When I grew up in New York in the 40s and 50s, there were many different definitions of the age and nature of adulthood. We were adult enough to drive at 16, to drink at 18, to join the Army without our parents’ consent at 17, and to marry in the South at 14. If we were Jewish, we were considered adult at 13. But no matter what our affiliation, most things required the age of 21 for adult responsibilities. We had to be 21 to vote, buy cigarettes, sign a contract, or do a real estate transaction.
Today, many people consider anyone over 17 years of age to be adult, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Except, in order to buy and use alcohol, buy a lottery ticket, or sign a real estate contract, you have to be over 21.
The problem is that now anything these teenage “adults” do or decide is between them and the organization or person involved. For anyone else, the information, be it medical, academic, or financial, is confidential. Isn’t this good? Aren’t we all scared to death that someone will get some vital information about us against our will?
What if your 19 year-old daughter is away at school and is hospitalized? You are her parents, love her, and pay all her bills. But you have no right to know what happened to her. Maybe she has a learning challenge, is shy, or naïve. It doesn’t matter, she’s an adult.
Your son is a freshman at college. He is doing badly in school and is having serious adjustment problems in the dorm where his assigned roommate has a major psychological condition such as obsessive compulsive disorder. You call the school to plead for intervention. The response is that your son is an adult and should be able to deal with it.
You find out the day before that your 20 year-old daughter has contracted for an elective and seemingly unnecessary surgery. She signed papers promising to pay an exorbitant amount with no option for a refundable cancellation. The daughter acted on a whim and is now caught on the hook. The doctor did not counsel the patient or contact the parents. The 20 year-old is an adult and therefore can make her own decisions about her own body.
While, nowadays 16 year-olds can still get a driver’s license, the age at which they are considered adult enough to drive at night and other passengers keeps getting increased because there are so many auto accidents among this “young” adult group.
At the same time, medical science believes that for most people, the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls adult thinking, like strategic planning, prioritizing, seeing short and long-term effects of possible actions and decision making, is not fully developed until the age 25. The physiological adulthood starts at 25.
I suggest we make 25 years and older the age of legal adulthood. That would mean that in order to drink alcohol, place a bet, cast a vote, sign a real estate contract, buy a gun, or have personal medical or academic information kept confidential from the family, a person must be at least 25.
I think that this idea not only makes biological sense, but makes social and economic sense, too. Under this new system, high schools and colleges could no longer hide their accountability behind the backs of adults too young to know better. Doctors and hospitals would be accountable to the authorized adult who is already responsible for paying the bill. And think of all the alcohol-related deaths caused by premature and immature intoxication, that could be avoided by extending the minimum age by four years. Maybe some of these young people will never even start drinking. Imagine that, sober adults!
With the voting age reduced to 18, the number of young people voting, has not significantly increased. Most ballots are too complicated and the issues too deep for most 18 year-olds, or even 21 year-olds, to consider. At 25, people seem to understand and relate to these complexities more easily.
If heaven can wait, why can’t adulthood wait a little longer?
Today, many people consider anyone over 17 years of age to be adult, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Except, in order to buy and use alcohol, buy a lottery ticket, or sign a real estate contract, you have to be over 21.
The problem is that now anything these teenage “adults” do or decide is between them and the organization or person involved. For anyone else, the information, be it medical, academic, or financial, is confidential. Isn’t this good? Aren’t we all scared to death that someone will get some vital information about us against our will?
What if your 19 year-old daughter is away at school and is hospitalized? You are her parents, love her, and pay all her bills. But you have no right to know what happened to her. Maybe she has a learning challenge, is shy, or naïve. It doesn’t matter, she’s an adult.
Your son is a freshman at college. He is doing badly in school and is having serious adjustment problems in the dorm where his assigned roommate has a major psychological condition such as obsessive compulsive disorder. You call the school to plead for intervention. The response is that your son is an adult and should be able to deal with it.
You find out the day before that your 20 year-old daughter has contracted for an elective and seemingly unnecessary surgery. She signed papers promising to pay an exorbitant amount with no option for a refundable cancellation. The daughter acted on a whim and is now caught on the hook. The doctor did not counsel the patient or contact the parents. The 20 year-old is an adult and therefore can make her own decisions about her own body.
While, nowadays 16 year-olds can still get a driver’s license, the age at which they are considered adult enough to drive at night and other passengers keeps getting increased because there are so many auto accidents among this “young” adult group.
At the same time, medical science believes that for most people, the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls adult thinking, like strategic planning, prioritizing, seeing short and long-term effects of possible actions and decision making, is not fully developed until the age 25. The physiological adulthood starts at 25.
I suggest we make 25 years and older the age of legal adulthood. That would mean that in order to drink alcohol, place a bet, cast a vote, sign a real estate contract, buy a gun, or have personal medical or academic information kept confidential from the family, a person must be at least 25.
I think that this idea not only makes biological sense, but makes social and economic sense, too. Under this new system, high schools and colleges could no longer hide their accountability behind the backs of adults too young to know better. Doctors and hospitals would be accountable to the authorized adult who is already responsible for paying the bill. And think of all the alcohol-related deaths caused by premature and immature intoxication, that could be avoided by extending the minimum age by four years. Maybe some of these young people will never even start drinking. Imagine that, sober adults!
With the voting age reduced to 18, the number of young people voting, has not significantly increased. Most ballots are too complicated and the issues too deep for most 18 year-olds, or even 21 year-olds, to consider. At 25, people seem to understand and relate to these complexities more easily.
If heaven can wait, why can’t adulthood wait a little longer?
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