A teenager under the age of 18 - the generally accepted age of majority, age of maturity and thus age of adulthood - is a child, regardless if they’re 2, 7, 12, or 16 years old.
VERY few countries peg the age of consent at 18, mostly the hyper-conservative. Only 10 states in America and only Turkey in Europe. Not sure there’s any countries in Africa or Asia.
This notion that a human goes from child to adult on their 18th birthday is truly bizarre to me. I was sexually active at 16 and the girl I lost my virginity to was 14. We weren’t adults, in full command of our lives, but we sure as hell weren’t children. At 17, my gf and I had sex almost daily, if we could manage it. And you would say we were children? Mighty developed and freaky children indeed!
The age of majority you’re arguing is the age at which society deems one responsible enough to sign contracts, join the military, in short, be responsible for one’s decisions. But to act like there’s no in-between state is ludicrous.
Even weirder is people arguing, correctly, that sexuality, autism, etc., is on a spectrum. But our maturity is not? That idea goes against even the most base observations.
My daughter turns 13 next month. Last summer I was already seeing her flip between “child” and a more serious person, sometimes minute to minute. (Can’t explain better, sorry.) Her brother is 10 and 100% child, no trace of maturity, as you would expect. By the time she is 14-15 she will be a wholly different person. But you would class her the same as a 10-yo?
I cannot speak for other countries but here in Germany childhood ends at 14 years old with a transitional phase of a “youth minor” (cannot think of a better word, sorry) until the age of 18.
That said, this is a completely different thing from advocating that “parents should marry off their children at a fairly early age” which Putin does. That is treating minors as tradable property which is truly despicable.
Even if its written by law that they are a child, it doesn’t mean that it should be like that. It has been proven that the law can be extremely sexist, ageist and discriminate to its populace.
Minor is a more formal word for under 18s or those under the age of majority that is used commonly, it’s way less discriminatory than calling them children. But even so, the problem remains that teenagers are lumped under the same umbrella as children are - which is factually incorrect.
Of course, despite my critique; your statement remains right as this is what currently lives within the law.
A teenager under the age of 18 - the generally accepted age of majority, age of maturity and thus age of adulthood - is a child, regardless if they’re 2, 7, 12, or 16 years old.
VERY few countries peg the age of consent at 18, mostly the hyper-conservative. Only 10 states in America and only Turkey in Europe. Not sure there’s any countries in Africa or Asia.
This notion that a human goes from child to adult on their 18th birthday is truly bizarre to me. I was sexually active at 16 and the girl I lost my virginity to was 14. We weren’t adults, in full command of our lives, but we sure as hell weren’t children. At 17, my gf and I had sex almost daily, if we could manage it. And you would say we were children? Mighty developed and freaky children indeed!
The age of majority you’re arguing is the age at which society deems one responsible enough to sign contracts, join the military, in short, be responsible for one’s decisions. But to act like there’s no in-between state is ludicrous.
Even weirder is people arguing, correctly, that sexuality, autism, etc., is on a spectrum. But our maturity is not? That idea goes against even the most base observations.
My daughter turns 13 next month. Last summer I was already seeing her flip between “child” and a more serious person, sometimes minute to minute. (Can’t explain better, sorry.) Her brother is 10 and 100% child, no trace of maturity, as you would expect. By the time she is 14-15 she will be a wholly different person. But you would class her the same as a 10-yo?
Age of consent =/= age of majority.
Age of consent does not demark the beginning of adulthood.
It really comes down to decision making skills. True, adults still struggle with that.
But the younger they are the worse that ability is.
I cannot speak for other countries but here in Germany childhood ends at 14 years old with a transitional phase of a “youth minor” (cannot think of a better word, sorry) until the age of 18.
That said, this is a completely different thing from advocating that “parents should marry off their children at a fairly early age” which Putin does. That is treating minors as tradable property which is truly despicable.
It’s 16 in Vietnam, Cuba, and Scotland. There’s been repeated attempts to lower it in the rest of the UK so 16 year olds can vote.
4 US states, 7 Canadian provinces, and New Zealand have an age of majority of 19 or higher.
Wow. You managed to name 6 countries from the 197 distinct ones we have - and THREE of those don’t even cover the entire country, just parts of it!
That totally shows how 18 is not generally accepted as the age of majority…
Even if its written by law that they are a child, it doesn’t mean that it should be like that. It has been proven that the law can be extremely sexist, ageist and discriminate to its populace.
Minor is a more formal word for under 18s or those under the age of majority that is used commonly, it’s way less discriminatory than calling them children. But even so, the problem remains that teenagers are lumped under the same umbrella as children are - which is factually incorrect.
Of course, despite my critique; your statement remains right as this is what currently lives within the law.
Yes, that is the novel usage of the word I’m complaining about. It was not common 30 years ago.