Youth Decisions.

hi guys!
i know there is quite a few threads on this but i searched it and it didnt come up.

anyway, i was curious to see what you guys thought.
but my topic is how old do you think you have to be to be able to make a proper decision?
do you think kids under the age of 18 or even 25 are a capable of making a serious decisions?

It's not about age, it's about maturity.

i think that it is not an issue of age, but an issue of maturity. of course, with age comes maturity, but there are plenty of 18 year olds who are idiots.
just like there are plenty of underage kids who are idiots.
i personally think that legal decisions should not be based on age. if the person in question is able to fully comprehend the situation and able to deal with the results of their actions--then they should have a BIG say if not a WHOLE say.
im 17 and i recently moved out of my parent's home and i am finding it very difficult to open a bank account or sign a contract/lease...just because im not 18. i personally think that im perfectly capable of paying my own bills, but of course, i'm "underage" and thus..."incapable of making my own decisions"
*rolls eyes--"morons"*

age and maturity are different things and i agree with you that you should be able to move out and get a bank account.

From looking back at my life and others around me i think 16 is the time when you can begin to gain your independence and you should be able to make your own decisions. I still feel young at 23 but at 16 i was definately old enough to know right from wrong and know that i would need a job, bank account etc etc.

what puzzles me is the government and it's decisions about legal age in Australia like:
16 - you can legally have sex and you can legally own a pocket knife or larger knife BUT you can't drink until you're 18 and you can't buy spray paint until you're 18.......wtf....so you can own a dangerous weapon and you can possibly get yourself or someone else pregnant, but you can't damage your OWN liver or spray a wall.........does any of this not make sense to anyone else. I mean to me it just seems so silly, sure crack down on graffiti but you can still buy a weapon and stab someone.....

it just seems so crazy to me.

I guess the reasons most of these laws are in place is because, to be blunt, the vast majority of minors are pretty damn stupid when it comes to making major decisions. Granted, there are some pretty dumbass adults out there, just as there are some super-mature teenagers, but the general consensus is that you aren't capable of making certain decisions until you have a certain amount of years of life experience under your belt.
The sad thing is, although a lot of these decisions should be based on mental preparation and maturity rather than the date on your birth certificate, there is no way for a stranger to gauge your maturity - any moron can walk into a bank and open an account, any loser can sign a lease agreement on an apartment, etc - nobody can tell the difference between a very mature minor, and regular minor, just on face value, so to protect both the businesses in question and the person signing the papers, they make it a general rule that only those considered old enough are permitted to do it.
I admit I was still immature in some ways at 18, but far ahead of my peers in other areas at the same age. For instance, when it came to money, I was like a five-year-old - thank God I never went and got a bank loan or credit card, I would have ended up in some serious debt. But, on the other hand, I was mature enough to do things like travel six hours and stay by myself in a strange place and find my own way around the city, working out bus and train schedules by myself and stuff like that, which is more than a lot of kids my age could have done then. Maturity isn't an overall thing, it's like intelligence - there's a difference between booksmarts, logic, and being able to use your own thought process to come to your own conclusion about something, rather than just memorising other people's thoughts and applying them as your own... Just like somebody who's mature in some ways can be completely naive in other areas.

^wow pretty much what i've been trying to say all along

It's all in how you're raised, really. Your parents actions are what lead to your ability to judge things and make your own decisions. My mom was abandoned as a teen and had to become very independent in order to survive, so she taught me how to be independent and responsible from a very early age. When I turned 18 I could manage a house, pay bills, balance my bank account, cook, shop, hold a job and go to school all on my own. I made every decision on my own and I was mentally prepared.

However, my husband grew up with a mom that did everything for him, so he had no idea how to make his own decisions later in life. He didn't understand how to sign contracts, negotiate leases, set up a house for himself, manage his time, pay bills or balance his checkbook. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to make sound decisions.

So, it's really a matter of mental and emotional responsibility. The more experience you have with flexing it, the more mature and sound your decisions will be. The laws are in place because these are the ages that adults assume teenagers reach that level of responsibility. It's not exact, but it works for the majority. I personally think the legal drinking age is too low. I think it should be 22, that way you can't drink while studying at college.

Beeblebrox:

It's all in how you're raised, really. Your parents actions are what lead to your ability to judge things and make your own decisions. My mom was abandoned as a teen and had to become very independent in order to survive, so she taught me how to be independent and responsible from a very early age. When I turned 18 I could manage a house, pay bills, balance my bank account, cook, shop, hold a job and go to school all on my own. I made every decision on my own and I was mentally prepared.

However, my husband grew up with a mom that did everything for him, so he had no idea how to make his own decisions later in life. He didn't understand how to sign contracts, negotiate leases, set up a house for himself, manage his time, pay bills or balance his checkbook. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to make sound decisions.

So, it's really a matter of mental and emotional responsibility. The more experience you have with flexing it, the more mature and sound your decisions will be. The laws are in place because these are the ages that adults assume teenagers reach that level of responsibility. It's not exact, but it works for the majority. I personally think the legal drinking age is too low. I think it should be 22, that way you can't drink while studying at college.

I definitely agree with you to some degree on your statements, but I feel there are times when maturity simply comes down to an individual's personality and development.
Both my parents were raised in fairly normal environments, learned to do things for themselves by asking advice from their parents and family and friends, and I expected that they would share some of their knowledge with me unprompted.
Nope. Everything I've learned from them, I've had to specifically ask about. Things like, for instance, health insurance, getting a driver's licence, even stuff like whether to put the laundry powder in before or after the clothes, I've had to take the time to ask. Still, in matters of making personal decisions, like whether or not to experiment with drugs, have sex with someone, etc, and the general ins-and-outs of living, I've always been really mature with no outside influence, it's just how my brain is. My brother, on the other hand, while raised in exactly the same household with the same influences (or lack thereof) my parents gave me, well, he's 18 in a few weeks and has the mental maturity of a 12-year-old. He's got no disabilities or anything that would precursor that, he's just incredibly immature for his age, while I'm extremely ahead of a lot of my peers in the maturity stakes.
So, sometimes it's not always environmental, but just the way you are born.

