Any eighteen year old can go overseas and wage war with the fiercest enemies of the United States. Eighteen- year- olds can help decide the next US president. They can even live on their own away from their parents, carry credit cards and decide the fate of their own lives. However, an eighteen year old cannot have a glass of wine with his or her dinner. People eighteen years of age can hold all the rights and responsibilities, but they cannot drink. Eighteen should be the drinking age; eighteen- year- olds hold the responsibilities of adults. They also live the same lifestyle of older counterparts, and are old enough to understand the effects of alcohol and its consequences. .
To start off, eighteen- year- olds have all the same responsibilities as those who are twenty- one and older. If the United States went to war and instituted the draft, I guarantee that the majority of the draftees would be between the ages of eighteen and twenty one. The difficulty and responsibility that task carries is immense. The decision making and courage that it takes to fight in battle certainly qualifies a person as a capable decision maker. .
On the same token, eighteen- year- olds hold just about every other right and responsibility that their older counterparts do. As soon as a "child" hits the age of eighteen, they are no longer a minor. They have the right to vote, live on their own, right to marry, make their own decisions and become solely accountable for themselves. The missing right is the right to consume alcohol. The theory behind the twenty- one and older law is that twenty- one- year- olds are more mature and better prepared to make the decision to drink. If that is the case, then why would the system allow eighteen- year- olds to marry? If an eighteen- year- old can make the decision on who to choose as a spouse for life, then why couldn't that same person decide to have a beer with dinner? It seems that the government has two opinions on how mature eighteen- year- olds are.
