Ideologies of the ANC and DA

Ideologies of the ANC and DA Ideologies of the ANC and DA that serves as intellectual foundation Introduction Ideologies can be defined as a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. Political Ideologies are the pillars and the foundation of any political party. It is important to have noble political ideologies in order to recruit members with the same beliefs in the party’s ideologies. In this essay, I will identify a few of the ideologies of the ANC and the DA by looking into their manifestos and also give a history of relationship ideologies has with election and a democratic country and also give my opinion on the best ideology as intellectual foundation that will make a change in the country. Ideologies In the book, Politics by Andrew Heywood, we see an Ideology can be defined as Heywood (2013:27) â€Å"A social-scientific viewpoint.† It is a â€Å"coherent set of ideas that provides a basis for organized political action.† When looking at this definition one could deduce various information on the political ideologies of the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance. It is a group a people that forms a political party having a goal to make a difference in the lives of all citizens within the political arena. They also follows certain procedures to govern a country. We need to take into consideration that political ideologies has many facets such as Liberalism, conservatism, socialism, fascism and feminism as a few. Liberalism is the ideology of the Heywood (2013:31) â€Å"’industrialized West’ and portrayed as a meta-ideology. It is capable of embracing a broad range of rival value and beliefs.† In my opinion it would be a broad range of diversity that we find political ideologies. It is giving everyone an equal chance .It is a sense of equality. For example, Education for all. Heywood (2013:34) Conservatism has its key ideas based on â€Å"tradition-accumulated wisdom from the past† Conservative people are people who are prone to change. They expect society to stay the same, not taking into consideration that people change and make mistakes. Conservative people struggle to accept that â€Å"nothing stays the same.† Conservatism is found a lot in political structure. It poses many challenges and being conservative as an individual in a group setting in politics can sometimes be difficult. Heywood (2013:38) Socialism is to† abolish a capitalist economy based on a market exchange.†[1] Its key ideas are: â€Å"Community, Fraternity, Social Equality, Need, social class, common ownership.† Socialism relates to a society or an organisation. Socialism within politics strive to economic and political equality within the country and that all citizens are equal which is difficult because we all our diverse and celebrate diversity within our country. We all have our different religions and cultures and we are a different. A socialist is someone who wants to cultivate equality and wants to include every â€Å"creed and colour†. Other ideologies include Heywood (2013:47) â€Å"fascism: ‘new man’ a hero motivated by duty and honour and self-sacrifice prepared to dedicate his/her life to the glory of their nation or race and to give unquestioning obedience to a supreme leader.† Fascists are needed for people to believe that there is a leader that can lead the party in the right direction. Heywood (2013:49)Feminism-â€Å"it is more concerned with the reform of the public sphere that is with enhancing the legal and political status of women and improving their educational and career prospects than reordering private or domestic life.†[2]The political sector is dominated by men. In today’s society we see many females who are leaders. The rise of women played an important role in the upliftment of women. They play a very significant role in the country. We need feminist to bring equality of genders. We have a Minister for Women and children. Political ideologies-an introduction Eccleshall (1984:79) The ideology of conservatism: â€Å"If a society is to prosper, it’s political. Social and economic arrangements must be such as to stimulate and satisfy those with most to contribute to the common good.† [3]Politicians are needed to keep balance between all the facets of a country (the citizens, the environment, infrastructure etc.) the so-called business-man, the farmer and the man on the street is at a centre of equality. Geoghegan (1984:115) The ideology of socialism â€Å"is that all forms of socialism comprise three basic components: a critique, an alternative and a theory of transition.†[4] Socialists have a social responsibility to the country. Everyone to have basic rights and access their basic rights. It is that the political party can see the need and then assess the need and find possible solutions. For example: Taking the man from the street and giving him shelter. Jay (1984:153) The ideology of Democracy â€Å"is in agreement with ideology that states democracy denotes a rather different kind of entity, Democracy simply mean rule byof the people. Within this we have aristocracy, monarchy and oligarchy. Democracies shared many political practices in common.