Seems about right...

[badrose]

...sort of.

An adult at 18? Not any more: Adolescence now ends at 25 to prevent young people getting an inferiority complex

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2fuefM0qA
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[SalsaKat]

IMO there's a phase there that's not really adolescence but not really adulthood. Young adulthood, maybe? I don't know about all of you but I thought some pretty stupid crap when I was in college. I went in with the high school "the world is super serious and no one's got it all figured out but me" mentality and came out with the grown up "I'm gonna have fun with life and make the best of it I can". And thank God for it, I'd probably smack the taste out of the mouth of that first guy for being a whiny tool.

So I think it can be true that you've still got a lot of growing up to do at that age, but no reason not to consider 18 year olds adults legally and let them start orienting to true responsibility. And that includes having a freaking beer, for crying out loud.

[CitizenBBN]

The concept of a "teenager" is a post WWII event and didn't exist prior to the luxury of middle class living afforded Americans after the war. Prior to that you were expected to start contributing pretty much as you could at a given age. You did small chores around the home, as you got older you helped more on the farm, etc. "Self esteem" was provided by giving people a chance to be responsible and do work and benefit themselves and others.

Now we basically tell kids they have little responsibility until they are out of college, it's up to others to do the heavy lifting and make the big decisions, and we wonder why they have "low self esteem" and entertain themselves with getting into trouble, rebelling or misbehaving? Really?

By the age of 13-14 young men and women need some kind of purpose. They need to start finding "their place" in the world. When you study the history of things like the rise of Hitler you see how adeptly he played on the basic need of young men to have a purpose, have a cause. If you leave them without the positive hope and connection of work and responsibility they will find one in negative groups from the Hitler Youth of the 30s to the gangs of today. It's a basic human psychology. No doubt the same is true for women, who prior to WWII were expected to do a good deal more for the home by the age of 13-14 than they are today.

Notice also how key association and identity are in both Hitler Youth and gangs today. signs, rituals, the importance of one's "place" in a broader group. It recurs throughout history, it's a need people have starting at that age that cannot be denied. They can either be given responsibilities with which to identify with broader American society and help them integrate or they will find their own group with which to identify, and we may not like the choice.

The "Greatest Generation" won the war, but the proceeded to spoil their children rotten, and the trend continues. I worked hard in school and worked in the family business and I still did nothing NEAR the level of work or had the responsibility to others that my mother had as a child on the farm. I had it easy by comparison, and most around me had it easier than me. the whole thing is a giant part time vacation till you get out of college, at least among the "middle class". How can you learn the lessons of life in that environment?

Of course most still do, but the expansion of what we consider adult to ages like 25 is insane to me. By 13-14 you should be assuming real responsibility in small doses, by 18 you should have learned enough to be a responsible member of society. In current society we don't even begin the process till people turn 18, and by 25 many are just starting to get a taste of what it's like to hold a job and be responsible for debt and bills.

Self Esteem comes from facing challenges and meeting them successfully. If you don't give a person any challenges, they will either have no self esteem or they will become self centered on their own fictional greatness from all the smoke being blown at them. No coin has just one side, you must give people chances to fail in order for success to be valued and pursued.

If more 13-14 year olds had to do actual work along with having to keep up with school we'd have a country with lots more self esteem and lots more responsible adults.

Of course most 16 year olds will not be as mature as the average full blown adult, but the way to get people to adulthood is to start them on the path in doses, adding more responsibilities and rights over time starting at a far younger age than most do now. The 13-14 year old isn't taking on all the responsibilities of adulthood but they're taking on some of them, getting a taste, and getting a purpose and place in the world with which they can identify. Over time they take on more responsibilities and get more rights as they successfully take on their role and their life.

Too many today get a free ride and learn nothing and then boom they are college graduates and have no real life lessons with which to have formed themselves. They come out self centered and with poor coping skills to face challenges and setbacks b/c they've never seen one before.

Rant off.

[badrose]

Chuck, there are by-products of the phenomenon. What I see most is more of a sense of entitlement. Having been in retail most of my life, I've seen a constant increase of disregard for those who serve the public and any expertise that might go with that. When I was in men's clothing, guys old enough to shop by themselves would come in with their parents who would collaborate non-stop over the silliest things like, would dirt show up on a pair of boat shoes. One guy came in with his dad, picked out a suit, went to get fitted and promptly dropped the waist of the pants around his ass. I told them the pants weren't made to do that, that the crotch of the pants would be halfway to his knees and, basically, he would look like $hit. The father said, if that's what he wants... The dad, at least, should have known better.

[Darrell KSR]

Just labels. I don't really see the need for it, but scientifically, there's a lot to be said for a maturation process that continues on an upward swing until about age 25. It will differ from person to person, but there is no doubt that a part of the brain that relates to reasoning and judgment--two strong factors most consider in being an "adult"--continue through that age.

I'm not sure why we need a label on it, however. There's an age that we hold people responsible for their criminal acts. Won't be before age 7, usually, but between 7-13 there's a line. We have determined that there's an age that people should be responsible for the country in the form of being a part of our military. There's an age that people should be responsible for entering into legally binding contracts. There's an age that we have determined people should be responsible for themselves in terms of their physical health in purchasing their own tobacco products and alcohol.

Call those what you will; I find labels silly and without reason.

We can, and do, educate and to some extent, train, our young people to be responsible. But we have our limits, as do they, despite the best training that may occur, due to brain development. But so what? There's some evidence that will continue well beyond 25, too. In CitizenBBN's case, we're hoping around 75 is when his emotional maturity will develop . Seriously, would we call a 35 year old man an adolescent because he's not quite there with respect to his maturity and responsibility? How silly is that?

So I guess I'm all over the place with this one. I recognize the limitations, and acknowledge the science involved, but I find the notion of labels nonsensical in such a manner.

[Darrell KSR]

When I was in men's clothing,

So those ARE pictures of yourself you're posting on that thread now...hmm...

[kritikalcat]

That brain development continues to about age 25 has been pretty well known/accepted in the medical community for years. It doesn't mean that people under 25 shouldn't be treated or expected to act as adults. The only policy issue I see in the article is that child psychologists (in the UK) will not be permitted to treat patients until age 25 instead of 18.

[badrose]

So those ARE pictures of yourself you're posting on that thread now...hmm...

Well, I have been in drag a couple of times.