Debate Now Should the age of "everything" be 21?

[petro]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

The youth of 50 years ago was much more mature.
Now we have a generation that stays with parents well into their 20's.
The raising of age limits has reflected that immaturity.
This has coincided with the creation of the Dept. of Education in America during the 70's.
Add that social media which the creators openly admit is addictive and destructive, and you end up with a generation ill prepared mentally and lacking skill sets for the real world.

No we weren't

I was allowed to drink at 18. We were far from mature. I would see at least one kid killed a year from drunk or excessively reckless driving.....hardly see that anymore

I disagree.
Kids are still driving drunk and deaths from DUI is still way too high. Far more than gun deaths.
There is a lot of kids getting alcohol poisoning since now there is candy flavored booze. Just like Kool-aid. Hell, even Mpls. just banned flavored cigarettes and cigars because they claim the kids can't resist the sweet taste, and now the study that teen smoking has gone up due to flavoring and vaping.
There was not this pattern of living with parents far into their 20's either. Many simply can't deal with reaponsibilty or real life. They are far more self centered than in the past.

 

[ChrisL]

The age of everything should be 21, knowing what we know NOW about kids under the age of 25, which is that their brains still function like those of children which makes them still children.

Good thing human history didn't take your advice, particularly when the average life span was about 25-30 years old. Did their brains function like children too? Pretty impressive those pyramids being build by kids.

Or is it possible we're making bullshit excuses for allowing today's young adults to remain children?

Hmm, methinks the latter.

You may have some kind of a point in there if we lived in ancient Egypt. The major advances in medical science and technology have played MUCH more of a role in people being "children" for much longer than they ever could be allowed to in the past. There is not much you can do about that. You can't reverse it and go back in time, so I am concerned with the FACTS which are that most people under the age of 25 are not interested in much more than partying, and they have more in common with teenagers than with adults.

 

[ChrisL]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

Yes, let's keep treating people like children even longer. That's been working out great so far.

Well, there are CAT scans and MRIs of people's brains that proves their frontal lobes are not fully functional until around age 25 or so, and the frontal lobes are responsible for a lot of critical thinking skills. That is why children and teens feel as if they are invincible or that "nothing bad will happen to me, that only happens to the other guys!"

 

[ChrisL]

My son didn't start driving until he was 18. I was VERY uncomfortable with trusting him behind the wheel of a vehicle at 16 years old. Not because he was a bad kid or anything, but because he thought everything was a joke still!

In today's day and age, 16 is still pretty much a baby.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I disagree.
Kids are still driving drunk and deaths from DUI is still way too high. Far more than gun deaths.
There is a lot of kids getting alcohol poisoning since now there is candy flavored booze. Just like Kool-aid. Hell, even Mpls. just banned flavored cigarettes and cigars because they claim the kids can't resist the sweet taste, and now the study that teen smoking has gone up due to flavoring and vaping.
There was not this pattern of living with parents far into their 20's either. Many simply can't deal with reaponsibilty or real life. They are far more self centered than in the past.

How come most of Europe doesn't have this problem or Australia or Canada or pretty much every other country on the planet? Few countries have the age restrictions we do. I thought we were the "Land of the Free."

 

[ChrisL]

I disagree.
Kids are still driving drunk and deaths from DUI is still way too high. Far more than gun deaths.
There is a lot of kids getting alcohol poisoning since now there is candy flavored booze. Just like Kool-aid. Hell, even Mpls. just banned flavored cigarettes and cigars because they claim the kids can't resist the sweet taste, and now the study that teen smoking has gone up due to flavoring and vaping.
There was not this pattern of living with parents far into their 20's either. Many simply can't deal with reaponsibilty or real life. They are far more self centered than in the past.

How come most of Europe doesn't have this problem or Australia or Canada or pretty much every other country on the planet? Few countries have the age restrictions we do. I thought we were the "Land of the Free."

Who says they don't?

Young drivers - Brake the road safety charity

Young drivers (17-24 years old) are at a much higher risk of crashing than older drivers. Drivers aged 17-19 only make up 1.5% of UK licence holders [1], but are involved in 9% of fatal and serious crashes where they are the driver [1a].
Data on British drivers shows that:

• Drivers aged 16-19 are a third more likely to die in a crash than drivers aged 40-49 [2].
• One in four 18-24 year olds (23%) crash within two years of passing their driving test [3].
• Young male drivers are involved in many more crashes than young female drivers [4].

Take action: Support Brake’s L for Later campaign to reduce young driver deaths.

Why are young drivers more at risk?
Research shows that the combination of youth and inexperience puts younger drivers at high risk. Their inexperience means they have less ability to spot hazards, and their youth means they are particularly likely to take risks. In this way, crash risk not only reduces over time with experience but also is higher for drivers who start driving at a younger age [5].

