In some places, the right to vote, drink, perform jury duty and serve in the military all happen at once. In the United States, these rights are not only spread out, but often without clear logic. Facing combat before one is considered reliable enough to purchase alcohol is one of the blinding inconsistencies. I guess the U.S. just has a hard time deciding when kids become adults. These inconsistencies have become more annoying as I’ve gotten older.
There is a lot of information to sort through when deciding these benchmark ages. Looking solely at neuroscience, there is no single age when the adolescent brain becomes an adult brain. Some parts of our brains are matured by age 16, but other parts are still developing into our early 20s.
But clearly in the U.S. age boundaries are drawn for mainly political reasons, not scientific ones. We live in a society where the maturity required to operate a car (16) does not exceed that required to handle rated-R movies (17). People can hunt wildlife with a deadly weapon at age 12 but can’t be trusted with a beer at age 20?
Unfortunately, our generation is considered relatively immature in comparison to earlier ones. We are over-protected by parents, spend ungodly amounts of time in front of our phones and we are less able to build friendships and function in groups. Who is honestly emotionally ready to drive a vehicle at age 16? I think everyone in today’s world would agree we grow up at a much more leisurely pace compared to earlier generations.
What I’m asking for is consistency. Pick 18 or 21 years of age for the age of adulthood, one or the other. Sixteen is just far too young for anything, especially in our increasingly young society. Even I don’t think I could pick a “correct age” that would become the new standard. I understand it is a hard job to sift through all the statistics and scientific information about when teens’ brains are fully matured and when is the safest time for them to watch things without worrying omit it will destroy them. Some people call for a lower drinking age, while others call for an increased voting age. These conflicting viewpoints are unfortunately just the nature of the times.
It is confusing for teenagers to grow up in a place with a thousand different regulations and constrictions. I think everyone would be a lot happier if there was one standard.
Ally • Feb 23, 2016 at 8:27 am
I totally agree with you if they are older enough to fight for our country then why can’t they have a drink too.
Not an Adult • Jan 10, 2014 at 10:22 am
The age to serve in the military and vote is the same, 18.
not an adult either.. • Jan 9, 2014 at 2:31 pm
I feel that if you are old enough to serve this country, and you’re old enough to vote, you’re old enough to make the decision of having an alcoholic drink.
Not an Adult • Dec 31, 2013 at 10:56 am
At the age of 16, you can drive a car; but you’re not considered an adult. Same with being 17 and being able to enter R movies. At 18 you are considered an adult, which is where the majority of privileges and responsibilities are dumped on you. You can vote, go to war, work full time, smoke tobacco, and quit school legally. But just because you are an adult in the law’s eyes doesn’t mean your brain is fully ready for alcohol. At 18, you are still technically a teenager, and you cannot physically handle alcohol as well as a 21 year old. At 21, you are less likely to get in a crash if you’re buzzed or even drunk.
Another reason for these differences in age dates back a long time ago. The voting age had to be lowered to 18 because you could go to war at 18. The driving age was young because in farms, kids had to be able to drive to use some farm equipment, trucks, and deliver things.
Another reason these ages are still here to this day is that it’s too much to dump on someone all at once. At 18, we typically to go to college, have a part-time job, usually have your own dorm room to take care of, and juggle sports and everything else. On top of that you would have to learn to drive, and there would be alcohol all over campus. While I know some in college can drink, and either way many people do, it would be a lot worse to have the stuff all over campus while trying to earn a degree, work, learn to drive, and balance everything else. With alcohol easily available on campuses, it can be harder to focus on school. This can hurt an individual by causing with to learn them, and possibly not get their degree, leading them to worse job choices and lesser pay. As a society, people could be less educated, with worse jobs, hurting the US economically.
In conclusion I think multiple transition ages are a good thing, and are more rational, not only for today, but back when these ages were put in place. In real life you don’t jump from a kid to adult in one day, so I think it makes sense that you would not in the eyes of the law.