It is debate time again for my Speech 111 class and the draw dictates that I debate this issue. Since I have no insight into what my opposition's main points are, below is what I have prepared after a quick brainstorm:
Arguments of Government: (THEM)
A. Freedom of Choice
B. You?re 18 and you can vote, buy cigarettes, and join the military why not drink
C. Educating on how to drink responsibly
D. The forbidden fruit
E. Moderate Amounts of Alcohol
F. Other countries drink at 18 or younger
G. The law doesn?t work right now at 21
II. Arguments of Opposition: (US)
A. Freedom of choice
1. Freedom of choice is regulated by laws
2. If we had no laws people would do what they wanted and not have any consequences
3. This law is not to prevent a freedom of choice but to regulate it because you can hurt somebody as a result of this freedom of choice
4. You are not the only one to take into consideration when you have a beer
5. When you get in a car and drive you are risking other people?s freedoms
B. You?re 18 and you can vote, buy cigarettes and join the military why not drink
1. When you're eighteen, you're not extremely mature.
2. You're just out of high school, and haven't had your driver's license very long . Because of this, you don't have enough driving experience to be able to even drive well sober , never mind drunk. And you know many peopole will not be driving sober, especially since they would have legal permission to drink.
3. At eighteen years old, your judgment isn't fully developed. You may think that your body can handle the alcohol, but it can't. You can get alcohol posioning much easier, and you aren't paying attention to how much you drink.
4. My last and strongest argument is that fact that this has already been tried, and it failed. During the Vietnam war, soldiers argued that if eighteen was old enough to be drafted, it was old enough to drink. The drinking age was lowered to eighteen, and it didn't work then. What makes people think it would work now? The only people who want the drinking age lowered are teenagers.
5. In conclusion, I can't see any reason to lower the drinking age to eighteen. it has been done, and failed. Why should we let it fail again?
C. Educating on how to drink responsibly
1. This would not only cost money to fund this new education reform, but it would take a long time to implement and this would cause further deaths
2. Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol more available to an even younger population, since younger people are most likely to imitate their elders they will partake in the rinking experience.
3. Since 15-17 year olds look like 18 year olds some of the time, it will be difficult to detect who is actually 18 The reason: when society lowers the legal drinking age, for all practical purposes, it also lowers the illegal drinking age.
4. It is much easier for a 15- or 16-year-old to pass for an 18- or 19-year-old than a 21-year-old.
D. The forbidden fruit
1.Age 21 has resulted in decreases not increases in youth drinking, an outcome inconsistent with an increased allure of alcohol
2. If a person is younger this will impart more opportunities for younger teens to obtain alcohol illegally from older peers
E. Moderate Amounts of Alcohol Proven to Be Healthy
1. There is no level no known level of a safe, it has not been proven what is safe for one person will be safe for the population
2. There are so many factors to take into consideration when arriving at a ?safe level? of drinking. Who exactly has proven that is safe to drink? Who funded that research I wonder?
3. Most young people don?t drink to be healthy, they drink to impress others or as a means of escape
4. Yes, solutions to this problem involve parents. But they also involve all of society. Research indicates that the most effective solutions to reducing underage use of any drug happens only when every segment of society supports and enforces clear, consistent "no use" policies. Nothing else works.
5. We need parents, schools, churches, stores, policy makers, law enforcement, advertisers, media, business people, judges and all of the public saying "no" and meaning it regarding alcohol use by those under the age of 21.
6. This means shutting down those house parties where kids are given permission to drink. It means consistent enforcement of alcohol policies and laws.
7. It means raising the alcohol tax significantly.
8. It means stopping all alcohol marketing that appeals to kids.
9. It means examining our nation?s glorification of intoxication as the easiest or only way to have a good time.
10. It means actually taking away the licenses of those retailers caught selling to children.
11. Only then will we begin to bring common sense to the problem of underage drinking. Only then will we begin saving children?s lives.
F. Other countries drink at 18 or younger
1. Very different places with different attitudes, which those attitudes could be changed but over an extended period of time
2. Alcohol is embedded in our society as bad and evil
3. In Australia lowering the drinking age was associated with an increase in cases of deliqunecy and a significant in the hospital admissions as a result of non-traffic alcohol related accidents
4. Just because some countries have lower drinking ages doesn?t mean that we have the right to have those rights as well
5. reduction of the drinking age exposed much younger people to New Zealand's binge-drinking culture.
G. The law doesn?t work right now at 21
1. The law DOES work .
2. Young people drink less in response to this law.
3. The law has saved an estimated 17,000 lives.
4. Current laws have put such pressure on establishments who sell alcohol that penalties are severe enough where a person won?t sell to a younger person.