 

[ChrisL]

Why are they "particularly likely to take risks"? Because they think that nothing bad will happen to them or that they can do that, no problem. Why do they think that way and not use caution and common sense? Because their frontal lobes are still not fully functioning to full capacity.

 

[boedicca]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

Great - then let's not let anyone into the armed services before the age of 21 either.

 

[ChrisL]

http://resources.prev.org/documents/ESPAD.pdf

Intoxication

The data in Figure 1 show that fewer American adolescents are current drinkers than is the case for all but one of the Western European countries. But what about risky drinking? Do European young people drink more moderately in a family context, as many Americans believe? If the early socialization to drinking that is assumed to be typical of Europe is such that it fosters responsible drinking, then we would expect to see much lower rates of intoxication there than in the US. Figure 2 displays the percentage of 10th graders in Europe and in the US who report having been intoxicated in the past 30 days. US adolescents show equal or lower rates for intoxication than do adolescents from most European countries in the ESPAD survey. Nine out of the 15 European countries reporting here have intoxication rates that are higher than in the US (18%). In some cases, the percentage of young people reporting having been intoxicated in the past 30 days is considerably higher than that for the US. For example, Denmark (49%)1 , United Kingdom (33%), and Austria (31%) have substantially higher rates of intoxication. There is no evidence that the stricter laws and policies regarding drinking by young people in the US are associated with higher rates of intoxication. Equally, there is no evidence that the more liberal policies and drinking socialization practices in Europe are associated with lower levels of intoxication

 

[petro]

I disagree.
Kids are still driving drunk and deaths from DUI is still way too high. Far more than gun deaths.
There is a lot of kids getting alcohol poisoning since now there is candy flavored booze. Just like Kool-aid. Hell, even Mpls. just banned flavored cigarettes and cigars because they claim the kids can't resist the sweet taste, and now the study that teen smoking has gone up due to flavoring and vaping.
There was not this pattern of living with parents far into their 20's either. Many simply can't deal with reaponsibilty or real life. They are far more self centered than in the past.

How come most of Europe doesn't have this problem or Australia or Canada or pretty much every other country on the planet? Few countries have the age restrictions we do. I thought we were the "Land of the Free."

I believe they learn responsible drinking from elders. Families allow the underage to have wine with the family at gatherings .
Very stiff penalties for DUI in most European countries also. Way more so than America.

Edit to add. There is heavy drinking in Europe. They just don't drive.
JMHO

 

[ChrisL]

I disagree.
Kids are still driving drunk and deaths from DUI is still way too high. Far more than gun deaths.
There is a lot of kids getting alcohol poisoning since now there is candy flavored booze. Just like Kool-aid. Hell, even Mpls. just banned flavored cigarettes and cigars because they claim the kids can't resist the sweet taste, and now the study that teen smoking has gone up due to flavoring and vaping.
There was not this pattern of living with parents far into their 20's either. Many simply can't deal with reaponsibilty or real life. They are far more self centered than in the past.

How come most of Europe doesn't have this problem or Australia or Canada or pretty much every other country on the planet? Few countries have the age restrictions we do. I thought we were the "Land of the Free."

I believe they learn responsible drinking from elders. Families allow the underage to have wine with the family at gatherings .
Very stiff penalties for DUI in most European countries also. Way more so than America.

Maybe you missed my post above? It pretty much says the exact opposite of what you say above.

 

[eflatminor]

The age of everything should be 21, knowing what we know NOW about kids under the age of 25, which is that their brains still function like those of children which makes them still children.

Good thing human history didn't take your advice, particularly when the average life span was about 25-30 years old. Did their brains function like children too? Pretty impressive those pyramids being build by kids.

Or is it possible we're making bullshit excuses for allowing today's young adults to remain children?

Hmm, methinks the latter.

You may have some kind of a point in there if we lived in ancient Egypt. The major advances in medical science and technology have played MUCH more of a role in people being "children" for much longer than they ever could be allowed to in the past. There is not much you can do about that. You can't reverse it and go back in time, so I am concerned with the FACTS which are that most people under the age of 25 are not interested in much more than partying, and they have more in common with teenagers than with adults.

You've got a logical disconnect going here. It appears you're suggesting that because people live longer now than in the past, their brains develop more slowly in youth that they did in the past?

Any evidence for that? It certainly defies logic, so I'm going to need more than "because I say so".

 

[ChrisL]

The age of everything should be 21, knowing what we know NOW about kids under the age of 25, which is that their brains still function like those of children which makes them still children.

