Dear Mr. President,

    Today in society, Americans are getting killed due to poor choices.  There are always rules, no matter what stage in life.  Some teenagers and adolescents choose not to follow them.  They chose to steal, break restrictions, and risk their lives by using alcohol.  The leading cause of teen deaths between the ages of fifteen and twenty is alcohol related car crashes. 
    Recently, America has been discussing lowering the drinking age to eighteen years old.  I think that choice is a very poor decision.  Allowing people to drink at a younger age will encourage the dangerous behavior.  Parties with alcohol will become more common.  Therefore, more teen pregnancies and rape will also come in to play.  In most states, abortions are illegal.  With more unwanted pregnancies, the girls will have to face their consequences and mother a child as a young woman.  Because of the impaired judgment, sexually transmitted diseases will spread to more people throughout the United States because safe sex is not commonly seen among drunk teenagers.  All of the increasing rates will eventually lead to the dramatic increase in the teen death rate.  
    Many service men and women feel if they can serve and fight for our country, they can drink alcohol.  I believe that in the war, where your life is in constant peril, the last thing soldiers need is alcohol.  They should be alert and ready to fight at a moments notice; not hung over, lazy, and stumbling over their feet.  Lowering the drinking age will give children and tweens more of a chance to become involved with alcohol at a younger age.  Starting to drink at a younger age will lead to alcoholism as adults.  Even thought more young citizens will lose their lives due to alcohol related incidents, the crime rate will decrease.  People will not have to sneak around, steal, and drink underage.  The "fun" of doing what your are not supposed to do will be lost. 
    America has more than enough deaths due to alcohol in people that are of the age to drink.  Allowing younger people to drink will cause the total lives lost in victims themselves, or in abortions, to increase.  Soldiers under the age of twenty-one do not need alcohol.  Permitting alcohol in to their lives would make our army look irresponsible and ignorant when it came to fighting.  Soldiers are involved in the war to protect our country.  Our soldiers should look professional and strong.  Lowering the drinking age to eighteen is a very unintelligent decision.  Doing so is practically begging young citizens to get themselves hurt emotionally or physically, or worse, lose their lives. 

Sincerely,
Layna B.