Lower the age of majority to 16?

[darklordoftech]

How would you feel about lowering the age of majority to 16?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Big advocate.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Hell no, I don't want to be an adult (At least, not yet).

[Kingpoleon]

They aren't mentally ready. I vote NAY on the motion to proceed.

[dead0man]

no way

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Nyet.

[dw93]

They aren't mentally ready. I vote NAY on the motion to proceed.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

[IceAgeComing]

It already is in Scotland, but not much is really different.

[darklordoftech]

    Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Not everyone likes those social and cultural trends. Ever hear the term, "Millenials"?

[darklordoftech]

It already is in Scotland, but not much is really different.

Voting age != age of majority.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Treating people like children will not help the process. Give them occupations, good Christian upbringings, and basic rights, such as voting.

[Beet]

Age of majority should be based on competence, not a number.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Age of majority should be based on competence, not a number.

Who will develop the competency test?

[Kingpoleon]

Age of majority should be based on competence, not a number.

Who will develop the competency test?

I have one in the works:


1. Are you a straight, white male over 21, with an income of over $250,000?
[  ] Yes
[  ] No

The right says everyone who says no is incompetent, the left says the opposite.

[darklordoftech]

At no point in history have people under 18/21 been as restricted as they are now. It could be argued that black female lesbian 17-year-olds had more freedom in the 1950s than white male straight 17-year-olds do today. There's going to be a point at which people under 18/21 are going to say, "enough!"

[MAINEiac4434]

At no point in history have people under 18/21 been as restricted as they are now. It could be argued that black female lesbian 17-year-olds had more freedom in the 1950s than white male straight 17-year-olds do today. There's going to be a point at which people under 18/21 are going to say, "enough!"

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Treating people like children will not help the process. Give them occupations, good Christian upbringings, and basic rights, such as voting.

     Certainly, but giving legal rights to people who lack the maturity to make use of them responsibly seems backwards. This project needs to begin in society, with parents giving their children better upbringings with more autonomy.

[darklordoftech]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Treating people like children will not help the process. Give them occupations, good Christian upbringings, and basic rights, such as voting.

     Certainly, but giving legal rights to people who lack the maturity to make use of them responsibly seems backwards. This project needs to begin in society, with parents giving their children better upbringings with more autonomy.

You estimate the degree to which people assume that the law is correct. Parents often deny their children autonomy because the law says that they're children. Plenty of parents are fine with their kids drinking at a younger age on a trip to Europe.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Treating people like children will not help the process. Give them occupations, good Christian upbringings, and basic rights, such as voting.

     Certainly, but giving legal rights to people who lack the maturity to make use of them responsibly seems backwards. This project needs to begin in society, with parents giving their children better upbringings with more autonomy.

You estimate the degree to which people assume that the law is correct. Parents often deny their children autonomy because the law says that they're children. Plenty of parents are fine with their kids drinking at a younger age on a trip to Europe.

     If that hypothesis held, we would expect helicopter parenting to end when the children go off to college. My experience both as student and as staff at a university would tend to contradict that. It is certainly diminished, but given the difference in distance that exists between high school and college (few parents have the means to visit a professor in person) some of the displays I have seen of helicopter parenting are nevertheless astonishing.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Yes and no.  I certainly hate that we have (as a society) been delaying marriage and having kids to later and later in life.  No one should reach their late 20s and still not be settled down with kids.  I think our mainstream pop culture and TV shows glorifying the 30 year-old single lifestyle has to be at least partially to blame.  At the rate our society has moved to delaying adulthood, the concept of a grandparent will be a thing of the past soon enough.  I'm fortunate enough to have known all four of my grandparents into adulthood (and three of them are still with us), but I wonder how many more generations will be able to say that.

I think treating people as adults at age 16 could be a useful tool to fixing this issue.  Honestly, I would probably be OK giving most or all rights of adulthood at 16, as it largely has been (if not younger) throughout human history.

[darklordoftech]

I certainly hate that we have (as a society) been delaying marriage and having kids to later and later in life.  No one should reach their late 20s and still not be settled down with kids.  I think our mainstream pop culture and TV shows glorifying the 30 year-old single lifestyle has to be at least partially to blame.  At the rate our society has moved to delaying adulthood, the concept of a grandparent will be a thing of the past soon enough.  I'm fortunate enough to have known all four of my grandparents into adulthood (and three of them are still with us), but I wonder how many more generations will be able to say that.

It's also interesting to me how teenagers today seem to be very docile and timid. No longer do they argue with their parents, no longer do they dress in ways that piss off their parents, no longer do they stay out late, no longer do they throw house parties, no longer do they have sex, etc.

[afleitch]

It already is in Scotland, but not much is really different.

Voting age != age of majority.

The legal age of majority is 16 and has been for some time. The voting age for all but Westminster elections was brought down to 16 only recently.

[dead0man]

     Considering the recent social and cultural trends towards delaying the onset of adulthood, a proposal to reduce the age of majority is quite bizarre.

Treating people like children will not help the process. Give them occupations, good Christian upbringings, and basic rights, such as voting.

     Certainly, but giving legal rights to people who lack the maturity to make use of them responsibly seems backwards. This project needs to begin in society, with parents giving their children better upbringings with more autonomy.

You estimate the degree to which people assume that the law is correct. Parents often deny their children autonomy because the law says that they're children. Plenty of parents are fine with their kids drinking at a younger age on a trip to Europe.

it is legal in most states for parents to let under age children drink alcohol on private property.  cite

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In 8 states it's legal to do it in bars:Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Most people/parents are totally ignorant of this though....I don't know why.

[Sir Mohamed]

No, I'm oppsed to that. I think 18 is just right. There are lots of studies that say that average men and women are psychologically "an adult" at around 25. Not that I say this has to be the majority age. And for sure there are exceptions. Some folks are more mature at 16 than others at 50. Therefore I would leave it at 18.