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When Do Kids Become Adults?
10
When Do Kids Become Adults?
Amvi, Jayden, Jeremiah, Ann
Period 5
Our Opinion (Jeremiah)
Our Opinion
Our opinion on when kids become adults is not based on age, but on the maturity level. For instance, teeners can drive at the age of 16, which is way too young. The teenage brain is still developing and maturing. Driving requires complex skills and minimal distractions. 16- year- old teeners just want to have fun and explore. Therefore, they are not mature enough to drive at the age of 16. The legal drinking age is 21… which is older than the legal age for driving, and smoking tobacco. These ages are very unevenly distributed, and inaccurate. At 18, the teenage brain is still developing and maturing, and teenagers are in the process of approaching adulthood. There isn’t a fixed age for becoming an adult, however most studies show that people reach adulthood in the early to late 20s.
When Kids Become Adults: According to Law (Jayden)
When Kids Become Adults According to Law
In most states, teenagers become adults when they turn 18. In fact, in the United States, people can start driving at 16, and enlist in the military at age 17. Also, they can legally drink at age 21. "In most states in the United States, a child becomes an adult legally when they turn 18 years old," according to parentingforbrain.com.
When Do Kids Become Adults: Brain Development (Amvi M and Ann K)
When Kids Become Adults According to Science
After children go past adolescence and mature into adulthood, several things change in their brain.
Most changes occur in the prefrontal cortex: More attention and focus, impulse control, emotional control, future planning, understanding consequences, as well as comparing risks to rewards.
According to https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications, the brain fully finishes developing and maturing in mid-to late 20s.
Brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25. The prefrontal cortex is one of the last parts of the brain to mature.
According to https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=3051, adults and teens process information with different parts of their brain. Adults think with their prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part, the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgement. Teenagers think with their amygdala, the emotional part of their brain.
In teenage brains, the emotional part of the brain and the decision making center of their brain are still developing (not all at the same rate). This is why teens are always emotional, and moody. Teens don’t think as much as they feel.
Counterargument
(Jayden)
Counterarguemnt
On the other side, many might presume that the time when kids become adults, is a set age. One would say that the law is always correct, and is there for a reason.
According to the law in the other slide, teenagers officially turn adults at 18 years old, which might make sense to some.
For example, despite teenagers being able to officially have a
drivings license at 16, there are regulated laws in New York that help this claim. In New York, people under the age of 21 may not drive can not drive past nightfall, to help new drivers get used to driving as they grow up to be the age of 21. Also, according to some research, the brain reaches full maturity at the age of 25, which is close to the drinking age of the United States.
"So graduated licenses like we have in New York -- where young drivers cannot drive past nightfall or with more than one unrelated person under the age of 21 in their car -- make good sense," according to the New York Times.
Conclusion
(Amvi)
Conclusion
There are several different opinions on this counterargument, and I believe that maturity has no set age, as well as kids becoming adults at a set age too. At the age of 16, not only a teenager has the ability, AND choice to hurt or even kill themselves by crashing a car, they can hurt others as well. At the age of 18, they can enlist in the army, and fight for the whole United States, but can't take a drink yet? In our opinion, these age requirements for these specific things are very unorthodox, and don't make sense at all, thus, need to be changed.
Bibliography:
Bibliography
1.Li, Pamela. “When Do Kids Become Adults.” Parenting for Brain, 8 Mar. 2022, www.parentingforbrain.com/when-do-kids-become-adults/#:~:text=In%20most%20states%20in%20the
2. “NIMH» Brochures and Fact Sheets.” Www.nimh.nih.gov, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications
3. University of Rochester Medical Center. “Understanding the Teen Brain - Health Encyclopedia - University of Rochester Medical Center.” Rochester.edu, University of Rochester Medical Center, 2019, www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=3051.
4. “We Need Better Training and More Rules for New Drivers.” Www.nytimes.com, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/28/do-we-need-to-redefine-adulthood/we-need-better-training-and-more-rules-for-new-drivers.