Age

[Mezalyth]

Apparently this numerical category causes a lot of issues. Rules, guidelines, expectations, maturity levels, the value of love...all based on how many years you've spent on this planet.

There's the age restrictions for voting, drinking, smoking, driving, working, dating...you name it.

So then! Debate what age restrictions should be rearranged, which ones should be removed, which ones should be placed...and perhaps try to explain why stigmas are attached to certain age groups.  

[MightieMaxie]

heart I hear about age all the time. People say my fiancee is too young for me all the time. We are 4 years apart; I'm 21, shes 17. Frankly I am tired of it, age has never been a factor to my thought process.

I see 40 year old people act so dumb sometimes, and very responsible 10 year olds.  

[Zatalin]

I think we should be more like Germany. They can drink at 16 but can't drive until 18 which would be nice. Many less stupid people driving to school and back. It is horrible what has happened. ><

Age shouldn't matter. The most wonderful person in my life (my boyfriend) is 6 years older then me and I have never been happier. He makes me so happy. There isn't a large difference in maturity which makes it work a lot better. There are some people who act their age, others who act their shoe size/5 (teenage boys!), and people who act above their age. I like to think I act older then I am.

Age shouldn't matter. Maturity should.  

[Semidis--]

Eh...I think age requirements are bull. Maturity, though much harder to measure is a much better...measure. If that makes sense. I've met many a stupid adult and stupid child. I've also met many that are perfectly mature.

I don't think you should have restrictions on personal videos and toys (if you know what I mean) and movies.  

[Semidis--]

Eh...I think age requirements are bull. Maturity, though much harder to measure is a much better...measure. If that makes sense. I've met many a stupid adult and stupid child. I've also met many that are perfectly mature.

I don't think you should have restrictions on personal videos and toys (if you know what I mean) and movies.  

[Zatalin]

Maturity is a much better measure then age. I know very responsible children who I would trust more then some adults. I would trust my younger sister to drive me more then my uncle. ><

I wish there was a maturity test. Just take it every year and get older that way. Oh well. That would take too much money.  

[Biyanka]

I think maturity is more important than age in things like drinking, BUT, I think age limits are a good thing. As for lowering things (such as drinking and driving age) I'm not sure.

I don't think it's fair that an 18 year old can go to war but not "legally" drink a beer. (I don't know current laws, I've heard that this is varies and whatnot, so correct me)

I've seen ridiculous 40 year olds and smart 14 year olds.  

[Butterball Baker]

Before I start I think I should mention that this is coming from a 13 year old. I agree with most if not all of you, it's not age that people need to look at, it's maturity. I've been called mature for my age, the people that I've met on Gaia tell me they thought I was 20 something. Most of my real life friends would agree. But I know some EXTREMELY immature 13 year olds, 18 year olds, even 50 something year olds. So yeah...age is basically just a number.  

[Asylum Renegade]

We seem to all agree on the maturity aspect of age being more important than the age itself, but alas the law cannot dictate maturity and must choose a number as a whole. The closest to maturity the law can dictate is mental capacity to stand trial type of thing. And we all hopefully can agree that the law must choose a number as opposed to abolish numbers altogether.

Voting is an easy one for me, as soon as one can legally become an adult aka finish mandatory school and including emancipation, one should be allowed to vote. So either 18 (as I feel schooling would need to be fully finished particularly government and civil type courses) or legal emancipation.

As far as work is concerned I feel the laws in place right now in regards to work and labor do not need adjusting and I support them, same as military joining.

Do we think the law should allow it to be, as stated earlier, like Germany and drinking age to be 16 while driving age to be 18? That way people are a little more alert as to how they are when intoxicated and hopefully have not quite have as many drunk drivers. Also less people will be underage drinking since they can do it already effectively. I would not be wholly opposed to this with the exception that so many kids would be going to school drunk. Meanwhile if the driving age is 18 people would be forced to enter the work force later on in life as they will be still learning to drive after high school is over on average as opposed to driving to work. There are things to look at in regards to both arguments and after writing this paragraph I still am unsure how I feel about these age requirements. I do wholly support the drinking age to be lowered to at least 18 though.

As for the dating aspect of age we can get more into the lines of maturity than law as it is not illegal to date just illegal to have any sexual contact and anytime you bridge the magic number for the age gap it can get very risky. Say both parties are mature enough how old is too old is too old. 4 years I feel wouldn't be a problem, hell I've dated someone 11 years my junior for a year and a half before (I'm 32 now) Now that person is with someone who is 16 years their senior (of which I am happy for them both). Now ponder this though. Is that age too much for your opinion, if not think on this that the new b/f has a 15 year old daughter, and she is the same age difference from me as her father her father's new g/f (now fiancé), how would you feel if you heard me and the daughter were dating (which we are not). Would you be outraged or just say they are both mature enough for it?

So for that magic number of 18 when is one too old to date someone under that number. At what age does maturity go out the window and the number of the age take over? That I feel is the magic question.  

[Melena Rai]

Okay so this has always been a touchy subject with me but it is more of the fact that i was a rule follower.

Do I think the drinking age should be lowered - yes - 16 is not out of the question as most kids are going to start then anyway but i think 18 is more suitable

Driving - driving is a bit harder because of the lifestyles most of us live anymore parents can not and do not have the time required to play chauffeur all the time anymore due to the income needed for a comfortable lifestyle many people are working overtime or 2 jobs. 16 I feel is reasonable.

for the people that say AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER ... how would you feel going to a wedding for a 12 year old? What are your feelings on that? I say no one should be able to get married before 18

Maturity is determined by the lifestyle and choices made by the people.. as we all know people who can vary on either and age isn't a factor but IT DOES COME WITH LIFE EXPERIENCE. One so young does not have the life experience to fully make choices. i am 31 now and where i thought i would meet someone .. get married.. have kids.. the normal goal of most people growing up .. the more i experience the world the more i change my mind.. I don't want to date anyone younger than 25 or older than 38 because they wouldn't have enough life experience for me and I wouldn't have enough life experience for the person older. I get not everyone feels this way.. and I understand there are flukes to the theory

life changes.. your grandmothers time frame people lived to their 60s and married somewhere between 15-20 and you needed kids right after that too so you could be around to raise them

for your parents it was 20-25

so today it is 25-35 (and for some of us later than that) .. society has raised its social living expenses to the point where most people can't afford to live .. that cost isn't based on age but changes the way we live and the life experiences we have

In all honesty if our government would provide a free college education to everyone that everyone got to go .. ALL of our lives would be different .. but i agree once you are done with school and being forced to go to work, college, or military you should also be able to make major life choices for yourself (tattoos, drinking, driving, etc etc)  

[shalina_the_1st]

I agree that maturity doesnt always equal a certain age. The other issue is that children's bodies are growing. That is why a lot of the laws are in place. I dont think kids should be able to drink tell they are 21, like in the states, as it is so bad for your body, just like cigarettes. They also need more information on things like driving and what certain things do to the body. I think we just need more education on what it really is to be a functioning adult. The education would help the age thing be less of an issue.