Lower the drinking age survey

1. Introduction

Do you drink? When did you start to drink? Should people who are under 18 years old drink alcohol? What do you think? Alcohol is not good for our bodies. It can cause some diseases such as liver cancer and gastric cancer. Teenagers know these facts, but they still drink. This problem is very serious in the society because drinking has a bad effect on not only drinkers but on those around them. In "Alcohol use by persons under the legal drinking age of 21" the author states that boys are mostly drinking more than girls, and the 12 to 21 age group had the highest rate of past month alcohol use(2008). Therefore, many teenagers drink a lot of alcohol, and boys generally drink more. For teenaers, drinking is bad for them; also, it is bad for the neighborhood. When their mind is not clear, they cannot control themselves. As a result, they could lose their health, friends, or studies.

2. Purpose

Our group wanted to know how people feel about under-age drinking. I wanted to know when people started drinking. Also, I wanted to know when teenager drink, what would happen, and whether it is dangerous. Moreover, I wanted to know how internationals feel about drinking, but we deuded only to ask Americans.

3. Hypotheses

I had three hypotheses about drinking. First, most males will say they drink more than females. Next, people will say that too much drinking is a problem in Carbondale. Third, many people will say they think that the drinking age should be lowered.

4. Methods and Procedures

Each member in our group was to ask six people who are different genders, and ages in Carbondale to get a different opinion. We asked mostly SIUC students. We got 49 responses, 25 males and 24 females. We wanted to know how they feel about drinking. We had a survey paper. It had 9 questions about drinking. Those questions were yes or no and short answer. It was easy for them to answer the questions.

5. Data

http://eap1.blogspot.com/2008/02/practice-survey-results_27.html

6. Results

Actually, eight out of twelve(67%) started drinking at 18-20 years old, and thirty-two out of thirty-six (88%) started drinking at over 20 years old. Twenty-two out of twenty-five males (88%) drink, and nineteen out of twenty four females (79%) drink. At age 13 to 15, 12% of males started drinking, and 16% of females started drinking. At age 16 to 18, 36% of males started drinkig, and 45% of females started drinking. At age 19 to 20, 44% of men and 25% of women started drinking. As a result, women started earlier than men. Four out of twenty (12%) people who are over 20 said that too much drinking is problem in Carbondale. 33% of 18 to 20 year olds and 30% of people who are over 20 said he drinking age should be lowered.

7. Conclusion and Discussion

I believed that men drank more than women. It is true, because our survey showed that men's number is higher than women's. I was surprised that 16% of females started drinking at age 13 to 15. Also, I was surprised that females begin drinking earlier than males, because I thought boys were more interested in drinking than girls. Many people said too much drinking is not a problem in Carbondale. The sunvey showed 84% of people said too much drinking is not problem. I believed that many people say they think that there should be a lowered age for drinking, but it is not true, because 69% of people said the age should not be lowered.

Drinking is a problem for teenagers. Based on the results, people don't agree with lowering the drinking age. Younger people will do some crazy things. If I do this survey next time, I will ask more teenagers. I want to know how they feel, and how they think about drinking. Some of our survey's results could not be used because some respondents are mot drinkers. So, next time I would like to ask just drinkers.

8. Reference

Alcohol use by Persons under the legal drinking age of 21.(2003, May. 9). The NHSDA Report. Retrieved Feb. 26, 2008, from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k3/UnderageDrinking/UnderageDrinking.htm


9. Appendix 1

Copy of survey http://eap1.blogspot.com/2008/02/practice-survey-results_27.html