Experts are in Opposition of Lowering the Drinking Age

A group of researchers and safety experts are now in opposition against lowering the drinking age. This research group expressed to The Washington Post that the only change that should be made is to enforce stricter laws for those caught drinking underage. This is because they are concerned that the number of fatal accidents from underage drinking will increase dramatically, especially young drivers ages 16-20. The United States does not have much data to support this theory. Instead, they are basing their opinion off of New Zealand, who lowered the drinking age from 20 to 18, that experienced an increase in driving fatalities from underage drinking.

A coalition of colleges, called the Amethyst Initiative, proposed to reopen the debate for underage drinking, saying that allowing alcohol access to people as young as 18 could promote drinking in moderation. However, this coalition has been very much criticised by experts who claim that 900 lives are saved every year from drinking-age laws. Experts are especially trying to change societal views of college students. Because each state has a different plan or opinion on how to regard underage drinking, there are no further plans congregate state senators in reaching a mutual agreement.

This is a very controversial issue. It is hard for me to take sides on this opinion because there are positives and negatives about lowering the drinking age. However, I lean more towards lowering the drinking age than away from it. I believe that lowering the drinking age will promote moderate drinking. Teenagers need to be exposed to alcohol at an earlier age to understand the affects of alcohol. Many have a skewed perception on how fantastic alcohol is and how great it can be. Teenagers should experience how alcohol affects them, and this should hopefully teach them that alcohol should only be consumed in moderate quantities. Of course, there is a concern that driving fatalities will increase. However, I don't believe they will increase, but remain the same. There are drunk driving fatalities from people well over the drinking age and well under the drinking age. As long as alcohol is legal and accessable, there will be drunk driving fatalities, regardless of what the drinking age is.

Benefits of Using a Blog

I believe using a blog in this class can help me access information I need for other classes. For example, if one of my collegues posts a new blog pertaining to biology and I need some help for a biology homework assignment, I can access their blog and use their information to assist me in my studies. I can also use the blog to learn in this class by blogging with other users who know the program better than I. The features of a blog can be an important part of my learning in this class. If I need opinions or points-of-views on a controversial topic, such as politics, I can blog with many others to access their opinions quickly and in a centralized location that is easy to access. These are all benefits of using a blog, but there are drawbacks as well. Blogs have many features and it is difficult to utilize the features if the program is new to the user. Newer blog programs can cause denied access for some features in the program, leading to an incomplete page. Also, blog postings are available for thousands of people to see. The blog content is open to the public, so it is important that a user does not post a lot of personal opinions and beliefs on their blog if they do not want to be bothered by other user's criticism.

ACL Tears Among Young Children Are On the Rise

Doctors nationwide have been treating ACL injuries now more than ever in young children. The New York Times reports that years ago, it was believed that young children's ligaments were stronger than their bones, therefore expecting a child's Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) would be injured less than their bones. However, specialists today are treating children regulary for ACL tearing, when a decade ago, most specialists had few annual visits for such an injury.

Specialist believe that they are treating more young children for ACL injuries due to children becomming involved in competative sports earlier. Unlike 20 years ago, there are hundreds of thousands of travel and ellite sports teams that are local to many citizens' residences. Because the level of competition is higher now than ever amongst young athletes, it is easy and common for them to become injured, thus attributing to the increase in ACL tears in children.

Certain specialists are opposed to performing surgery on ACL tears in children. Because a child's leg bones are not yet fully developed, drilling screws into a child's growth plate to stabilize the ACL raises concerns. There have been a few alternative surgeries for young patients that avoid drilling into the growth plate and, instead, drilling holes in fully developed bone to thread the tendons. However, this method's long terms effects are unknown and doctors are currently researching other possible surgery alternatives for young athletes treating ACL tears.