† A democracy simply means everybody. A democracy is a government that is governed â€Å"for the people, by the people†. Democracy can be seen as freedom to a certain extent. Democracy is what our leaders fought for, so that we can have equality. Democracy is a form of Ideology where people choose a political party to look after their interest in all aspects of life. Jay (1984:185) The ideology of Nationalism. â€Å"Nationalism is described as a doctrine invented in Europe which holds that humanity is naturally divided into nations, that nations are known by certain characteristics which can be ascertained, and that the only legitimate type of government is national self-government. Nationalism is a political doctrine and not a state of mind.†[5] Nationalists are South African citizens who have strong and firm beliefs in their country. Nationalism is a set of values and beliefs pertaining to the country. Nationalists can also oppress people as they only think of what is nationally possible for its citizens. They are loyal and firm believers in the country. Political ideologies of the 20th century Kohn (1966:133) Racialism: â€Å"the word ‘race’ is primarily a biological term and denotes groups of men differentiated by anatomical characteristics.† Many barriers exist because of racism. Racism exists everywhere, locally and even globally. In my opinion, racism can be oppression through colour, gender and religion. People are seen as â€Å"different† just because they do not have the same skin colour or do not believe in the same religious ideologies. Racism in politics is still very rife since Apartheid and beyond. Racism is the cause of inequality between citizens within a specific country. The biggest example of racism in our country is between the leading party (ANC) and the opposition party (DA).The ANC being â€Å"black† dominated party and the DA being diverse but mostly white. The DA maintains a good BEE balance. BEE is a racist attack in order to â€Å"rectify† the inequalities of the past Apartheid era. Kohn(1966:146) Fascism: †is one of the two great authoritarian mass movements which started in the 20th century in conscious opposition to the middle-class capitalistic civilization of the 19th century. The origins of the fascist movement in Italy are to be found in both the wave of disillusionment and the exacerbated nationalism that swept Italy after 1918.† [6]Fascism is when one leader can not fight socio-economic issues on his/her own and where inequality still exists. Fascism is seen as a mass movement. Political Science in Africa Science vs. philosophy: The Need for a relevant political science. Barongo (1983:17) When we define political science â€Å"the different branches of inquiry may divide into two group the empirical and non-empirical .Empirical seek to explore, to describe to explain to predict occurrences in the world we live in. Non-empirical had disciplines of logic and pure mathematics whose propositions are proved without necessary reference to empirical findings.†[7] In my opinion, political science is a study. And like any study, thorough research has to be done to obtain more information about the specific topic/idea. Every continent/country has their own political ideologies and beliefs because each country is different. Africa being the poorest continent has a tremendous job in order to compete/compare with first world countries. Although our continent is â€Å"poor†, we are rich in resources, especially in research. SA Politics: An Introduction The function of political parties in a democracy De Jager (2015:150-151) We see political parties for â€Å"representing the interest† of their members. In SA â€Å"there is a broad diversity of ideologies, cultures and history and thus interest.† The role of the parties is to ensure that all the interest of their members are taken into consideration. If members put a political party into governance (by voting), the members of that political party expect the party to look after their interests with in the party. The political party must look after the cultural, religious and social beliefs of the members. For example: upliftment within communities and extra-mural activities in wards where the political is in power â€Å"Socialisation and mobilisation: Parties can ensure increased participation of the public by integrating voters into a system and teaching them how and why to play the political game. Doing this they also inadvertently stimulate a sense of political legitimacy for democracy.† Mobilisation is getting a community to be self-sufficient. When political parties creates projects for the community to be self-sufficient. For example: Starting vegetable gardens, informing them about their rights. â€Å"Formation and Recruitment of political leaders: recruit and training political leaders. Not just the ANC has to recruit leaders but the opposition parties.† This consist of encouraging the youth to get involved in politics. It starts at school (debates, trips to Parliament) to inform the youth and make them politically aware of possibilities of a career in politics. In order for them to be successful, they need to have a passion for doing the right thing politics for people. Formation is important to form a youth league to train the youth from an early age. â€Å"Winning Elections and governing: key role of political parties in a democracy is to put forward their philosophies goals and election manifestos to compete for votes. The ANC has won all of the national elections since 1994 because it is very skilled at electioneering and has the largest base of social support.