Throughout adolescent's lives, they have been told that they can half drive at 15, drive independently at 16, can drive people at 17, can vote and sign legal documents at 18, and then can drink at 21. One thing they have not been told is when are they considered full adults in society; when should adolescents be considered adults? Adolescents should be considered adults at the age of 18, which means that they should have received all their rights by the age of 18.
Teenagers have earned all of their adult responsibilities by the age of 18, except drinking. According to Edgar Snyder, a lawyer graduated from Pennsylvania University and University of Pittsburgh School of Law, there are 11 million underaged drinkers in the United States. Snyder also states that one-third of all the deaths of people from the age of 16-20 is driving deaths. Teenagers are already drinking by the time they reach the age of 18. Legalizing it would mean that teenagers would be more responsible about where and when they are drinking.
Teens get a Graduated Drivers License (GDL) at the age of 15 and a half, and then they have to prove that they are ready to handle driving by themselves and then receive their driver’s license. Why can we not continue this concept of teens having to earn their next right throughout their whole lives between the age of 15-18? At 15 they should receive their GDL. According to Alan Greenblatt, the author of “What is the Age of Responsibility?”, The idea-GDL- is to licence kids to start driving at a certain age, but on a probationary basis.” (5). At 16 teens should receive their driver’s license (and drive with others in the car). At 17, teenagers should be able to vote and get a tattoo. Lastly, at the age of 18 be able to drink, be on a jury, get married, make a will, sign legal documents, and rent a car from the airport. Throughout this process, teenagers have to prove that they are mature enough to handle all of their responsibilities, before they receive the next responsibilites.. If they prove otherwise, then the next responsibilites will be held off until the teen proves that they are mature enough to handle the responsibilities. ready when they are ready to handle it. Theses ages are specific because at 15 teenagers now are already getting their GDLs too show that they are responsible, which is a good process. GDLs shows a compromise between society and teenagers that they need to earn their responsibilities. At 16, teenagers should be able to drive with other’s in the car because they already do anyway, and if high crime rate is already a problem, then we should legalize teens driving other teens. At 17, teens should be able to vote because they are already exposed to political aspects around them, and have an opinion about all that is happening around them. At 18, teens should be considered a legal adult and receive the rights to: sign a legal document, to drink, to make a will, to be on a jury, and to rent a car from the airport. Current teenagers are fighting for our country and when they come home, they cannot go out to a bar with the other people that they have fought for our country with. If people are old enough to enter the workforce, then why should they not be able to and drink at a bar? According to Alan Greenblatt, “Many more 18-year olds are choosing college over work now than a …show more content…
Scientifically, this might be reasonable, but giving a person all their rights all at once at one time might not be a good decision because they have lived 25 years of their life without all of this legal responsibilities. Increasing the age to 25 would also increase DUI and underaged drinking in the U.S. Currentlly, underaged drinking is already a problem with reference to DUI, but with statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), underaged DUI will go from 10% to about 45%. This will only increase the problem. People also cannot say that they should increase it to 25 because of the percentage of DUI, but the age range of 25 to 44 is about 53% of all
Teenagers have earned all of their adult responsibilities by the age of 18, except drinking. According to Edgar Snyder, a lawyer graduated from Pennsylvania University and University of Pittsburgh School of Law, there are 11 million underaged drinkers in the United States. Snyder also states that one-third of all the deaths of people from the age of 16-20 is driving deaths. Teenagers are already drinking by the time they reach the age of 18. Legalizing it would mean that teenagers would be more responsible about where and when they are drinking.
Teens get a Graduated Drivers License (GDL) at the age of 15 and a half, and then they have to prove that they are ready to handle driving by themselves and then receive their driver’s license. Why can we not continue this concept of teens having to earn their next right throughout their whole lives between the age of 15-18? At 15 they should receive their GDL. According to Alan Greenblatt, the author of “What is the Age of Responsibility?”, The idea-GDL- is to licence kids to start driving at a certain age, but on a probationary basis.” (5). At 16 teens should receive their driver’s license (and drive with others in the car). At 17, teenagers should be able to vote and get a tattoo. Lastly, at the age of 18 be able to drink, be on a jury, get married, make a will, sign legal documents, and rent a car from the airport. Throughout this process, teenagers have to prove that they are mature enough to handle all of their responsibilities, before they receive the next responsibilites.. If they prove otherwise, then the next responsibilites will be held off until the teen proves that they are mature enough to handle the responsibilities. ready when they are ready to handle it. Theses ages are specific because at 15 teenagers now are already getting their GDLs too show that they are responsible, which is a good process. GDLs shows a compromise between society and teenagers that they need to earn their responsibilities. At 16, teenagers should be able to drive with other’s in the car because they already do anyway, and if high crime rate is already a problem, then we should legalize teens driving other teens. At 17, teens should be able to vote because they are already exposed to political aspects around them, and have an opinion about all that is happening around them. At 18, teens should be considered a legal adult and receive the rights to: sign a legal document, to drink, to make a will, to be on a jury, and to rent a car from the airport. Current teenagers are fighting for our country and when they come home, they cannot go out to a bar with the other people that they have fought for our country with. If people are old enough to enter the workforce, then why should they not be able to and drink at a bar? According to Alan Greenblatt, “Many more 18-year olds are choosing college over work now than a …show more content…
Scientifically, this might be reasonable, but giving a person all their rights all at once at one time might not be a good decision because they have lived 25 years of their life without all of this legal responsibilities. Increasing the age to 25 would also increase DUI and underaged drinking in the U.S. Currentlly, underaged drinking is already a problem with reference to DUI, but with statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), underaged DUI will go from 10% to about 45%. This will only increase the problem. People also cannot say that they should increase it to 25 because of the percentage of DUI, but the age range of 25 to 44 is about 53% of all