I think you should start making desiscions when your 16. because your almost 18 a grown adult and almost on your own but i also think that you should have a little help on some descions before you act it out. Im 16 and I do basically what i want. Its in my nature to rebel. My mom understands to a point that I need to make my own mistakes and descions but there are some that should be considered by both. Its not like hey mom fu*k you i do what i want you have no control over me its not like that its like Mom im old enough i need to start learning from my mistakes but if you have advice ill listen. Its more like that not quite but almost. anyways I think 16 year old should be the age when you start making full fledged descions its not your moms life your fu*king up ,making better its not even anyone elses just yours

if you're mature enough to stick with your descicions no matter what. by that time we'd all be OLD.

i think kids at any age should be allowed2 express their opinion, as long as they know what they're talking about.

I think kids shoud be allowed to make decisions whenever they feel they can and it should be only their decision

druscilla; in rags:

It's not about age, it's about maturity.

i agree. there are lots of people my age that deserve to make their own decisions....


and there are some that act like children :/

ilovegerardway2much:

i think kids at any age should be allowed2 express their opinion, as long as they know what they're talking about.

just becasue they say they know what they are talking about does not mean they actually do. it just makes them more dangerous to others around them.

Fezzik:

Kids tend to overestimate their decision-making skills.

*hugs* Most perfect wording of what I've been trying to say. You're my hero
Yes, teenagers should be (and mostly are) permitted to make certain decisions about their life, for instance, simple things like their wardrobe or how they're going to spend their allowance/after-school job wages, or bigger things concerning them, like which parent they prefer to live with after a divorce. However, there's absolutely no way in hell that I would permit a minor to make legal decisions such as getting married, purchasing a house, taking out a loan to get a car financed, that kind of stuff. Kids are kids for a reason - they just don't have the life experience or foresight necessary to validly predict the consequences of such actions. Of course, some adults are pretty lame at doing things like that, too, but at least they have the ability to pay the price - for instance, my husband has a $1500 Telstra debt because he got a phone connected when he was 17 or 18 and lived out of home, and never paid the bills. He didn't think of the consequences or where he was going to get the money to pay bills, he just wanted a phone, so he got it regardless and figured he'd work it out later. Now, when he pays off the debt, he's stuck with a bad credit rating for five years until the default gets lifted, so he can't buy a house until after that time, and in the meantime, our home phone and internet had to be connected in my name because Telstra won't ever trust him again when his bills show up on their records. He's screwed himself, and only has himself to blame, and that's why minors aren't allowed to do stuff like that - they just don't think of the consequences, and if they do, they shrug and figure it doesn't matter because hey, they won't be buying a house or going for a loan until they're like, 40 or something, right?

^^exactly^^
but i still stand my ground on some underage kids being matue enough to handle it. i'm doing just fine.
no crazy phone bill debts for me!

^ I guess my reasoning is that, hey, if you're one of the lucky few who are mature enough to make such decisions, then not only should you be sensible enough to realise that the rules should stay the way they are, rather than changed to suit a special few (to the detriment of the rest of society when other kids take advantage of the new rules), but that you should be able to work around such issues.
For instance, you could get a parent or guardian to sign things as either a guarantor (meaning that if you screw up, the institution in question goes after them to settle any outstanding bills etc), or simply put something in their name and you use it until you're of age (eg car registration, or get a phone connected in your parents' names but it's in your house if you live out of home). Or, in some places you can legally be emancipated, thereby making you responsible for your own decisions and welfare, and as long as you have documentation to state that you're legally separated from your parents and don't have a legal guardian, you should be fine to do things like open a bank account.
Actually, it sounds pretty messed-up that you can't open a bank account at 17 - I've had a bank account in my name since I was in primary school! Maybe try another bank, as some places set their own policies with the protection of their success in mind - like places not hiring parents because a mum taking days off work to nurse sick children might lose them money, some places set their own rules with their own interests in mind.
Don't be discouraged, though, as sometimes adults have it just as hard as minors - when my husband and I moved into our flat, I'd never had my name on a lease before, having lived with my parents or with friends (but not had my name on any documents), so the real estate agent was super-reluctant to give us a place because I had no history - I had to supply a bunch of character references and asked her to call my parents to confirm that I wasn't going to trash an apartment if she leased it to us. When I wanted to get the phone and internet hooked up, it took me a good week of calling Telstra every day to harangue them because they said my 'credit rating was bad'. That was news to me, until we realised that it was 'bad' because I had no credit rating - I've never had any bills in my name before moving in here! It was incredibly difficult, but perseverance is the name of the game.

I really think that it has to do with your maturity, and how you were raised. You could have been brought up to be responsible as a child, or not so much. You might be young, but that doesn't always factor into your judgement as much. Some kids drink and drive, and others don't. Also, some people who are "old enough" to make important decisions, can end up ruining their lives! Some older people are not mature enough to handle even their own lives, so it definitely has to do with our level of maturity and not your age.
Also, just an example was my mom. She was the oldest of three children, but was raised by two completely deaf parents. So, by the age of three, she was making important decisions, and almost living like a little adult running a household. Speaking in court, talking on the phone, ect. . .