Phillip Hale

Chris Wyman
Eng. 111
10/14/15
The Age of Alcohol
With technology booming, and the amount of bloggers increases, the opinion of every
individual matters. Today, the young generation and the future generation are learning to voice
their opinion and strive for what they want. The people at around the age of 35-55 are between
the older people 60+ and the young people at the age of less than 30, often struggle for what
they should believe in or what they want. In their time, laws started to become stricter, forming
the current generation to believe that is what is necessary for the country. Among all the opinions
people have, the drinking age has a high effect to all the people of the United States. The
drinking age in the United States should be lower as 18 year olds are given the right to vote, fight
for our country, use tobacco, and also face trial possibly death penalty. Todays media is out
trying to scare individuals of all ages from consuming alcohol, while the older generations
framework is different from todays generation causing a disagreement among all the people.
With the alcohol being big in todays society, social media can impact the decisions, and people
can create barriers to prevent, while 18-19 year olds are capable to make there own decisions in
everything they do but alcohol.
Social media today is used by millions, sometimes creating a positive effect to the
peoples lives but also can create a negative effect to the people. Alcohol ads are widely seen all
over the world, they show ads of people getting into accidents because of drinking and driving.
Individuals under 21 are pressured into thinking that alcohol is wrong by adults, that they choose

to rebel against the law and consume alcohol to see what it taste like. People like celebrities,
internet celebrities and even regular people are expressing themselves through social media
making the social media be called the Emotional media (Rivers, 398). Commercials and ads
nowadays try to appeal to the peoples emotions, in hope they get through their ideas to the
people. It is pretty easy to appeal someone's emotions. The new emotional media are the friends
of the ideological purists, not the go-along-and-get-along types(399). People that make the ads,
have gotten smarter by developing different ways to get through to people. People of all age are
willing to express what they want. At this point, the people under the age of 21 are willing to
engage in the process of new challenges and opportunities (Rockenbach, 164). Barbara
Rockenbach explains in The Age of Participation that we have moved through several different
ages such as the Hunter/Gatherer Age, to the Agriculture Ae, the Industrial Age, and most
recently leading us to the Information age (163). In todays world, the people are in the
information age, the young generation are at the top for consuming the most information,
through blogs, social media, and even television shows/movies.
With social media on the rise, the barriers of the generations are getting thicker and
thicker as time goes. As the new generation keeps popping up, technology making opinions of
others easy to access to. Naomi Klein the author of Fences of Enclosure, Windows of
Possibility states, we put up new barriers-- around knowledge, technology and newly
privatized resources (Naomi, 455). The main generation that impacts many peoples life
decision is the middle generation, that is stuck between the older generation and the present
generation. The middle generation grew up in a time where laws were being formed to ensure
they are safe and the future generation is safe. At this time, the individuals did not feel it was
necessary to voice their opinion as the laws were the rules they created. As Naomi Klein said,

fences have always been a part of capitalism, the only way to protect property (454). The
fences that the middle generation has formed has started to crumble as we have the social media
and the young people voicing their opinion. The middle generation decided to set our line of
action, and have a strong tendency to reject ideas that fit our preconceptions (268). The people
between the age of 35-55 have learned things and have kept them set in stone while people under
the age of 30 are starting to voice what they feel is needed to be heard. They desire getting things
they would like to have and enjoy life. There are a few of the older generation however, that
understands what it was like to not have alcohol from the prohibition age and knows what it was
like to drink underage and not get in trouble. Todays generation on the other hand is facing a
problem where if caught with alcohol their future is is possibly destroyed. The consumption of
having alcohol under the age of 21 can create some chaos to that certain individual as well as the
country as a whole economically. More and more people are getting caught and receives a DUI
and or an MIP, with this, their future can be ruined and the amount of people in poverty may rise.
If alcohol is to be lowered then, less people will get an MIP and even DUIs. People usually start
to consume alcohol at around the age of 14, at this time if the drinking age was at 18 or 19, there
is only a four or five year gap. But if the age is t 21, there is a six or seven year gap, there are
more chances to get in trouble and ruin their life.
In the western world, people are experiencing a change in what they want and see that
movies and blogs are saying things are all good. Especially if it deals with alcohol, Caryl Rivers
stated that we prided ourselves on being a can do country (400). This shows that the generation
barriers have different types of can dos that they have, the recent generation is at its
maximum point of they can do alcohol at a younger age, they can express their voices and they
demand that the generations above us listen to what they say.

People above the age of 21 who have experience trouble times where they could not
escape. Many individuals knows what is was like to get an MIP or a DUI that destroyed their
dreams. Those people have reached out to young people to strive for their future, to strive for
their dreams and use their voice to be heard. The opinion of the future voices matter and with
people being affected by MIP and DUI have created a framework amongst their children to not
drink. This leads to the rebellious stage throughout the teens. As Jack Mezirow's Transformative
Learning: Theory to Practice states that points of view are more accessible to awareness
(Mezirow, 269). This point of view that the people have can be impacted from their life
experiences. Today young adults under the age of twenty one are developing a framework
through their learning experience of alcoholism and may encourage the future generation to try it
and have the time of their lives but to be careful. Jack Mezirow claims that we learn together by
analyzing the related experiences of others to arrive at a common understanding (269). This can
help build a framework a generation to use or even the whole society to use or understand.
Framework is a part of transformative learning as middle age adults have a framework of not
having alcohol under the age of 21, while the young adults are developing a framework of
alcohol is fine as long are you are being careful and smart before, during, and after the
consumption of alcohol. Barbara Rockenbach and Carole Ann Fabian said this forces the
information professionals, to rethink their role in the flow and suggests responsibility for the new
range of skills ( 164-165). This enforces the current generation people at the 30 or under and
people of all ages to rethink their roles and create a more suitable society where the young
generation is creating a new framework while the elderly generations can improve their
frameworks.

The age limit for alcohol around the world varies within the countries, but multiple
countries age limit is lower than the United States, 115 countries around the world have an age
limit from 18-19 years old. At this age, people are doing their responsibilities, participating in
things that an adult should be doing, this is the time where they learn to build a framework of
how to think and live their lives and determine what they should pass on to their kids. Also at this
age, young adults will learn more about alcohol safely rather than dangerously.The media,
whether it is through social media or television are either encouraging people to drink at a lower
age or frighten the young adults from drinking. In the United States, 18 year olds are
participating in war, voting in elections, capable to buy tobacco, and possibly can face death
penalty for the crimes they do. Yet, alcohol is banned till the age of 21, young adults are willing
to exhibit good behavior to their elders if they can be perceived as a full time adult not a part
time adult. The barriers between the generations are preventing individuals to form a
compromise that can solve the majority of all their issues. As the people can use transformative
learning and understand what the other person want, the country may not be at full peace but
rather be stable.

Work Cited
Klein, Naomi. "Fences of Enclosure, Windows of Possibility." Exploring Relationships. 454-458.
Print.
Mezirow, Jack. "Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice." Exploring Relationships. 268274. Print.
Rivers, Caryl. "The New Media Politics of Emotion and Attitude."Exploring Relationships. 398400. Print.
Rockenbach, Barbara, and Carole Ann Fabian. "Visual Literacy in the Age of Participation."
Exploring Relationships. 162-171. Print.