5. Current laws against sales to minors need to be stiffer not more lenient
6. First would be to argue the opposite and say that the laws do work. If laws really do not work, and it is really easy to get alcohol if you are currently underage, why bother to change the law? In other words, if the law is so ineffective in preventing minors from gaining access to alcohol, then advocates already have what they want. It is clear that the laws do work if the best and the brightest in Oregon cannot find ways to get around 7-11?s Oregon state ID requirement, or Shop n' Save's ID booklet.
7. *The second approach would be to agree with you in a less sarcastic way and say that the laws as a whole prevent those who are responsible from getting alcohol and allow for those who are deviant to have access. For those who believe that 18-year-olds are responsible I would say 18-year-olds are responsible enough to live on their own, but that is pretty much it.
8. These same responsible 18-year-olds are often truants, they wait until the last minute to write a paper or study for an exam, feign illness if they don't get it done, encourage their friends to drink 15 shots of vodka at a time, commit acts of rape and violence, sell copyrighted computer software without the proper license?and these are just incidents at Bates. Is this responsible? I think not. Aha! I can hear you all asking, It is unfortunate that a chunk of the under-21 cohort is irresponsible and that those irresponsible kids ruin it for everyone, but the harms of lowering the drinking age from 21 far outweigh the tangible benefits gained by those who are responsible. By raising the drinking age to 21 from 18 thousands of lives have been saved. By allowing you responsible ones to drink, you don't save any lives. Sorry.
9. Quite frankly, 18-year-olds should have their suffrage, smoking privileges and right to die for their country revoked so that the 21-year-old drinking law is consistent with other laws.
10. Most 18- to 21-year-olds are just as irresponsible as 10- and 14-year-olds, just more dangerous because they can drive, vote, and smoke up our health care system.
H. Lowering the drinking age will cause low scores in school
I. Alcohol is a drug , drugs lead to potential drug abuse in a person The younger a person begisn using alcohol, the greater change of developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life.
J. The earlier a person begins using alcohol, the greater the risk of current and adult drug use and harm to the developing brain
1.Lowering the drinking age has led to a major increase in young people admitted with alcohol-related illness and injury, an Auckland Hospital emergency doctor says.
K. Keeps kids healthy, delaying alcohol reducing the risk of dependency, the developing mental state of a person
1. It is the number one killer of our young people. Alcohol is involved in at least one-half of all the car crashes, suicides, drownings, falls, and homicides involving youth. It is involved in 100% of the alcohol poisoning deaths among young people. Alcohol is also involved in at least one-half of all the crime, violence, injuries, trauma, unplanned sex, rapes, absenteeism, poor school performance and lost potential among those under the age of 21.
2. It?s a good thing to have the minimum legal drinking age law enacted. Higher alcohol taxes and increases in the minimum legal drinking age have been associated with lower incidences of adverse alcohol-related health outcomes (e.g., motor-vehicle crash-related deaths, liver cirrhosis, suicide, and violent crime, including domestic violence)
3. In the US adolescents are highly likely candidates for sexually transmitted diseases, and this likelihood increases when alcohol is introduced. Those young children are less likely to use condoms when they are intoxicated, thus creating a public health problem for the rest of society and more cost to the society in health care
L. The risk of allowing an 18 year old to buy alcohol could possibly cause the onset of troubles with friends, family, and work
1. Alcohol is a drug that you and I know leads to domestic problems and school related difficulties
2. It has been shown that low scores and consumption of alcohol are directly linked together
A higher minimum legal drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among youth. When the MLDA has been lowered, injury and death rates increase, and when the MLDA is increased, death and injury rates decline
The result was ever-increasing alcohol consumption by adolescents.
They found that the suicide rate among 18 to 20 year olds was about 8% higher in states with a drinking age of 18 years when compared to states with a drinking age of 21 years.
Closing Statement:
It is unfortunate that a chunk of the under-21 cohort is irresponsible and that those irresponsible kids ruin it for everyone, but the harms of lowering the drinking age from 21 far outweigh the tangible benefits gained by those who are responsible. By raising the drinking age to 21 from 18 thousands of lives have been saved. By allowing you responsible ones to drink, you don't save any lives.
alcohol abuse is a major social and financial burden and the change in law increases this burden.
The forum also heard there have been increased levels of drinking among 16- and 17-year-olds as the law change impacts on a younger age group than the one it was aimed at.
