Would you consider yourself an adult? Adults are considered to be responsible, intelligent, self sufficient, and hard working. However, these traits aren’t possessed by all adults, so what makes an adult, an adult? The age that kids should be viewed as adults is 20 years old.
Physical nor mental capabilities are requirements to be considered an adult. All people are different. Some may never be able to pass any form of IQ or fitness test. Regardless, the brain does finish developing around the age of 20 years, negating any reason to change the adult age for factoring in mental ability. “Indeed, some brain regions and systems do not reach full maturity until the early or mid-20s.” says Laurence Steinberg in her article “What the
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However, this is not consistent in it’s application. For example, the legal age for drinking is set at 21, which well past the age of 18 when a person perform military service and vote. According to Jenny Diamond Cheng in her story “Leave the Voting Age Alone”, the voting age was changed from 21 to 18 with the 26th Amendment to match the age for enlistment in the military. According to the website very well family, the beginning age in some states for a learners permit for driving starts at age 14; and a full license can be obtained in some states at the age of 16 and half years. In addition, the legal age for obtaining and drinking alcohol is 21. In the first example, there is a change from 21 to 18 for voting which demonstrates that the age is not a true indicator of being adult enough to vote. Also, it shows that the age for military service is set at 18. In the second example, it shows how the driving age is not clearly set in all states, and that it is lower the the voting and military age of 18. In the third example, the drinking age is several years beyond the previous examples. Therefore, a legal declaration does not necessarily constitute adulthood, just a legal age when your actions will be handled according to adult standards. This also indicates that you are only partially an adult until you reach the age of 21 when you can be held legally responsible for all activities. In light of all this, age is not necessarily a defining aspect of being an
In the United States of America the drinking age is 21 which was instituted with the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed on July 17, 1984. Before 1984 the national drinking age was 18. This is the age when U.S citizens are considered legal adults at the age of eighteen I could hypothetically go out vote, get married, join the army and buy a lottery ticket all in one day. On this same day I could also get caught driving while intoxicated, and then be arrested and tried as an adult in the court of
In the late 1960’s to mid-70’s the legal drinking age was 18 because the voting age of 21 was lowered to 18. However, in 1984 a bill was passed that every state in the United States was to change the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Although this is a highly controversial topic many young adults believe lowering the drinking age back to 18 is best because if they may vote at the age of 18 then, they should be allowed purchase alcoholic beverages. In an article “Should the U.S. lower its drinking age?” written by Brandon Griggs introduces the pros and cons of lowering the drinking age. Griggs explains two generations ago young adults didn’t have to worry much about getting caught drinking or buying their way out to purchase alcohol. Nowadays
The minimum legal drinking age was not always twenty-one; it has fluctuated between twenty-one and eighteen over the past few decades. In the article, “Underage Drinking and the Drinking Age” by Carla T. Main, the issues of voting age during the Vietnam War are discussed. Furthermore, she speaks about how the change of the legal voting age is linked to the change of the minimum legal drinking age. During the Vietnam War, lowering the voting age to eighteen became an issue. Many felt as though they should be trusted to vote if they were trusted to fight for their country. Along with this issue came the issue of lowering the minimum legal drinking age as well. Americans began to realize that as eighteen year olds, citizens were given many rights, and those should include voting and drinking. At eighteen, rights include serving the United State military, the ability to get married, and being able to legal sign contracts on your own. After much attention, the voting age was changed. In the article, “The Drinking Game”, Marshall Poe discusses the change of the voting age during the Vietnam War. “The needed three-f...
... Legal Drinking Age to 18 Nationwide." Gallup. N.p., 27 July 2007. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
...e minimum legal drinking age in the United States should remain at twenty-one years old. Since the National Legal Drinking Age Act was ratified, the consumption of liquor among minors has abated significantly. With the restriction in affect, the United States is definitely a safer place when it comes to alcohol use. Even though, the reduction of the drinking age would get rid of the taboo that surrounds alcohol which would result in fewer teens drinking just to be accepted by their peers, young adolescents now have a harder time getting access to alcohol due to the minimum legal drinking age resulting in less alcohol-affiliated problems and a decrease in damage to their bodies. Teens and alcohol are not a good mix so citizens of the United States should keep them separated as best as they can. By having a minimum age limit of twenty-one, that is a great way to do it.
Now it is simply an opinion that tightening restrictions and increasing visibility enforcement will lower the number of drunk driving accidents and deaths. The legal age to consume alcohol in our nation, the United States of America, is 21 years of age; although, it was previously allowed at the age of 18, when one is accepted into adulthood. The National Minimum Drinking Age is imposed in every state that allows persons under 21 years of age to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages.
