 2014, para. 1)

Definition: 

The nature of this issue stems from the people, more than likely the young adults that are not yet legal enough to drink but can sure as hell buy a house, or a car, or be charged with manslaughter. As well as the other half that argues that the drinking age should stay the same, more than likely here it is the people who are of legal drinking age. We will call these two individual classes of people; proponents and opponents. The problem is that both sides cannot come to an agreement and have two differing opinions. These two clash, they are like fire and ice. They need to come to a consensus so that this issue is solved. 

Now, proponents argue that if 18 is the legal age to adulthood, then you should be able to drink as well, they argue also that countries with a MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age) of 18 have fewer accidents and deaths. And that even though the drinking age is 21, people are still drinking underage but the MLDA is promoting unsafe drinking habits in uncontrolled environments instead. 

Opponents argue that the MLDA should be higher or stay at 21 because it would be medically irresponsible to lower it as well as due to the dangers that drinking poses. They feel people at the age of 18 for example are not yet responsible enough to drink. 

Quality: 

This is where we get into the judgment part of this issue. Deciding how serious or how good this issue is and what should happen if nothing is done. 

This topic is a very serious issue, you can tell how serious people are about this because of how argued this topic is. The people feel very strongly about this, on both sides. And i feel it is finally time to come to an agreement on drinking age. This is a topic that when a decision is made about it, it affects everyone's life and will create a drastic change. This will affect the economy, it will affect all statistics based on drinking, it will even affect people's personal lives. If nothing is done about this then people will still continue to drink underage in environments that are typically not safe as opposed to going to a bar possibly and having a drink there where it is safer. Also it will take the fun out of adulthood according to proponents, they say that if you are 18 and can buy a pack of deadly cigarettes or be drafted into the military, why not have a drink with both of those in a safe place? 

Policy:

Personally, something needs to be solved with this issue. There should be a mutual agreement on drinking age. Maybe it shouldn't be lowered to 18 specifically, they could come up with something between 18-21 like the MLDA should be 19, or even 20? This is an issue that probably needs to be solved at state level, states should be able to decide what their own MLDA is. If something cannot be agreed upon, it should go to congress and they should take into account all the arguments posed and see which would benefit the economy and the wants of the people and create a MLDA that is nationwide. in order for this to be fixed, people need to listen to both sides of the argument and take into account other people's thoughts and opinions, not just their own. 

Stasis? 

This topic is able to be at a stasis point for two out of the four Stasis Theory questions, When it comes to facts and the definition, it answers them perfectly. But when the questions involving quality and policy come into play, those are more controversial. They have to be divided into two separate sections, the questions need to be answered by both sides; proponent and opponent. This makes answering those last two Stasis Theory questions slightly ineffective. 


Citations: 

Pro Con. (2011, June 6). International Guide to Minimum Legal Drinking Ages (MLDAs) in 138 Countries - Minimum Legal Drinking Age - ProCon.org. Retrieved from http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004294

ProCon. (2014, July 18). Drinking Age ProCon.org. Retrieved from http://drinkingage.procon.org/