The "Right Age"

I don't think physical age should matter for some of these. As far as alcohol consumption goes, I think age does make a difference. The human body, at a young age, can be deformed by alcohol consumption. It can lead to serious health problems and early addiction.

Moving out age I think is something that should not be defined by age. I know a six year old who supports his whole family since his dad left and his mom is a druggie and an alcoholic. That kid knows more than me about how life works, from shopping to taxes to getting a job. He should be able to move out on his own with his younger siblings to support them away from his mother, as he has clearly shown the ability to do so.

Maybe there should be some sort of test for mental age, and people could base laws and restrictions around that.

 

I see little to no problem with an age restriction on marriage. Many years ago, it wasn't much a problem, but as for today... Yeah, I can see why there is one.

As for alchohol, I'm all for a 21 year old age limit. Alchohol has adverse affects on adults and children alike, even more so for younger people. It isn't till a certain age that people develop the ability to properly break down alchohol in their digestive systems, allowing them to drink a measured amount without fear of consequence.

Teens and kids, on the other hand, are not able to properly dispose of alchohol, and even a small amount can have huge impact. Young kids who choose to drink at a premature age risk throat and mouth cancer, liver cirrhosis, heart disease, and sexual and mental health problems, such as suicidal thoughts.


Moving out? That's a bit of a grey area. Some people are naturally more self-sufficient than others, while some can't get to the refrigerator without breaking an arm, two legs, and bursting a kidney. (Metaphorically, of course) I'm alright with an age limit, but if the situation needs special consideration, such as the one Madness provided above, then we can bend a few rules.


Driving and getting a license... I don't understand why the age limit is exactly sixteen. (At least, in the U.S.) I can't see much of a difference between 15, 17, or even 14. Again, some people are different than others; there are probably a few cases where some teenagers are mentally mature and prepared enough to undertake driving. And then of course, there is the other end of the spectrum; legal age drivers who crash into a lone tree in the middle of a barren desert. (This actually happened, by the way.)


Anyway, those are my opinions. Age restriction is a bit of an iffy thing, really. Everyone is different, and age is definitely something that does not have fixed boundaries. There are kids under the age of 10 who have gotten pregnant, or been unnaturally smart, or even been able to drink. And of course, there's the whole thing with Progeria, and aging disorder.

 

I've always had something against age limits. All your age tells you is for how long you've been walking around on this planet. It doesn't say anything about your responsibilities. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you aren't responsible enough, you should not be allowed to drive/drink/have children. And there are enough examples of people who are officially allowed to drink, but everybody knows they don't have the responsibility. And it kind of frustrated me, honestly. On the other hand, I can also understand that it is really difficult to find an alternative, and I wouldn't know one either. But it's really something to change in the future.

 

I dont know much about alcahol, because its outlawed in my country and religion, but as for marriage....it depends. Ive seen six year olds been forced onto marriage and I think thats really idiotic. As for moving out, it should whenever the person feels they can handle it.

 

A great example of how i would view the topic of age restrictions would be my poll on voting:

A while back i thought it was unfair that children under the age of 18 could not vote

so i polled people in that age group to see how they would vote if they could
my results were something like this:

The guy with the coolest name--20%
The democrat guy--60%
the hottest one--15%
whoever i think has the best policies--5%

I thought that children were obviously too immature to vote:

but when i looked out how adults were voting and their rationalizations it was almost an exact match.......

 

Here are what I think are good legal ages.

Marriage and moving out: 16 (don't shoot me XD )
Drive on your own: 20
Drink alcohol: Never

I'm weird :|

I do think there should be general legal ages in order to protect the safety of younger people, but it's kind of annoying how only 18 year olds can do certain things like having a PayPal account or something. What makes an 18 year old so much more competent than a 17 year old?

 

Usually depends on the circumstances, what truly defines a person when they're ready?

Marriage? If two people love each other, they can have every right to get married if the clause is okay on both parties. You can have a 17 year old and a man who is in their 30's and that couple would be at a better stand off with stupid teenagers who think they're ready for life.

this goes without say, driving is more for mature individuals. Once you are at that level of understanding then you should be able to drive on your own with a legal license, because anyone can drive, but don't know the responsibilities with driving.

I'm sorry, but I don't think alcohol should be consumed at all. It reflects on my two previous statements I just said, alcohol is that ones" friend" of yours that will insure you'll make the wrong choices.

And the moving out business? That doesn't matter how old you are, the door is right there, but just make sure you have a job and money to back you up so you don't come crawling back to me for help.