I want to know if there are other points that my opposition may bring up that I will be able to effectively address using the above outline (which will be rewritten). Thanks.
Arguments of Government: (THEM)
A. Freedom of Choice
B. You?re 18 and you can vote, buy cigarettes, and join the military why not drink
C. Educating on how to drink responsibly
D. The forbidden fruit
E. Moderate Amounts of Alcohol
F. Other countries drink at 18 or younger
G. The law doesn?t work right now at 21
II. Arguments of Opposition: (US)
A. Freedom of choice
1. Freedom of choice is regulated by laws
2. If we had no laws people would do what they wanted and not have any consequences
3. This law is not to prevent a freedom of choice but to regulate it because you can hurt somebody as a result of this freedom of choice
4. You are not the only one to take into consideration when you have a beer
5. When you get in a car and drive you are risking other people?s freedoms
B. You?re 18 and you can vote, buy cigarettes and join the military why not drink
1. When you're eighteen, you're not extremely mature.
2. You're just out of high school, and haven't had your driver's license very long . Because of this, you don't have enough driving experience to be able to even drive well sober , never mind drunk. And you know many peopole will not be driving sober, especially since they would have legal permission to drink.
3. At eighteen years old, your judgment isn't fully developed. You may think that your body can handle the alcohol, but it can't. You can get alcohol posioning much easier, and you aren't paying attention to how much you drink.
4. My last and strongest argument is that fact that this has already been tried, and it failed. During the Vietnam war, soldiers argued that if eighteen was old enough to be drafted, it was old enough to drink. The drinking age was lowered to eighteen, and it didn't work then. What makes people think it would work now? The only people who want the drinking age lowered are teenagers.
5. In conclusion, I can't see any reason to lower the drinking age to eighteen. it has been done, and failed. Why should we let it fail again?
C. Educating on how to drink responsibly
1. This would not only cost money to fund this new education reform, but it would take a long time to implement and this would cause further deaths
2. Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol more available to an even younger population, since younger people are most likely to imitate their elders they will partake in the rinking experience.
3. Since 15-17 year olds look like 18 year olds some of the time, it will be difficult to detect who is actually 18 The reason: when society lowers the legal drinking age, for all practical purposes, it also lowers the illegal drinking age.
4. It is much easier for a 15- or 16-year-old to pass for an 18- or 19-year-old than a 21-year-old.
D. The forbidden fruit
1.Age 21 has resulted in decreases not increases in youth drinking, an outcome inconsistent with an increased allure of alcohol
2. If a person is younger this will impart more opportunities for younger teens to obtain alcohol illegally from older peers
E. Moderate Amounts of Alcohol Proven to Be Healthy
1. There is no level no known level of a safe, it has not been proven what is safe for one person will be safe for the population
2. There are so many factors to take into consideration when arriving at a ?safe level? of drinking. Who exactly has proven that is safe to drink? Who funded that research I wonder?
3. Most young people don?t drink to be healthy, they drink to impress others or as a means of escape
4. Yes, solutions to this problem involve parents. But they also involve all of society. Research indicates that the most effective solutions to reducing underage use of any drug happens only when every segment of society supports and enforces clear, consistent "no use" policies. Nothing else works.
5. We need parents, schools, churches, stores, policy makers, law enforcement, advertisers, media, business people, judges and all of the public saying "no" and meaning it regarding alcohol use by those under the age of 21.
6. This means shutting down those house parties where kids are given permission to drink. It means consistent enforcement of alcohol policies and laws.
7. It means raising the alcohol tax significantly.
8. It means stopping all alcohol marketing that appeals to kids.
9. It means examining our nation?s glorification of intoxication as the easiest or only way to have a good time.
10. It means actually taking away the licenses of those retailers caught selling to children.
11. Only then will we begin to bring common sense to the problem of underage drinking. Only then will we begin saving children?s lives.
F. Other countries drink at 18 or younger
1. Very different places with different attitudes, which those attitudes could be changed but over an extended period of time
2. Alcohol is embedded in our society as bad and evil
3. In Australia lowering the drinking age was associated with an increase in cases of deliqunecy and a significant in the hospital admissions as a result of non-traffic alcohol related accidents
4. Just because some countries have lower drinking ages doesn?t mean that we have the right to have those rights as well
5. reduction of the drinking age exposed much younger people to New Zealand's binge-drinking culture.
G. The law doesn?t work right now at 21
1. The law DOES work .
2. Young people drink less in response to this law.
3. The law has saved an estimated 17,000 lives.
4. Current laws have put such pressure on establishments who sell alcohol that penalties are severe enough where a person won?t sell to a younger person.
