Nothing can compare to watching a close family member destroy himself within only a few seconds. I witnessed my twenty-one-year-old cousin take his life while being under the influence of alcohol. He decided to take a ride on a four-wheeler. His journey began racing up a ramp and ended on his way back down when the vehicle flipped over. My cousin fell to the ground, landed on his head and snapped his neck right there in front of me. I collapsed to my knees knowing my cousin’s life ended, and I did nothing to stop it. Don’t let something you regret the most be related to alcohol consumption. Take a stand and help people around the world by raising the drinking age to twenty-five. Waiting to drink legally at the age of twenty-five might feel like an eternity, when really it’s only four short years in one’s lifetime. The drinking age should be raised from twenty-one to twenty-five which would allow for the human brain to fully mature in the decision making process, resulting in less teen related accidents, and keep you from losing the friends you deeply love.
The cerebral cortex area of the human brain is where judgment, reasoning and logic take place. From a medical stand point, full maturity of the brain occurs at the age of twenty-five. Adolescents lack the ability to tell whether an action they take will have a long-term benefit or consequence; therefore, adults may think teens often take peculiar actions and risks. Even without alcohol in a person’s system, an adolescent child does not have the full capability to make rational and proper decisions. Now, if you allow for an adolescent with immature decision making abilities to legally consume alcohol under the age of twenty-five, we are doubling the risk of an adolescent to make a poor decision. To get behind a wheel of a car after drinking alcoholic beverages would be an example of an adolescent making a poor decision. “Therefore, since the brain is not fully formed psychologically until the age of 25, wouldn't it make sense to raise the drinking age to 25 in accordance with brain development?” (Coughlin 1).
In 2008, 37,261 people were in a fatal car accident and 13,846 were alcohol related. How could you live with yourself knowing that you permanently destroyed someone’s life all because you thought you could handle driving drunk? Eight young people a day die in alcohol-related crashes (“Statistics on Teens” 4). Eight does not sound like a high number, but in reality, fifty-six young people die every week. You always hear that the younger generation is the future of our country; we will not have a future if they keep throwing their lives away by consuming alcohol and making poor and sometimes risky decisions. Think about all of the people whose lives were affected by accidents that could have easily been avoided (“Stop the Madness” 2).
Losing friends is terrible, but they are not truly your friends if they pressure you to drink. If your friends tell you that they will not associate themselves with you because you do not drink, then forget about them; it’s not worth all of the consequences. Find new friends that love you for who you are and not what you do. There are thousands of teenagers who are too afraid of losing their best friends and they end up making the poor choice of drinking just to hold on to their relationship. If you play sports and then get caught drinking, you might as well kiss your sport career goodbye! Although teenagers are pressured everyday to drink, saying no is not always simple. However, in the long run, if you do not drink under the age of twenty-five you will be able to make proper decisions and stay in control of your life. Drinking under the age of twenty-five is playing Russian Roulette with alcohol. You don’t know the consequence until it may be too late.
Next time you want to drink, think about the Cerebral Cortex of your brain and how your decision making abilities may be affected. If the legal drinking age was raised to twenty-five, better decision making will result in fewer car accidents, and you may very well keep your truest friends. Why drink alcohol if it includes tremendous amount of risk? Why settle for proficient life skills when you could develop advanced life skills? Why take the risk when the fallout always ends up being tragic? Teenagers drink alcohol for various reasons that lead to poor decision making, and they often end up regretting their actions because they may commit an act that will hurt themselves or someone else. Consuming alcohol under the age of twenty-five is like trying to pin the tail on the donkey while blindfolded; you are not quite sure of your actions. Let your brain develop to its’ highest potential, even if that means waiting to drink until your twenty-five.







Works Cited
Coughlin, Ronald J. "If the Brain Matures at 25, Why Is Drinking Age Only 21?"

Mycentraljersey.com. 28 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.
"STATISTICS ON TEENS." Islamic Information & Products - SoundVision.com Home!

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"Stop the Madness!" Talking Bar Breathalyzer Helps Prevent Drunk Driving. 2010.

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