† Canvassing in the area for elections is a form of competition. Politicians say the right things to prospective members even if it is not true just to win votes. If enough people vote, the political party might be successful and win the elections. Many people believe that the ANC brought freedom, but ironically many politicians within the party have been found guilty by the public protector. The ruling party will be in control and hold most seats in government which works to their advantage. â€Å"Maintaining government accountability and influencing decision-making: there are two types of accountability: 1-vertical: emanates through the electorate sine the electorate knows which party is responsible for controlling the government. 2-Horizrontal: channelled through opposition parties which are responsible for systems (e.g.: winning the right to govern).† Jacob Zuma is our president and the leader of the ANC. We need to hold the correct person accountable for his actions. We need to know who will be responsible for the actions of government. Government acts on behalf of the country. The opposition plays an important role to keep the leading party on their toes as competition. The leading party has a lot of influence of decisions with government. They influence decision making as a party. The Ruling Party ANC. De Jager (2015:154) â€Å"The liberation movement celebrated it centenary in 2012. It is a movement that is born out of Christian values of equality and mutual respect led by an African middle class of lawyers, teachers, church ministers and doctors. The early ANC’s call for inclusion in the South African body of politic was as citizens of a common, non-racial society, informed by Christian and liberal conceptions of justice and humanity. The ANC has also been influenced by the ideologies of communism and Africanism, the different approaches of those who were in exile; trade union movements; and those incarcerated during Apartheid. The influence of these different ideologies and traditions continues to have considerable significance for the organisation, leading it to be called a ‘broad church ‘It also helps to explain why the policies and practices emanating from the ANC cover the spectrum from moderate to radical and from liberal to socialist. The ANC still does not recognise itself as a political party; it insists on being a liberation movement. Currently the party is torn between the values of its founders and those who seek political power for personal interest.† Nelson Mandela played an extremely important role in the ANC and the country. He was the forefather of the â€Å"liberation movement.† The ANC strives to keep his legacy alive. Although there was many controversy within the party, they still have some form of success. Julius Malema leaving the ANC led to a decrease in the party, although he left, the ANC is still the most popular political party. They member’s believe that the ANC can not do anything wrong in the political spectrum. The official opposition The DA De Jager (2015:155) The DA is the â€Å"culmination of a long time of political parties splitting and coalescing but its origins go back to the breakaway by a number of liberals form the United Party in 1959 and the formation of the Progressive Party. Helen Suzman played a major role in the history of the DA. The DA supports a ‘programme of non-racial democracy, a limited state, constitutional supremacy and market economy.’ The party is labelled as the ‘white party’. The primary challenge for the party is its growth as non-white members could not become public representatives pre 1994. The key resource for the DA has been access to government and the use of coalitions†[8]. The DA can be seen as the biggest threat to the leading party. The official opposition party. It is a strong opposition. They are the biggest threat to the ANC. The coalition between the DA and the so called â€Å"coloured party† the Independent Democrats lead by Patricia de Lille was one of the biggest political developments we have ever seen post 1994. The history of the party still classifies them as a â€Å"white party†. The DA is quite diverse. The Western Cape is governed by the DA and they are doing quite well here. Although they provide competition for the ANC, they do a lot for the province. The Ideologies of the Democratic Alliance â€Å"What type of society does the DA want to build? 1) The core concept of Zille’s DA is one of an ‘open opportunity society for all,’ which it counter poses to the ANC’s ‘closed crony society for some’ where a clique rules to accumulate wealth. For the DA, a competitive job-creating economy, supported by an efficient education system, are the main drivers of this society. 2) The DA’s education policy subscribes to human capital theory, which considers the purpose of education to be the production of skills for the market, and the raising of productivity and hence economic growth. 