​The Drinking Age

In today’s society the most prevalent time in one’s life that alcohol related issues arise is during college.  A study conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism showed that “about four out of five college students drink alcohol; and about half of college students who drink, also consume alcohol through binge drinking.”  (College Drinking) The typical age range for individuals in college is eighteen to twenty-four year olds. This of course leaves a clear division of underage drinkers and of-age drinkers, which can be a complicated situation for friends that are on either side of that division.  There is also an issue of the present culture of drinking during college years. Due to this division between underage and of-age binge drinking becomes more common.  Those that are underage are put into a situation in which they must drink in secret and on rare occasions.  This of course leads to a multitude of consequences.  “About twenty-five percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall. 599,000 students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four receive unintentional injuries while under the influence of alcohol. More than 690,000 students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past of year due to drinking.  More than 97,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape and about 1,825 college students die each year from alcohol related unintentional injuries.”  (College Drinking) With these staggering statistics one cannot be surprised that schools, such as Oklahoma State University, have begun to require freshman to under go a alcohol education course in an attempt to educate students on general alcohol knowledge.  In 2008 there was also a movement supported by over “one-hundred of the best-known United States universities” to debate a lower minimum drinking age of eighteen years old in the belief “that current laws may actually encourage binge drinking.” (Crecca)