What makes an adult an adult? Is it based on their age? Does turning 18 automatically make you an adult? Should juvenile criminals convicted of a crime be tried and sentenced as adults? Why not? Juvenile criminals should be tried and sentenced as adults.
Teenagers still should have the chance to grow up and to experience “love” and relationships without their life being jepordized by other parents because they are unhappy about their children's relationship. In other words, they should not be considered an “adult” because they really do not understand the law or what is actually going on in life. Twenty years of age would be more of an appropriate age that people can actually be considered an adult.
The first reason why eighteen should be the legal age to drink is because one can vote and serve in the military at the same age. Dr. Ruth Engs stated in an interview, the banning of alcohol by young adults (who can vote, serve in the military, etc.) is not working, we need to get rid of this failure and replace it with proven, realistic, and successful approach to fix the situation (Hanson, 1997-2013). The legal age to vote is eighteen in America, the age where young adults make the decision on the country’s future leader, possibly take a bullet for it, but can’t allow them to buy alcohol. If young adults have to trained and kill for the country, as tiring as that is, they should have all the rights to obtain alcohol, because they deserve it. It does not make sense at all to some people. If at the age eighteen, one is legally an adult, can vote and serve in the military, then drinking alcohol should also be the same (Harold, n.d.).
Upon turning eighteen you are considered to be legal adult and receive all of the responsibilities that accompany the title. At the age of eighteen year olds you receive and are expected to use the rights and responsibilities to vote, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, join the military--which includes taking on the responsibilities of life and death--and be prosecuted as an adults in the court of law along with many other things. In 1984, the national government raised the drinking age from 18 to 21. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was a key contributing organization that influenced the change in the minimum drinking age. While there are arguments for both sides, it is said that if the national minimum legal drinking age is dropped back to eighteen many lives would be saved, colleges will have better retention as well as turn out rates of high school graduates, and it could repeal or alter a counterproductive law. The minimum legal drinking age should be lowered back down to the age of eighteen and those who wish to drink should be required to take classes to attain a drinking license upon completing the class in a satisfactory manner.
It is ironic that how some children are able to present themselves more mature than adults. The youth of the generation is becoming more mature and are developing adult skills faster than ever. People are beginning to wonder about the age of adulthood and how it should be determined. This controversy beleaguers around privileges such as drinking, driving, and voting. According to the article What is the Age of Responsibility by Alan Greenblatt, society determines that a person is an adult through customary rites, legal rights, and one’s responsibilities. However, I believe that the best way to adulthood is shown through one’s obligation for their priorities and work.
Legal drinking age varies by many countries. In U.S.A, There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the legal drinking age here in US. When it comes to law. There is always an opinion, some are for it and some are against. When it comes to the legal drinking age being 21 we are totally against it. Many people still say the government should prohibit using alcoholic drinks at the age of 18. Legal adults deserve to be treated as such it is time the arbitrary drinking age of 21 Was lowered to 18, because there is no evidence that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is effective or protects the people it is intended to protect . The Notional Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 in an attempt to decrease the number of drunk driving related accidents. The act threatens to decrease a state’s budget for high way construction and maintenance if it sets its drinking age under 21. According to Cuccoli , “ Keeping the drinking age at such a low age is leading to more cases of binge drinking,” (Cuccoli). Mothers against drunk driving reports that the number of alcohol related fatalities involving a vehicle decreased from 26, 173 to 16, 885 between 1982 and 2005.
In the recent years the legal age to consume or purchase alcohol has been twenty-one. Before the age was changed to twenty-one it was previously eighteen. This law was not changed to upset those who were between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one at the time or to restrict their freedom. The law was put in place for the safety of the people of the United States from the dangers of alcohol at an age believed to be too young to handle the consequenc...
Juvenile offenders should not be tried as adults because there are differences between a teenager and adult. A teenager is not mature as an adult. Some teenagers are capable to change their behavior and are capable to recognize their own mistakes. It is a huge mistake for juveniles offenders to be tried as adults and send them to adult court and prison . There are many factors why they should not be tried as adult.
Becoming an adult, also known as young adulthood, is a very crucial stage in one’s life. This is the climax of physical and health processes. This is the point in life when we make plans of our futures. It is the time when we think of what life will be like as an adult and make plans for the future. Most importantly, it is when we lay the starting point for developmental changes that we will undergo throughout our lives. An adult is a person who is fully grown or developed. Some people believe that you become an adult when you are 18 years old, other believe you are an adult when you can legally buy and consume alcohol, that is, at age 21 in the United States. Others believe that you are an adult when you are supporting yourself