Age of Responsibility: Examining the Significance of 18

Introduction

The age of responsibility is 18 because at that age, your body is basically fully developed, and you are a legal adult at that age. Once you’re 18, you can be tried as an adult, so why not get the same freedom as an adult? 18 is a good age for responsibility because it gives your brain enough time to develop so that you are a smart driver.

Legal Adulthood and Autonomy

To start it off, at the age of 18, you are a legal adult.

In the state of California, once you turn 18, you are allowed to move out of the house on your own and make your own choices. This shows that you are expected to be okay on your own, and you should be able to make your own choices. An adult should be allowed complete freedom, meaning that an 18-year-old should be able to drink alcohol before the age of 21. In the article “What is the Age of Responsibility,” it says, “By the time adolescents become adults, they’re accustomed to such inconsistent treatment.” This proves that once a kid turns into an adult, they will start acting like one. Becoming an adult just proves that you are fully mature and can survive on your own. As you can see, the age of 18 is a good age of responsibility.

Following that up, the age of 18 also shows that your body and its organs are fully developed. In the first article, it says, “For example, the presidents of 135 universities are campaigning to consider lowering the drinking age from 21.” This proves that scientists are realizing that the average human’s organs are developed before the age of 21. I agree with this because it is a very attractive thought at many different universities. Also, the first article says “...and argues that if students were given the right to drink at an earlier age, they might handle it more responsibly.” I agree with this statement because nowadays, most kids drink because they think it makes them cooler than all of the kids that don’t drink. This means that if the drinking age is lowered from 21, kids won’t think it makes them cool, so they will most likely drink more responsibly. Obviously, the drinking age should be lowered because it will prevent more DUIs from happening.

Balancing Responsibility and Risk

Although it would be a good idea to lower the drinking age, there are still some downsides to it. In the 14th paragraph, it states, “The people who are advocating going down to 18 should acknowledge that they’re willing to risk an extra thousand deaths per year and double the number of injuries. If the drinking age is moved to 18, the death rate of drunk driving accidents will go up. When the age was pushed up to 21, teen highway deaths instantly dropped 15 to 20 percent. Also, it talks about how many more deaths would occur if the age was lowered. If the age is lowered back to 18 like it was before, we would have several thousands of more deaths. Obviously, if more deaths would occur, it is not the brightest idea. In conclusion, the drinking age being lowered would have many different outcomes, so this subject should be further searched into.

Conclusion

After hearing this critical information, we can come to the conclusion that the age of responsibility should stay at 18. On another note, the drinking age being lowered is a very popular study at many different universities across the world. It’s a very difficult topic because it lowers drunk driving levels, but at the same time, it also leads to more deaths on the road and off the road. All in all, the true age of responsibility is 18, and I believe it should stay at that age.

References

1. "Coming of Age in America: The Transition to Adulthood in the Twenty-First Century" by Mary C. Waters

2. "The Age of Responsibility: Luck, Choice, and the Welfare State" by Yascha Mounk 

3. "Becoming Adult: How Teenagers Prepare for the World of Work" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Barbara Schneider

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