3) The DA aims to provide what it refers to as a framework for choice of goods and services, such as schools. The party bases their conception of choice on trickle-down economics; so, as global competitiveness drives economic growth and society becomes richer, its members will be able to exercise the rights and choices for services.† [9] The Ideologies of the African National Congress. â€Å"For more than a century, has led our people in their aspiration for a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society as the strategic goal of the National democratic revolution. To ensure all South Africans have access to adequate human settlements and quality living conditions through programmes that provide one million housing opportunities for qualifying households over the next five years, and providing basic services and infrastructure in all existing informal settlements. Improve and expand education and training by making grade R compulsory, eradicating adult illiteracy, and further improving the quality of basic education up to senior grade. The FET college sector will be expanded, with greater support for the needs of students, and compulsory community service for all graduates will be introduced.†[10] Conclusion As we can see from the above information, political ideologies are very important when researching political parties it is also important that the ideologies are in line with the needs of the country (that of the leading party and the opposition party) I agree with the ideologies of the DA as intellectual foundation because their ideologies are more universal and more realistic. All over the world and in all of history, political ideologies were used and accepted by potential members and loyal support of the political party. Various political ideologies should be used as far as possible within the party. Bibliography/Referencing list Heywood, A. 2013. Politics. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Eccleshal, R., Geoghegan, V., Jay, R. Wilford, R. 1984. Political Ideologies:An introduction. Essex: Anchor Brendon Ltd. Kohn, H. 1966. Political Ideologies of the Twentieth Century. New York: The Macmillan Company. Baronga, Y. 1983. Political Science in Africa. London: Zed Press Plc. De Jager, N., Graham, V., Gumede, V., Mangcu, X., Neethling, T., Kotze, J., Welsh, D. 2015. South African Politics: An Itroduction. South Africa: Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Limited. http://africasacountry.com/the-politics-and-ideology-of-helen-zille/ (9 April 2015) http://www.anc.org.za/docs/manifesto/2014/anc-manifesto.pd (9 April 2015) [1] A. Heywood Politics (2013) 27,31,34,38. [2] A. Heywood Politics (2013) 47,49. [3] R. Eccleshall Political Ideologies:an introduction (1984) 79. [4] V. Geoghegan Political Ideologies:an introduction (1984) 115. [5] R. Jay Political Ideologies:an introduction (1984)159,185. [6] H. Kohn Political Ideologies of the Twentieth Century (1966) 133,146. [7] Y. Barongo Political Science in Africa (1983) 17. [8] N. De Jager South African Politics:An Introduction (2015) 150,151,154,155. [9] http://africasacountry.com/the-politics-and-ideology-of-helen-zille/ [10] http://www.anc.org.za/docs/manifesto/2014/anc-manifesto.pd

Teen Pregnancy and Ways to Prevent It

Teen pregnancy is an important issue all over the country. This is an ongoing problem that must be dealt with. Teenage pregnancy can ruin a teen’s life and also the life of an infant. In this paper I will discuss the many aspects of teenage pregnancy and how it affects the life of a teenager. Each year in the US almost 1 million teens become pregnant. While the facts are clear, the issues of teenage pregnancy are complicated. Talk of sex is everywhere in our society and young girls are portrayed as sex objects. Sex is used to sell everything from clothing to news and yet people are shocked at the rising number of teenagers who are sexually active. The concern about the welfare of infants and adolescents is so much that we must move beyond the denial and distinguish effective solutions that require us to come to a solution. Nowadays it is becoming more familiar to a teenager to be engaged in sexual activities. They have unprotected sex and have multiple partners. Today’s society is more open about the subject of sex than ever before. It is all over the television, the internet, and even on the radio and in music videos. It is all over the media and therefore teens believe it is ok to be promiscuous and do not think about the consequences they could face with an unexpected pregnancy and how much it will change their lives forever. Even though the best way to prevent a pregnancy is to be abstinent, there are many teens under a lot of pressure to have sex and engage in it quite frequently. Many seek the love and affection that they normally do not get at home and they usually find it in the form of sex with whomever they can get the attention from. They usually have a poor home life or low self esteem and may just be looking for love and acceptance in the form of sex to feel loved. Teenagers need encouragement to abstain from sex all together and they need to be given more information on the prevention of pregnancy if they are to become sexually active. Teens need to constantly hear strong messages about being