Good thing human history didn't take your advice, particularly when the average life span was about 25-30 years old. Did their brains function like children too? Pretty impressive those pyramids being build by kids.

Or is it possible we're making bullshit excuses for allowing today's young adults to remain children?

Hmm, methinks the latter.

You may have some kind of a point in there if we lived in ancient Egypt. The major advances in medical science and technology have played MUCH more of a role in people being "children" for much longer than they ever could be allowed to in the past. There is not much you can do about that. You can't reverse it and go back in time, so I am concerned with the FACTS which are that most people under the age of 25 are not interested in much more than partying, and they have more in common with teenagers than with adults.

You've got a logical disconnect going here. It appears you're suggesting that because people live longer now than in the past, their brains develop more slowly in youth that they did in the past?

Any evidence for that? It certainly defies logic, so I'm going to need more than "because I say so".

No that would actually be most people under the age of 25 who suffer from a "logical disconnect" as their frontal lobes are not yet fully functional. Google it for yourself. It's pretty easy and you will see MANY, MANY scientific studies about it.

 

[ChrisL]

It's only common sense anyways. That is why teenagers are such risk takers and make such stupid and poor decisions a lot of times. Was it THAT long ago that some of you were teenagers that you don't remember? Well, I remember. I also remember many of my friends and acquaintances. Lol.

 

[Muhammed]

Age for driving on public roads should be whatever age they can pass an eye exam, ace a knowledge exam, and pass a road test, IMO.

Age to vote should be 25 with an IQ test score of at least 110.

 

[eflatminor]

The age of everything should be 21, knowing what we know NOW about kids under the age of 25, which is that their brains still function like those of children which makes them still children.

Good thing human history didn't take your advice, particularly when the average life span was about 25-30 years old. Did their brains function like children too? Pretty impressive those pyramids being build by kids.

Or is it possible we're making bullshit excuses for allowing today's young adults to remain children?

Hmm, methinks the latter.

You may have some kind of a point in there if we lived in ancient Egypt. The major advances in medical science and technology have played MUCH more of a role in people being "children" for much longer than they ever could be allowed to in the past. There is not much you can do about that. You can't reverse it and go back in time, so I am concerned with the FACTS which are that most people under the age of 25 are not interested in much more than partying, and they have more in common with teenagers than with adults.

You've got a logical disconnect going here. It appears you're suggesting that because people live longer now than in the past, their brains develop more slowly in youth that they did in the past?

Any evidence for that? It certainly defies logic, so I'm going to need more than "because I say so".

No that would actually be most people under the age of 25 who suffer from a "logical disconnect" as their frontal lobes are not yet fully functional. Google it for yourself. It's pretty easy and you will see MANY, MANY scientific studies about it.

Not an argument in support of your point. Try again?

 

[jon_berzerk]

Should the age of "everything" be 21?

perhaps it should be

the age of majority is just an arbitrary number anyway

and it looks like 18 year old are simply not mature enough to make decisions

a few years ago the liberals through obama made the age of responsibility 26

in the obama care program

 

[80zephyr]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

Great - then let's not let anyone into the armed services before the age of 21 either.

Agree. Either you are an adult, or you aren't. If you can't drink till you are 21, then society is in essence telling you that you aren't mature enough to handle it. You are really not an adult.

It should be all or nothing.

Mark

 

[jwoodie]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

Since this is supposed to be a "structured discussion" forum, the OP should have put forth two questions:

1. Should there be a single age requirement for all "adult" activities?

2. If yes, what should that age be?

My answers to these questions are as follows:

1. In general, yes. However, there would need to be some exceptions such as driving to school, work, etc. and emancipation decrees in order to sign contracts.

2. Probably 21. This was the established voting age in federal elections until the 26th Amendment (1971), which lowered it to 18 in response to the Viet Nam War draft. Since we no longer have a military draft, this Amendment is outdated and unnecessary. (Voluntary enlistment under age 21 should require parental approval.) In addition, lowering the voting age to 18 has been disastrous for many college towns, where large numbers of temporary "residents" has resulted in short-term voting patterns without any regard for longer term consequences.

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

You can drink in Canada at 19, drive a car at 16. That's bloody insane. Driving a car on the highway, in traffic at age 16?! Many fully developed adults can't handle that.

Now I know some will say "I was driving my dads tractor at age 9!" When you are talking about life or death, a 16 year old is way too bloody young to be driving and anomalies don't count.

So, I believe 21 should be the age of everything: voting, buying a gun, driving, buying alcohol on and on.

One can even argue that a person brain still isn't fully developed at 21, but it's certainly an improvement from the current younger age of everything on both sides of the border.

Thoughts?

25 is better for me...