Many teenagers cannot wait until they turn 16, allowed to marry someone, allowed to participate in the National Lottery and even join the army! This means that once you are 16, the government believes you can fight and die for your country, but are you allowed to drink? No way!

Under-age drinking has become a regular problem throughout Britain, making it the nation with the highest percentage of children who are under-age drinkers in the world, so obviously the government wants to crack down on the problem. Surely this means that the government needs to sort out how much they trust teenagers; they believe that a 16 year old is responsible enough to hold a gun and get married but not to drink responsibly.

Research suggests that alcohol not only damages the liver but has even more long-term effects such as brain damage. This backs up the fact that the drinking limit should stay at 18, but then in theory if the government is worried about British teenagers’ health then why is a 16 year old allowed to die by a bullet and not alcohol poisoning? Maybe we should think the other way; maybe the age to join the army should increase the age restriction to 18. This will show that the government have even less trust in Britain’s teenagers, but maybe it is better having no trust, than trusting in the wrong thing.