responsible if they decide to engage in sexual activity. Parents should be the primary givers of these messages to guide them in the right direction. If teens are given positive life options then they are given hope for their futures as well as the motivation to avoid early pregnancies. Teen pregnancy has been an issue for many years. Even with all of the education on the subject it is still an issue that continues to be on the rise. There are lots of parents that don’t sit down and talk openly with their kids about sex and all of the consequences of their actions if faced with a pregnancy. Some teens don’t have the parental guidance they need to make the right choices, either because of single parent households that the parent works so much and does not have the time or can pay as much attention to them as the teen may like or parents that just plain don’t care what their kids are doing. Some of these kids go looking for love in all the wrong places and just want to fit in anywhere they can. They don’t think of the consequences if they are making bad choices. The best way to prevent teen pregnancies is to not only teach them about abstinence but also to inform them about the risks they could face if they chose to have unprotected sex or any kind of sex at all. They should be taught all of their options about being safe if they chose to make the decision to have sex. Some of these teachings should include what protected sex is and how it not only prevents them from an unwanted pregnancy but also from STD’s. Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have jumped for the first time in more than a decade and a campaign mandated by the government to reduce the issue is faltering (Stein, 2010). There are lots of political debates on teen pregnancy and the biggest debate is whether or not the federally funded programs on teaching teens abstinence are working or not and several experts blame the increase in teen pregnancies on sex education programs that focus on encouraging abstinence (Stein, 2010), instead of also teaching the use of contraceptives. Critics also argued that the disturbing data of the rise in teen pregnancies were just the latest in a long series of indications that the focus on abstinence programs was a dismal failure (Stein). Abstinence –only programs received more than $100 million in federal funding annually and $50 million in federal funding was given to states that utilized such programs (Medical News Today). James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth thinks that abstinence-only programs deny young people life-saving information about condoms and other forms of prevention. They should be taught all of their options about being safe from an unwanted pregnancy and STD’s, because by teaching abstinence only obviously is not working. Teens don’t realize that having a baby is a lot of responsibility financially as well as physically and mentally and they are not fully prepared to take on those responsibilities. So then it either falls in the hands of the teen’s parents or in the taxpayers in the form of welfare. Many teens that get pregnant not only suffer in school or drop out but they also could face other problems such as social or mental problems. Socially teen mothers have very limited social contact or friendships because their friends have moved on in school and with their social lives. The teen mother has little or no time for a social life because all of their time is focused on their child. Another problem they face is because of the lack of social interactions it could lead to depression or some sort of mental anxiety. Teens do have many options if they are faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Many unfortunately have abortions. There is also the option of giving the baby up for adoption; this would be the best option as it gives another family the chance at raising a child that they otherwise could not have of their own. That child may grow up very healthy and happy as opposed to growing up unwanted and possibly in poverty. According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists adolescent mothers are significantly less likely to receive a high school diploma than teens that wait to have sex. They are also more likely to live in poverty, receive public assistance, and have long periods of welfare dependency. (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists). Teen Childbearing in the US costs federal, state, and local taxpayers at least $9. billion annually (Hoffman). Other issues of teen pregnancy is that it can be physically difficult for a teen girl to go through a pregnancy because she is still growing herself and her body may not be able to take the physical demand of being pregnant. They are less likely to seek medical attention such as prenatal care because many are afraid to tell their parents and it could prolong the much needed early prenatal care and if there are problems in the pregnancy, they could have been avoided with early care. Other problems could be that the teen may have been smoking or drinking or doing drugs at the time of conception and those things could be harmful to the baby. In turn if the baby is harmed there will more likely be added medical expenses before