Law Should Adulthood (The Rights To Vote, Smoke, Drink, Marry, Enlist, Bear Arms) Be 18 or 21?

At What Age Should "Adulthood" Be Legally Defined?


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I don't think so. At least not in all respects. An 18 year old needs to have the ability to strike out on his own and be independent; I wouldn't have wanted to be beholden to my folks for an extra 3 years.
Can you not do that by going to school or learning a trade a journey at the end of which you would, or could I should say, have become a legal adult and an actual adult?
 
Can you not do that by going to school or learning a trade a journey at the end of which you would, or could I should say, have become a legal adult and an actual adult?
If you aren't an adult legally, how do you rent your own place, finance your own car, or work a full time job to support yourself and attend school?
 
For those saying 18 is now too young and want it pushed up to 21.... consider this angle.

Should a 20 year old who murders multiple people like the florida school shooter be tried as a juvenile?

Cant have it both ways. You are either a legally responsible adult or you are a child.

I see your point here but a crime of murder or rape shouldn't have a legal distinction centered around age in my mind at least. A 12 year old or a 18 year old or a 25 year old all have a will they can exercise and a basic understanding of law and our social contract, to say nothing of self evident values and ethics. Mental constitution is a little more nuanced in as much as we have to account for IQ or mental illness. Perhaps the punishments and housing of these criminals in each case needs to be thought out at sentencing.
 
If you aren't an adult legally, how do you rent your own place, finance your own car, or work a full time job to support yourself and attend school?

Your point hinges on the premise that one NEEDS to strike out on their own in those ways to not be beholden to parents for three more years.

Stay with your parents. Walk or take a bus. Work Part-time and attend school at the same time or perhaps the age to work a full time job doesn't need to be changed. Perhaps children should earn the title adult by acting like one before they demand to be called one through nothing of action but by virtue of them being born on a particular day in a particular year. However there are "adults" that still aren't adults.
 
Your point hinges on the premise that one NEEDS to strike out on their own in those ways to not be beholden to parents for three more years.

Stay with your parents. Walk or take a bus. Work Part-time and attend school at the same time or perhaps the age to work a full time job doesn't need to be changed. Perhaps children should earn the title adult by acting like one before they demand to be called one through nothing of action but by virtue of them being born on a particular day in a particular year. However there are "adults" that still aren't adults.
My point hinges on my original post, which is that at 18 I wanted to strike out on my own and not be beholden to my parents. Then you asked me if I couldn't do that by a course of action that would have kept me beholden to my parents. Apparently you don't know what beholden means.
 
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YPerhaps children should earn the title adult by acting like one before they demand to be called one through nothing of action but by virtue of them being born on a particular day in a particular year. However there are "adults" that still aren't adults.
I have no idea why you included this; it has zero to do with anything I've written in this thread.
 
My point hinges on my original post, which is that at 18 I wanted to strike out on my own and not be beholden to my parents. Then you asked me if I couldn't do that by suggesting a course of action that would have kept me beholden to my parents. Apparently you don't know what beholden means.

Being dependent and being beholden are different things. My point is you can be your own person and do things like you are saying and not be dependent on your parents. In my mind and my understanding of the word beholden, you should always be beholden to your parents, you owe the your life.
 
I have no idea why you included this; it has zero to do with anything I've written in this thread.
It was a thought. Am I allowed to advance a thought in a discussion and not necessarily have to be a point about you in this thread?
 
Being dependent and being beholden are different things. My point is you can be your own person and do things like you are saying and not be dependent on your parents. In my mind and my understanding of the word beholden, you should always be beholden to your parents, you owe the your life.
That depends on a child's relationship with his parents. But no, I don't agree that you can be independent from your parents in the manner you outlined in your first reply. If your parents are helping you pay for school, rent, food, insurance, or whatever, you are depending on them.

If you want to make some distinction between independence, financially, and being beholden to someone, whatever. I think my meaning was pretty clear in that when I was 18, I wasn't interested in having a give-and-take relationship with them. For myself, I don't think that a child is beholden to his parents simply because they are his parents. It's not like he had a choice in the matter. If, after becoming an adult legally, he continues to accept their support, then I would say he owes them something in return. Prior to that, a child has no choice in who cares for him.
 
It was a thought. Am I allowed to advance a thought in a discussion and not necessarily have to be a point about you in this thread?
If you want to include thoughts in your replies to people that aren't about those people and don't pertain to what they've been saying, that's your business. My guess is it will lead to confusion.
 
13 to be tried as an adult in a court of law
16 to start driving
17 to enlist (U.S.)
18 to smoke
21 to drink

And don't even get me started on the age of consent laws, romeo and juliet non-sense, etc.

We need to sit down, and decide which age is considered adult - and stick to it. To me, I think it's clearly not higher than 17. If you can enlist in the military at 17, and go fight and die, then you should be considered an adult.

But I'm conflicted on the issue. I was reading an article by Mia Khalifa, the porn star - I think it was on CNN or some shit, where she sat down with Lance Armstrong, and confessed how she wishes she never did porn, and she can't get a boyfriend or a real job, and she's humiliated her family. It was really fucking sad, and almost made me think that the age restriction for DOING porn should be higher. 18 year olds are idiots.



She didn't think that exposing herself to millions of people, sucking dick and taking it up the ass wouldn't prevent her from getting a job where a portion of people would know her?
 
Good lord! have any of yous seen todays youth? 21 indeed.

<Varys01>
 
I believe it was changed to 18 from 21 in Aus because young men were coming home from war and couldn't have a drink.
 
She didn't think that exposing herself to millions of people, sucking dick and taking it up the ass wouldn't prevent her from getting a job where a portion of people would know her?

I actually don't buy it. There are a ton of guys out there that would happily be her boyfriend. A lot of girls say "i can't get a boyfriend", but what they really mean is "i can't get THE boyfriend i want". There is a big difference.

It would be like me saying I can't get a car, but what I'm really saying is I can't get a lambo.
 
Same as my other post.

Should a 24 year old man who commits murder be tried as a juvenile and given a lenient sentence and sent to a juvenile prison, then be able to later have it expunged/sealed?
Should a fifteen year old?
 
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