At 20 years old you are expected to be on your own in college, or out in the real world. Your an adult, you should have a job and be furthering your education. At merely 16 you can go to prison for life. You can drive and have the lives of others depend on how well you drive. But if you are 20 and have a child you fall into the catagory of "children having children". You are too irresponsible, and so on. But dont we decide the fate of others every time we get behind the wheel, which most have done at an age as young as 16.
2007-02-06 13:38:40 · 8 answers · asked by Chrissy WB 2 in Social Science ➔ Sociology
I think the problem is the evolvolution of age. In decades past, when someone turned 18 they moved out pretty shortly after, or went to college but got their own place after graduation. With property value being extremely high in many regions, $1500 isnt feasible for a 1 bedroom apartment for an 18 year old. Not to mention the lowered stock of a Bachelor's degree. A Bachelor's degree would land you most any job in the recent past, now you better have a Master's or Doctorate. I'm 23 and had to come back home after I just graduated college because I have no chance of affording a place here in Southern California straight out of college. Being 20 isn't as old as it used to be. like the saying 50 is the new 30 or hoever it goes, it seems like 20 is the new 17.
I know there is a new law in California, not sure if it is elsewhere, but starting with the kids who are in 8th and 9th grade currently and all generations after, will not be allowed to drive until they are 18 now.
2007-02-07 03:10:49 · answer #1 · answered by hbroots 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good question!!!! Did you know that most European countries don't allow driving until 21 and you can drink as soon as you can see over the bar? This isn't the only place our "social services" makes prejudiced, typecast, self fulfilling, differentiation. Perhaps other valid questions to ask social services might be, "So I'm a child? Why is it that I can vote then? How many people my age die in the service of their Country? Would you like to tell all the soldiers of the ages before 21 that they are children? Do you think that they 'can't be depended on'?"
2007-02-07 04:03:51 · answer #2 · answered by johnseastep 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are right and I feel your dilemma. When I was 17 and in the military, I had permission and old enough to legally kill and/or die for my country. At 19 I was married I still could not enter a binding contract even tho I was legally emancipated.
In the military at 20, I was responsible for men under me that was past 21. Go figure. But that is something/part of society that "WE" had to deal with. It often ain't fair but so is life. Be patient, allow it and the experience to help you grow and mature.
Then when YOUR child is your age now think how you may feel about the decisions YOU will make for him/her.
2007-02-06 22:24:54 · answer #3 · answered by GERALD S. MCSEE 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As the others have said, you are not the only one to notice these things. The underlying problem is that our culture has no line that indicates when a child becomes an adult. Most other cultures have rites of passage that lets the person and their family and friends know that he/she is no longer a child and has all the responsibilities and privelages as an adult. It is the sole reason the teenage years and the early twenties are filled with such turmoil and frustration.
2007-02-07 00:00:56 · answer #4 · answered by ms dont panic 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I can only tell you that these are some of the simplest issues you will face in life.
I can't explain why, but I really only truly "felt" like an adult when I was about 33.
Enjoy it while it lasts (youth). After 20, the years come faster and faster!
2007-02-06 22:00:22 · answer #5 · answered by KirksWorld 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Society (especially Western) has pushed back adulthood farther and farther in the past century. People are treated like children long after biology deems it to be so. Taking that into account, the younger generations act like children into their 20s. Note more recent coming-of-age films (Garden State, for example) whose main characters are pushing 30.
2007-02-07 01:28:56 · answer #6 · answered by Kristen D 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is difficult, for sure.
I felt the way that you do now when I was 18.
By 20, I'd left where I'd lived most of my life, moved 3500 miles away, was married and pregnant. You have lots more options and choices than you think, and lots more time ahead.
Good luck!
2007-02-06 23:30:59 · answer #7 · answered by Croa 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Right.
You're caught between Iraq and a hard place.
2007-02-06 21:55:19 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