during and even after delivery. Some of the most obvious consequences of a teenage pregnancy is that the baby will not receive the adequate support it needs either financially or emotionally because the mother or father has not fully matured and usually has dropped out of school to take a meaningless job that pay minimum wage. Often times the baby will suffer from emotional problems ecause the parent or parents also have emotional problems from not being mature enough to raise a child. Some teenagers feel burdened by the child because they never had the chance to live out their teenage years and many times the child of these parents could feel this resentment. Another negative aspect could be that the children of teenage parents could suffer from neglect because the parent hasn’t matured enough to recognize the need for proper nutrition, or medical care or the child is usually left in the care of others while they go out, regardless of whether that person is trustworthy or not. Children of teenage mothers have significantly higher odds of placement in certain special education classes and significantly higher occurrence of milder education problems, but when maternal education, marital status, poverty level, and race are controlled, the detrimental effects disappear and even some protective effects are observed (Sams). In conclusion a teenager is not fully equipped to care for a child and there could be devastating consequences for that child to be raised by a teenager whether it is because of financial burdens or emotional problems. Teenagers need to be made aware of all of these consequences and what could happen to them if they make the wrong choice of having sex before they are ready. References http://www.articlealley.com/article_479589_17.html

Measuring Media Effectiveness in Bangladesh Essay

The media consists mainly of television, radio, press, internet and cinema. This huge amount of money is spent on advertising primarily to create:Advertising/Total Brand Awareness: Consumer has been introduced to or reminded about the brand Brand Familiarity: Consumer recognizes specific brand names Brand Imagery: Consumer agrees with positive attributes specific to individual brands Purchase Intent: Consumer intends to purchase the brand So, as a big amount of money is associated to the media, the marketers strive o know how useful these media will be in achieving these goals. Marketers have become increasingly aware of the implications of a changing media landscape. For example, continuing media fragmentation means that a more complex array of media plans are possible. Given that some media plans will be much more successful than others at engaging with consumers and delivering marketing profitability, marketers want to know how to increase the odds of finding the optimal media mix to achieve marketing success. 1. 1 Motivation and Rationale of Study People from different demographic groups are exposed to media in different ways. And also not everyone is exposed to all the media. So it is very important for the marketer to know which media will be appropriate to reach his target market and when and how that media should be used. The marketer has to know how effective will a media be to achieve the marketing goals. There are several Medias like television, press, radio, internet and cinema and hence the marketer needs to know which media will bring out the best outcome from his advertisements. Because if the marketer cannot reach the target market with the selected media, the allocated budget will be wasted and the marketing goals will not be achieved This research paper has tried to solve these problems of the marketer by giving an idea about the media context of Bangladesh. This research explains how useful the television, radio, print and internet media will be in creating:Advertising/Total Brand Awareness: Consumer has been introduced to or reminded about the brand Brand Familiarity: Consumer recognizes specific brand names Brand Imagery: Consumer agrees with positive attributes specific to individual brands Purchase Intent: Consumer intends to purchase the brand 1. 2 Method of Study The method used for this research was Personal in home survey where the researcher personally visited the respondents with the questionnaire and asked and explained the questions to the respondents. So the respondent understands the questions very clearly and can think before they answer. A sample size of 100 was selected through convenient sampling method but also special care has been taken about maintaining a fair mix of different age groups and genders to get an unbiased result. As this research only attempts to measure the media effectiveness, so the following 2 assumptions/hypothesis are made:1. All media are equally expensive 2. All advertisements are of equal quality These two assumptions are made to eliminate the errors in measuring the media effectiveness. Because if these two assumptions are accepted then the success of the advertisement will solely depend on which media was used. 1. 3 Overall Objective The overall objective of this research paper is to measure the effectiveness of media in Bangladesh by finding out the influence of each media on achieving the marketing goals.

