Is 18 really the proper legal adult age? should we change it?

[Anonymous 5]

You have to remember that when many of the arbitrary rules were made our life expectancies were far shorter and our military needs greater. WW2 and Vietnam were accomplished in large part due to the draft.

My paternal grandmother was married at 18 and a mother the day before her 19th birthday!

Now who in their right mind would encourage their 18 year old to marry!

Certainly there needs to be a line where parents are no longer legally responsible for their adult children but I don’t think it should be 18. Our youngest will have turned 18 his junior year in high school (September baby) but I certainly wouldn’t consider him an “adult” in the sense of maturity or even ability to care for himself.

So your son will graduate high school at 19 3/4?? Almost 20 years old! That is ridiculous and has nothing to do with being a September baby. If he entered K at 6 he would still be 18 (and 3/4) at graduation. Something else happened.

its not F***ing ridiculous. My 16 yo was a November baby and will graduate at 19. 6 months before he turns 20. We decided to hold him back in 3rd grade. However, he is not alone and isn't even in the minority. Many parents are red shirting their kids. Studies have shown its better for them to start to later. I agree considering I started Kinder at 4 and struggled greatly through school due to being almost 2 years younger than everyone else

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. It wasn’t that she had a September baby. Something else must have happened (like you mentioned holding him back in 3rd) And in your case redshirting the kid made no difference, eh? And yes, barring special needs graduating at 20 is ridiculous!

[QuantumNursing]

Many counties don’t consider 18 an adult. I think by having kids move out of the parental home at 18, we are setting them up to be more in debt. Some countries have children living with family until they have been married for five or six years. The goal is to have them financially stable before moving them out. I think it makes a lot of sense.

You should probably look these things up before you post. Most countries consider people adults at 18. With some including the UK believes it starts at 16 and some countries even younger at 15

I just finished an entire semester on this subject. Many third world countries do not consider 18 year olds adults. I said many countries. Not most. There are lots of countries.

Try 5...2 of them are considered first world nations. Japan and New Zealand. The other 3 Paraguay,Thailand and Taiwan are not 3rd world countries. Most 3rd world countries have a YOUNGER age of majority

[QuantumNursing]

So your son will graduate high school at 19 3/4?? Almost 20 years old! That is ridiculous and has nothing to do with being a September baby. If he entered K at 6 he would still be 18 (and 3/4) at graduation. Something else happened.

its not F***ing ridiculous. My 16 yo was a November baby and will graduate at 19. 6 months before he turns 20. We decided to hold him back in 3rd grade. However, he is not alone and isn't even in the minority. Many parents are red shirting their kids. Studies have shown its better for them to start to later. I agree considering I started Kinder at 4 and struggled greatly through school due to being almost 2 years younger than everyone else

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. It wasn’t that she had a September baby. Something else must have happened (like you mentioned holding him back in 3rd) And in your case redshirting the kid made no difference, eh? And yes, barring special needs graduating at 20 is ridiculous!

I didn't redshirt my kid. I should have but I didn't.

[Murdoc's Mistress]

I don't think anyone is cognitively ready to magically be an adult at 18 no matter how mature we think we are. I think it's fucked that they can enter contracts, rent apartments, be seen as an adult in the eyes of the law but can't buy their own beer, rent a car, reserve a hotel room, or even apply for aid for college (you have to provide your parents' financials unless you're married or over 26).

So yeah, we need to raise the age. But I'm sure some will cry foul cuz they want to move out, want to kick their kids out and military looses their cannon fodder.

[Anonymous 5]

its not F***ing ridiculous. My 16 yo was a November baby and will graduate at 19. 6 months before he turns 20. We decided to hold him back in 3rd grade. However, he is not alone and isn't even in the minority. Many parents are red shirting their kids. Studies have shown its better for them to start to later. I agree considering I started Kinder at 4 and struggled greatly through school due to being almost 2 years younger than everyone else

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. It wasn’t that she had a September baby. Something else must have happened (like you mentioned holding him back in 3rd) And in your case redshirting the kid made no difference, eh? And yes, barring special needs graduating at 20 is ridiculous!

I didn't redshirt my kid. I should have but I didn't.

So looking back you should have entered your kid in K when he was 7?

[QuantumNursing]

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. It wasn’t that she had a September baby. Something else must have happened (like you mentioned holding him back in 3rd) And in your case redshirting the kid made no difference, eh? And yes, barring special needs graduating at 20 is ridiculous!

I didn't redshirt my kid. I should have but I didn't.

So looking back you should have entered your kid in K when he was 7?

Absolutely. At least 6 turning 7

[Anonymous 5]

I don't think anyone is cognitively ready to magically be an adult at 18 no matter how mature we think we are. I think it's fucked that they can enter contracts, rent apartments, be seen as an adult in the eyes of the law but can't buy their own beer, rent a car, reserve a hotel room, or even apply for aid for college (you have to provide your parents' financials unless you're married or over 26).

So yeah, we need to raise the age. But I'm sure some will cry foul cuz they want to move out, want to kick their kids out and military looses their cannon fodder.

The average age a person enlists in the military is 21

[QuantumNursing]

I don't think anyone is cognitively ready to magically be an adult at 18 no matter how mature we think we are. I think it's fucked that they can enter contracts, rent apartments, be seen as an adult in the eyes of the law but can't buy their own beer, rent a car, reserve a hotel room, or even apply for aid for college (you have to provide your parents' financials unless you're married or over 26).

So yeah, we need to raise the age. But I'm sure some will cry foul cuz they want to move out, want to kick their kids out and military looses their cannon fodder.

The average age a person enlists in the military is 21

Not hardly

[RedBottoms]

its not F***ing ridiculous. My 16 yo was a November baby and will graduate at 19. 6 months before he turns 20. We decided to hold him back in 3rd grade. However, he is not alone and isn't even in the minority. Many parents are red shirting their kids. Studies have shown its better for them to start to later. I agree considering I started Kinder at 4 and struggled greatly through school due to being almost 2 years younger than everyone else

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. It wasn’t that she had a September baby. Something else must have happened (like you mentioned holding him back in 3rd) And in your case redshirting the kid made no difference, eh? And yes, barring special needs graduating at 20 is ridiculous!

I didn't redshirt my kid. I should have but I didn't.

yes you did. Starting at age 6 is red shirting. I am a Nov birthday and I started Kindy at 5 and turned 18 Nov of Senior year

[Deleted User 638]

I didn't redshirt my kid. I should have but I didn't.

So looking back you should have entered your kid in K when he was 7?

Absolutely. At least 6 turning 7

Most young adults would justifiably resent their parents for delaying their adult lives by two years. We can be there for our children entering adulthood without delaying their education.