 

To get married? whenever they feel like it, if under 18, they need permission from guardians.
To drive on your own?/get your license? 16~18, depends on how the public transport system is and how big the place you're living is.
To drink alcohol? Just not at the same time as driving, because that's stupid.
To move out? 16 with parent permission. 18

 

I'm going to give my honest and brutal opinion here, and I hope it doesn't piss anyone off.

For starters, marriage is a topic that requires a definite age limit. Back when people's life expectancies were 40 years at max, there was no problem with marriage at extremely young ages, even at prepubescent ages. Hell, just take a look at Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare; Juliet was 12. However, in our more civilized age, there is a definite problem with marriage. If one is to marry, it just comes with the sort of expectation that you're going to do the frick frack with your romantic partner. Without trying to offend anyone, let's assume this marriage is between a very young and immature heterosexual and cisgender couple. When a young girl goes into pregnancy, her body is put under tremendous stress. Even when a person is older, their body isn't immune to the adverse effects of pregnancy. Marriage is definitely a no-no for younger ages, even for couples who may not necessarily want a baby or are not heterosexual. Let's be serious here, maturity is a big thing in all bodies, not just fertile pregnancy-able ones.

Driving is also a definite one. A lot of people under the age of 16 don't really understand rules and aren't mature. Let's be serious, even a lot of 16 year olds aren't really mature. If the driving age was lowered, I'd hate to think what kind of unnecessary deaths would occur. There's already of a lot of trouble involving adults in cars, and if they manage to mess up that badly with cars, I'd hate to imagine what would happen if kids got in cars. Are they even tall enough to see???

Moving out, however, is more of a grey thing. There's no definite age as to when you should be allowed to move out. Sure, a lot of people do it anyway, but can they support themselves? Sure, those who are older can support themselves much more easily. Though I don't believe people should be allowed to move out, it's not a matter of my personal preference that decides what age limit should be implemented. Moving out is not an age limit defined thing.

Alcohol is just dumb, though. As a lot of other people have said, it has a negative effect on growing bodies. There should never be any change to that particular law and stricter rules should be enforced on that age limit.

Also, let me just quote this and say something about it, because something just irks me about it.

Age limits always talk about how mature you are and what responsibilities you have. People below certain ages cannot have specific responsibilities for their own good. Is it right to be married and have a child when you're too young for your body to even support a child, much less actual maternal duties for the child? People's brains haven't even stopped developing by the 20s (as shown by a quick Google search). You have to consider that age isn't just a number, it's a connotation of a person's character.

 

Out of all the responses I saw, this is the one I can agree with most. In terms of the activities that are likely to be based on mental stability--marriage, driving, and moving out [away from one's guardians]--would likely be served better through some contextual study and aptitude test for real-experience readiness.

Contextual studies would be something similar to a teacher's assessment where a supervisor sits in during a normal day, examining how mature a person may be acting, and how well situations are handled. The difference with these situations, however, is a different concept than naming a person an "adult". By federal law in the U.S., a minor becomes an adult at the age of 18 years My problem with this specifically is the definition of an adult: "a fully grown and developed person" (first definition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary). Other definitions also include the "maturity" element; this is arguably more important than being fully biologically developed for activities that are more dependent on mental maturity.

Being biologically an adult--fully grown and developed--in my opinion should be the more important deciding factor in activities such as smoking, drinking, having a child, and taking addictive drugs. As @[member="8542Madness"] noted, the human body can deform or otherwise develop unnaturally if these activities affect a human. This would mean that the age that someone may be allowed to do these activities would differ between people, same as those listed previously.

 

The thing is, people can act very differently on one day than they will the next....

As for drinking, I think it should be lowered to 18, driving is fine, same with marriage and moving out, etc.

The reason why I'm for lowering the drinking age is that you are able to go fight and possibly die for your country, but not able to have a drink... Seems a little unfair to me.

 

I'm just speaking with a normative point of view, as I saw a more objective skew in responses. Generally I'd say the driving age is fine, same as the age to be enlisted in the military (technically it's 17, but realistically 18 in the U.S.).

I share the opinion of thinking that the difference between the drinking age and "adult" age is a little..."unfair", but at the same time, I'm not sure an age minimum is exactly helpful.

 

Well, you can get in DEP (Delayed Entry Program) at 17, but I don't think you can do anything beyond that except MAYBE Basic.

 

Yes, that was what I was referring to. You don't see actual combat until you turn 18. I thought it was worth a mention, given we're talking about technicalities of each age minimum and why they do or do not matter.