[Crisp-Bee Queen]

What I want to know is...who determines at what age does a child become an adult? The legal drinking age is 21, the U. S. Government says at 18 you can join the military (yes you can enlist if you're younger with a parent's consent), and a child can be emancipated at the age of 16.

So, who determines the age for child vs. adult? Anywhere that charges for tickets/admission have different rules. For example, Disneyland tickets are priced from 3-9 years and 10 and up, Magic Mountain, child under 48" (this one really gets me), JetBlue Air, 2-13 and 14 and up, United 2-11 and 12 and up. Is it only me that thinks there's something inherently wrong with determining the standards for child vs. adult? Shouldn't there be some consistency? I mean really, using height is simply ludicrous.

Actually, the only organization that has an understandable determination of age is the Motion Picture Association. Their movie rating system makes sense. PG-13 (not recommended for under 13), R (under 17 requires an accompanying adult) and NC-17 (no one under 17 allowed).

It's bad enough that kids nowadays are under so much pressure to grow up too quickly. At the rate things are going, kids will be born with cell phones in their hands!

The conflicting signals are a mystery to me as well.

But, while I understand your point of view and you're certainly not alone in it, I disagree that kids are under too much pressure to grow up quickly. On the contrary, I think there are too many who don't grow up fast enough. I'm thinking of the ones who are 30 or 40 but have yet to leave the nest. My similar rant, recently posted, is that we treat kids like absolute children until the day they turn 18, and then boom, they're an adult overnight. Adolescence is not allowed to be the transitional period I believe it is supposed to be.

[lonegael]

Biologically and psychologically, adolescence continues until around 25 years of age. Some young men don't get proper adult male muscle structure o hair growth until thrity-thirty five, and empathy doesn't seem to be completely developed in most people until the mid twenties, later in some. empathy is hard, though, because it can crop up in very developed forms in isolated situations very early (as early as toddler ages in some situations) and then disappear in the same child in other situations, so it has a patchy emergeance pattern, but most can't maintain it consistantly until about twenty-twentyfive. Not an easy question.

[sugahorse1]

This is a topic that can be argued for hours.
In South Africa, one became a major at age 21 until recently, and it's now 18. From the age of 18, one is allowed to drink, to drive (Not at the same time ) sign contracts...

But some people would appear dangerous behind the wheel of a car at age 18. Some people mature faster than others.

I can argue that my boyfriend, age 38, is still a kid in certain aspects of his thinking. Physically and intellectually he is very mature. (Ok, this is just a dig, but I'm sure you understand what I mean)

I'm 25, but have always considered myself to be older, and able to hold meaningful conversations with older people. But emotionally, in certain aspects, I am very immature.

I think it's hard to pin-point an exact age of when a child becomes and adult (from a development point of view) but from a legal point of view, it's written in black and white and just varies from country to country

[kikki27]

Originally Posted by Crisp-Bee Queen

What I want to know is...who determines at what age does a child become an adult? The legal drinking age is 21, the U. S. Government says at 18 you can join the military (yes you can enlist if you're younger with a parent's consent), and a child can be emancipated at the age of 16.

So, who determines the age for child vs. adult? Anywhere that charges for tickets/admission have different rules. For example, Disneyland tickets are priced from 3-9 years and 10 and up, Magic Mountain, child under 48" (this one really gets me), JetBlue Air, 2-13 and 14 and up, United 2-11 and 12 and up. Is it only me that thinks there's something inherently wrong with determining the standards for child vs. adult? Shouldn't there be some consistency? I mean really, using height is simply ludicrous.

Actually, the only organization that has an understandable determination of age is the Motion Picture Association. Their movie rating system makes sense. PG-13 (not recommended for under 13), R (under 17 requires an accompanying adult) and NC-17 (no one under 17 allowed).

It's bad enough that kids nowadays are under so much pressure to grow up too quickly. At the rate things are going, kids will be born with cell phones in their hands!

Seventeen thats when they should know from right and wrong .The law does say for instance they rob a bank they are going to be tried as an adult In a adult prision.But In my eyes they are still teens until 21

[Rohag]

Once upon a time...I lived around culturally traditional communities where, with a handful of exceptions, true adulthood began with parenthood (formal marriage being a prerequisite).