Lower Drinking Age Good Idea or Extremely Dangerous - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 849 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Lowering The Drinking Age Essay Did you like this example? Abstract The start occurred when instructed to find a prompt for an argument. The prompt was found on ProCon. This website lists many controversial topics with pros and cons. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Lower Drinking Age: Good Idea or Extremely Dangerous" essay for you Create order One stood out and it was the argument if the drinking age should be lowered. From there sources need to be found to give extra information for any claims that will be made. Although ProCon provided many sources, the ones chosen were from simple Google searches. Then it was time to begin the drafting process. When that process was done a final check occurred to make sure it was stellar. Finally it was handed in on Turnitin and printed. Underage drinking is a very large problem today. Many young people are still able to get their hands on alcohol even though it’s illegal. This voices the argument should the drinking age be lowered or should it remain stagnant at twenty one. There are many who believe it’s not a huge problem because eighteen to twenty year olds will still find a way to drink. Others say it’s dangerous and irresponsible. One argument for the drinking age to remain stagnant would be the amount of alcohol consumption. When young people drink they don’t do it responsibly. The concern here would be the issue of binge drinking. Binge drinking is when a person drinks more alcohol than their body should have in short succession. The most prominent people who binge drink are college students. Those who see how prominent this problem has become including MADD, have the stance that the drinking age should not be lowered since it will encourage binge drinking. The president of MADD has spoken on this drinking age issue in an interview with CBS. She was quoted saying: â€Å"It saved over 1,000 young peoples lives every year for the last 24 years. Why would we go back? We tried this in the 70s and 80s. It simply did not work then; alcohol-related fatalities went up in that age group† (CBS). Drew Saylor also sides with MADD. She believes the current drinking age is working well. She discusses the underlying dangers in the process of alcohol consumption. One very large concern would be the health of young people. This is shown by her statement in which she says: â€Å"Heavy alcohol use among college students is a serious public health concern and has led to tragic consequences for many young people, families, and communities.† (Saylor, Drew 2011). College kids do not understand that they may be risking their health to have â€Å"fun†. They may not see any problems now however as they get older they may have problems with alcohol. One example could be a broken family dynamic This includes the likelihood of developing a problem with alcohol abuse when they get older. This is supported when she says: â€Å"Alcohol use at a younger age in general can have lasting repercussions such as an increased likelihood of alcohol-related disorders and substance abuse in adulthood† (Saylor, Drew 2011). However, many people disagree with these arguments. These people discuss how young adults from the ages of 18-21 are able to do many other things that are considered dangerous. Some examples could be driving without serving in the military as well as driving. This argument has supported by many groups. One group is â€Å"Choose Responsibility†. One of this groups main concerns is to lower the drinking age, but emphasizes the importance of drinking responsibly. One service they desire includes classes on the importance of safe drinking habits. It also discusses how parents should be responsible for showing their children safe drinking habits. In the article it says: â€Å"The 21-year-old drinking age ties the hands of parent and places them in an untenable position. They must either ignore the reality of alcohol consumption among young people and forbid their children from drinking or break the law by serving alcohol to their under-21 children. Neither option is acceptable to a responsible parent, or in a society governed by rule of law. Parents need to be re-enfranchised, again involved in the process of teaching their children how to make informed, healthy decisions about alcohol and its use† (McCardell, John). Alcohol is a very awkward conversation for young people. The reason being many of have been subjected to it or have drank. Even with the current regulations young people still manage to get alcohol. The reason could have something to do with the idea of being a rebel. In their mindset if something tells them no, it wants them want to do it even more. Perhaps with a lower drinking age not as many young people will find drinking as fun. However, personal opinions aside, it’s subject to people and their beliefs. References: A Spirited Debate on a Lower Drinking Age. 2008, August 20. CBS. Date Accessed January 7, 2019. McCardell, John. Drinking age Choose Responsibility. (n.a.). John McCardell Drinking age Choose Responsibility. Date Accessed January 9, 2019. Saylor, D. 2011. Heavy Drinking on College Campuses: No Reason to Change Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21. Journal of American College Health.