Teens and Society

There are many different expectations for teens. Mostly, though, teens are seen as irresponsible. We can't drive a car until 16, and we basically can't make any personal decisions until 18. We can't vote, we can't drink, we can't even see R rated movies until we're 17. I've never understood where these age limitations came from. Just because I'm 17 doesn't mean I all of a sudden gained knowledge about the world that makes it so I can see an R rated movie. What I don't get most about age limits is at 18 I can go join the army and die for my country, but I can't have a drink. What? I'd say joining the army requires a lot more responsibilty than drinking. And when I turned 16, I didn't all of a sudden figure out how to drive a car responsibly. Age is just a number, it's more about maturity level than anything else. I know adults who shouldn't be trusted to drive a car, and I also know younger teens who could drive a car responsibly. By setting these age limits, society shows that it doesn't trust teens to perform certain tasks. Society says that teens are suppose to be dependent and irresponsible, but when we gain the ability to drive a car, or vote it's not like we became independent and responsible at that moment. It has to be learned and society's not teaching us. You can't expect someone to live a carefree life for 18 years, then on their 18th birthday give the person a bunch of responsibilites. The person won't know how to handle it. Society makes it really difficult for teens to adjust to adult life. Studies have been done that show the age of actual independence is going up to the late 20's. I see this all around me. So many of my friends depend on their parents for every little thing. I can't really sympathize with that because from a young age, my parents have taught me to be independent and responsible. As I get older and older, I've been given more and more responsibilites. I know that when I start living on my own I'll be able to take care of myself because I've already been doing it.