5. Current laws against sales to minors need to be stiffer not more lenient
6. First would be to argue the opposite and say that the laws do work. If laws really do not work, and it is really easy to get alcohol if you are currently underage, why bother to change the law? In other words, if the law is so ineffective in preventing minors from gaining access to alcohol, then advocates already have what they want. It is clear that the laws do work if the best and the brightest in Oregon cannot find ways to get around 7-11?s Oregon state ID requirement, or Shop n' Save's ID booklet.
7. *The second approach would be to agree with you in a less sarcastic way and say that the laws as a whole prevent those who are responsible from getting alcohol and allow for those who are deviant to have access. For those who believe that 18-year-olds are responsible I would say 18-year-olds are responsible enough to live on their own, but that is pretty much it.
8. These same responsible 18-year-olds are often truants, they wait until the last minute to write a paper or study for an exam, feign illness if they don't get it done, encourage their friends to drink 15 shots of vodka at a time, commit acts of rape and violence, sell copyrighted computer software without the proper license?and these are just incidents at Bates. Is this responsible? I think not. Aha! I can hear you all asking, It is unfortunate that a chunk of the under-21 cohort is irresponsible and that those irresponsible kids ruin it for everyone, but the harms of lowering the drinking age from 21 far outweigh the tangible benefits gained by those who are responsible. By raising the drinking age to 21 from 18 thousands of lives have been saved. By allowing you responsible ones to drink, you don't save any lives. Sorry.
9. Quite frankly, 18-year-olds should have their suffrage, smoking privileges and right to die for their country revoked so that the 21-year-old drinking law is consistent with other laws.
10. Most 18- to 21-year-olds are just as irresponsible as 10- and 14-year-olds, just more dangerous because they can drive, vote, and smoke up our health care system.
H. Lowering the drinking age will cause low scores in school
I. Alcohol is a drug , drugs lead to potential drug abuse in a person The younger a person begisn using alcohol, the greater change of developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life.
J. The earlier a person begins using alcohol, the greater the risk of current and adult drug use and harm to the developing brain
1.Lowering the drinking age has led to a major increase in young people admitted with alcohol-related illness and injury, an Auckland Hospital emergency doctor says.
K. Keeps kids healthy, delaying alcohol reducing the risk of dependency, the developing mental state of a person
1. It is the number one killer of our young people. Alcohol is involved in at least one-half of all the car crashes, suicides, drownings, falls, and homicides involving youth. It is involved in 100% of the alcohol poisoning deaths among young people. Alcohol is also involved in at least one-half of all the crime, violence, injuries, trauma, unplanned sex, rapes, absenteeism, poor school performance and lost potential among those under the age of 21.
2. It?s a good thing to have the minimum legal drinking age law enacted. Higher alcohol taxes and increases in the minimum legal drinking age have been associated with lower incidences of adverse alcohol-related health outcomes (e.g., motor-vehicle crash-related deaths, liver cirrhosis, suicide, and violent crime, including domestic violence)
3. In the US adolescents are highly likely candidates for sexually transmitted diseases, and this likelihood increases when alcohol is introduced. Those young children are less likely to use condoms when they are intoxicated, thus creating a public health problem for the rest of society and more cost to the society in health care
L. The risk of allowing an 18 year old to buy alcohol could possibly cause the onset of troubles with friends, family, and work
1. Alcohol is a drug that you and I know leads to domestic problems and school related difficulties
2. It has been shown that low scores and consumption of alcohol are directly linked together
A higher minimum legal drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among youth. When the MLDA has been lowered, injury and death rates increase, and when the MLDA is increased, death and injury rates decline
The result was ever-increasing alcohol consumption by adolescents.
They found that the suicide rate among 18 to 20 year olds was about 8% higher in states with a drinking age of 18 years when compared to states with a drinking age of 21 years.
Closing Statement:
It is unfortunate that a chunk of the under-21 cohort is irresponsible and that those irresponsible kids ruin it for everyone, but the harms of lowering the drinking age from 21 far outweigh the tangible benefits gained by those who are responsible. By raising the drinking age to 21 from 18 thousands of lives have been saved. By allowing you responsible ones to drink, you don't save any lives.
alcohol abuse is a major social and financial burden and the change in law increases this burden.
The forum also heard there have been increased levels of drinking among 16- and 17-year-olds as the law change impacts on a younger age group than the one it was aimed at.
I want to know if there are other points that my opposition may bring up that I will be able to effectively address using the above outline (which will be rewritten). Thanks.
Facebook
Twitter