When does a kid become a grownup?

[justcarol67]

No.Limberger wrote:
> I agree with Margie and Steve: laws that are enacted by a democratically- elected government are (theoretically) representative of the majority collective view, which doesn't necessarily reflect what is actually going on biologically, emotionally and psychologically. Each person matures at different rates based upon a broad variety of factors including genetics, nurturing and the unpredictable events that occur in each person's life. I have known people who were very mature at a very young age, as well as people who are not as mature in their late twenties and early thirties.

Carol responds:

Let me put it another way, then. Theory and legal aspects aside, are the young people you (plural) know (personally and well) mature enough to face the responsibilities (voting, taxes, earning a living, etc.) that our society thrusts upon them? If so, should we credit the parents or the schools? If not, is the problem prolonged adolescence, poor parenting, the school system, video games, or what? I *know* that there are individual differences. I also know that we in the U.S. have a high drop-out rate, a large number of teenage mothers who opt for abortion or adoption because they're not mature enough (or rich enough) to raise their own children, a serious problem with teenage drug use, etc.

The teenagers I know (and I know quite a few) are in general unmotivated and more interested in video games than in school. The values I was taught as a child (honesty, hard work, no premarital sex, respect for authority) have, as far as I can see, gone out the window. Am I misjudging today's teenagers? If not, whose fault is it? Where did we go wrong? Did it start with television or with the hippie movement or is it a more recent phenomenon?

I don't want to talk about laws. I want to talk about real kids (no names, of course) in their mid- to late teens. I've read characterizations of "Millennials" as bright, tech savvy, and highly motivated, but all I can see are kids addicted to their cell phones, texting while they drive, or ignoring their homework while they play video games. (The girls are more interested in clothes and make-up than in education, but that was also true of many girls when I was young, unfortunately.)

Carol, worried for the future of the country if things don't change soon