Blog 9: Response To the Work of a Classmate

I decided to respond to Alissa's Blog which deals with the topic of the United States' current drinking age. I agree that something needs to be changed. The drinking age is currently set at 21 years of age, and should be set back to 18 years of age. Alissa states that "this MLDA 21 is not helping, it's actually hurting" the initial job of protecting the youth from alcohol's effects. The drinking age tends to have the effect of creating a feeling of rebellion for many teenagers. Some teens feel that drinking is cool because it is illegal, and that is why they take part in it. Changing the drinking age to 18 years of age would eliminate this rebellious feeling for many teen drinkers. In the end, it would most likely lower the amount of teens who actually drink.

I also agree with Alissa that the drinking age seems to generate more teens who binge drink. Since teens aren't allowed to drink, when they can drink, they consume large quantities and, many times, drink themselves until they are not functional. If the drinking age were brought back to 18yrs the binge drinking would drop off because drinking wouldn't have to be such a "private/once in a blue moon" activity.

Lastly the drinking age has an opposite effect when it comes to protecting teens for drinking and driving. It is the worst thing anyone can do, get in a car after drinking and try to drive home. Yet many teens today are doing it. Michaela Ails says, "I have witnessed many underage people drive home after a night of drinking in order to hide it from their parents. If the drinking age was lowered young adults would feel less pressure to notify their parents that they have been drinking." In the end this law was put in place for the safety of everybody, but it doesn't seem to be creating very much safety. A change in the drinking age could eliminate this problem.

With all of the drawbacks from a drinking age of 21 years, I agree with Alissa that the law needs to be changed. Bringing back the drinking age to 18 years of age would bring protection and responsibility to our teens. It could create a safer outcome.

Blog 8: Become and Organ Donor Today

My persuasive speech was about the change from the traditional donor system towards a new system of a free market for human organs. I explained in the end of my speech that this change towards a new system will not be happening anytime soon, but people still need organs. Nearly 19,000 people are on the, fast growing, national waiting list in hopes that they will be able to receive an organ. So what can we do to help this cause?

Once again, as I explained in the end of my speech, the only thing that we can really do, besides petitioning for a change, is become a donor ourselves. It is a simple process which can be completed very easily. One must either get a donor form online, which can be found at the state DMV website, or simply go to the DMV. For those who reside in Wisconsin you can click on the following to take you to the DMV website: WiscDMV. It will take you through the steps to becoming a donor. Any person can become a donor and it can be done by filling out the donor forms and turning it in at the local DMV. The online form for Wisconsin residents can be found by clicking on the following: DonorForm. All of this is free and by your simple actions you could save a life. After officially becoming a donor on the drivers license the next step is for a person to speak about their wishes to their family members.

So remember that 19,000 people are out there hoping that they will get a new organ. If something were to ever happen to you, why not give the gift of life to someone else? Become a donor today.