Thursday, November 12, 2009

Adulthood at 21

In class this week we have emphasized that nothing occurs in your brain overnight. Your mind isn't capable of driving the day before your 16, and your mind does not finally decide it can handle alcohol the day before your 21. Yet, our society is ruled by numbers, specifically age. This obsession with age is detrimental to our development. I know that with more years comes maturity, yet I believe after a certain point, age is JUST a number. When I think of someone I know that is 21, not much about them has changed since they were 18. Once someone hits 18, they are allowed to do almost anything in the legal boundaries. Go to war, drive, live alone, get married and many more things. Yet our society places a bigger emphasis on the age of 21, just because thats the age when one can drink. Our society views a 21 year old as a mature adult, yet a 19 or 20 year old is still a "young adult" that has yet to mature. Why is it that use alcohol to measure maturity?I'm not trying for the point of my blog to support making the legal drinking age earlier, but I am just amused with how our society holds a 21 year old in higher regards than an 18 year old, regardless of any factors pertaining to each person.

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4 comments:

  1. GillianNovember 12, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    I completely agree with you. It is bizarre that in just a few years you are expected to be so much more mature and have the "privillage" to drink. Not much really changes between 18 and 21.

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  2. LaurenNovember 12, 2009 at 5:37 PM

    It is weird to think that even though I am eighteen that nothing in my life REALLY changes. I think its also weird that we will have the privallage to drink when we are 21, but right now we are not given that privallage but if I was caught drinking at eigtheen I would have the consequences of an adult.

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  3. CarlieNovember 12, 2009 at 6:04 PM

    It is really strange that we say that alcohol brings maturity. However, alcohol is a very dangerous beverage. It takes a lot of responsibility to know how to handle alcohol. Why is it that at age 21 we just get that responsibility. At 11:59 we aren't responsible but at 12:00 (once we turn 21) we become "responsible". Our society is so obsessed wtih numbers.

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  4. OliviaNovember 12, 2009 at 8:24 PM

    I agree with Carlie above, we really are obsessed with numbers. I don't necessarily agree with lowering the drinking age, but its something that we seriously need to question and think WHY it is the way it is.

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