As St. Patrick's Day approaches, there is a conflict of being underage on the green holiday.
I, a newly turned 18-year-old from an Irish family, will be surrounded by the temptation of alcohol in just a few weeks.
The urge to drink will be extremely hard to kick this year, especially since Covid-19 has decided to barge into each and every household. Yet, the urge to drink was nonetheless present at the packed St. Patrick's Day parties throughout the years.
Although the drinking ages in Ireland and the United States differ, it is just my luck that the land of free, and home of the brave has a legal drinking age that is three years older than the world average. This, like many American federal law hypocrisies, does not make sense, since the college experience is completely surrounded by alcohol.
The newly elected President Joe Biden, with roots in Co. Mayo and Co. Louth, has officially proclaimed the start of Irish-American Heritage Month, and this proclamation begs the question: will the United States government consider lowing the drinking age to 18 like the rest of the world? (Data from 2015 showed that 61 percent of 190 countries have a drinking age of 18 or 19 years old.) This would allow the newest generation of legal adults to celebrate this sacred holiday to its fullest extent.
Us Irish American young adults, under the age of 21, have to hide their traditional celebrations or face legal consequences. We can fight for our country in the army and vote in elections, but we cannot commemorate the traditions of our heritage.
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