What should the legal drinking age be in the United States?

[jamiexo]

https://i.imgur.com/SiZGcBa.jpg

Ever since I became Habbox staff, I got to know a lot of people from many different countries, and most of these countries have a legal drinking age of 18. Whereas, I am from the United States, and our legal drinking age is 21. There are a lot of questions as to why there is this discrepency, especially since most people believe that it should be 18 instead of 21.

Some talk about how there could be less anti-social behavior if the drinking age is lowered to 18, as young adults will not have a lot of build up towards the excitement of going out drinking for the first time at a bar/club.

What are your thoughts?

What do you believe should be the legal drinking age in the United States and why? Do you think this discrepency in the legal age is affecting the social behaviors of young adults?

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[_spirit]

Legally you are an adult when you turn 18 so I feel that the legal drinking age and around the world should be 18+, my views on this are listed below


what can you do at the age of 18 in America

1. Vote.

The 26th amendment to the Constitution, enacted on July 1, 1971, established the legal voting age for Americans as 18. You can vote in all national and local elections once you are registered to vote.

2. Join the military.

As a legal adult, you can enlist or be drafted into a branch of the military.

3. Donate blood and become an organ donor.

To help save the lives of others, you can register to donate blood, as well as become an organ donor.

4. Work full time.

As a minor, you were only allowed to work a certain about of hours at your job because of child labor laws. But as a legal adult, you can work full-time and overtime.

5. Play the lottery.

From scratch-off tickets to the Powerball, anyone 18 and older can play the lottery.

6. Obtain special driving permits.

If you work for a company that has heavy equipment or provides transportation services that require special driving permits; you can now train for and acquire a special driving license.

7. Purchase and use tobacco products (in some states).

The legal age to buy tobacco products has recently changed from 18 to 21 in some states across the US, but the majority of states have kept it at 18 years old. States that have changed the age to 21 include Hawaii, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, Massachusetts, as well as 350 cities.

8. Drive late at night.

Most states have a legal curfew for minors when it comes to the time they are able to be out driving at night. If pulled over past a certain hour, a person under 18 would receive a traffic violation.

9. Consent to having sex with someone that is 18 or older.

The federal government has established 18 as the age of consent to legally engage in sexual activities with another person aged 18 or older. The age of consent may be younger or older according to your state’s law.

10. Establish a checking and savings account and apply for loans.

Having a job may be a requirement for loan approvals.

11. Apply for credit cards and establish your creditworthiness by paying your bills on time.

Credit card companies are known to target the younger crowd. You can apply for your first credit card without a cosigner once you turn 18.

12. Get piercings or tattoos without parents permission.

Before eighteen, you have to have a parent accompany you when you go to get a tattoo or piercing.

13. Change your birth name.

If you aren’t happy with the name your mom and dad gave you when you were born, you can now name yourself something different by filing a petition in the local civil court.

14. File a lawsuit.

Anyone who is 18 years or older and mentally competent can file a lawsuit.

15. Get married.

When you turn 18, you can get married without parental approval in 48 of the 50 states. Mississippi requires you to be 21, and Nebraska requires you to be 19 before you can get married without parental consent.

16. Adopt.

Legally, you can adopt both a puppy and a child when you turn 18. Your likelihood of getting approved for either, however, is another story.

17. Create your Will.

While it seems like a far stretch, it’s a great idea to develop a Will earlier in life to ensure your assets are accounted for if anything were to happen to you.

18. Buy spray paint, fireworks, and adult videos.

For obvious reasons (graffiti, safety, etc.), there are certain items you cannot buy until you turn 18 years old.

19. Purchase a house and a vehicle.

Now that you can apply for a loan and work full-time, you can also purchase more expensive investments like land, a home, or a vehicle.

20. Move out of your parents’ home.

Unless you apply for emancipation, you are legally supposed to be living at home with your parents until you are of age to move out.

So in my opinion yes you should be aloud to legally drink if you can already do the above things as some other things are as bad as alcohol meaning buying a lottery ticket and smoking is so addictive the same as alcohol and can cause one of the effects that alcohol causes with people struggling on their finances. But obviously the are more listed in the above points but I thought it would be easier to use the main best examples.

[Triz]

Honestly, you can have kids, a family, a mortgage/house all at 16, though can't buy cutlery for your house till 18 because knives are dangerous lol... We go drinking to let off steam, to have a good night with friends, if I was forced to stay at home during weekends for 4 years after I legally became an adult, I'd be annoyed AF... So I wouldn't be shocked to learn if there was more anti-social behaviour in the states due to the drinking age being a lot higher than the rest of the world, as they've missed out on 4 years of drinking at clubs, whilst still dealing with the adult stuff we all deal with, yet no venue to go where they can blow off steam after a tough week...

Def think they should lower the age to 18, heck in the UK you can have a drink (with exceptions) with a meal from aged 16, and technically from age 5 I believe, you can drink with parents permission in private, though suspect if you do this often then that's a whole different ballgame of child endangerment/neglect lol.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Have always thought it should all be 18.

The only exception I can think of, with parental permission, would be army training which could start at 16/17.