When does a teenager cross the threshold from immaturity to maturity? Could it happen when teens turn eighteen? Century-old policies and rules dictate that eighteen year olds simply fall between the neediness of childhood and the responsibility of adulthood, not quite fitting into either category. Eighteen year olds, in legal terms, are adults but in society’s standards they still must wait a few more years before fully enjoying what adult life has to offer. Does that mean they still do not have the full maturity of an ‘adult’? Every person achieves a different level of maturity at some point in his or her life therefore, measuring maturity depends on the social, mental, and physical state of the individual at any given time.
Maturity has a …show more content…
Legal maturity essentially assumes that because a person has lived for a certain period of time, they can now handle certain responsibilities. The official definition of legal age says “the age at which a person enters into full adult legal rights and responsibilities” (Legal Age, 2018). The federal law says a person must reach twenty-one or older before they may buy alcoholic beverages (Responsibility, 2018). States go further and say a person must also reach eighteen years of age or older before they may buy tobacco products or go gambling, depending on the state. Legal maturity and actual maturity prove two very different categories. Simply because a law says a twenty-one-year-old college student can now binge drink legally to his or her hearts content, does not mean the college student has reached full mental maturity. In fact, one could even say the decision to binge drink until vomiting is a very immature act, therefore proving the difference between legal and mental …show more content…
Maturity mostly deals with the mental development of a person, not the years he or she have existed on earth. Although, recent studies have suggested that children whose birthdates fall after the cutoff date for most grade-level placements are more likely to misdiagnosed with ADHD. The misdiagnoses, according to the study, happened due to the children’s relative ‘immaturity’ compared to the rest of the older children in the same level (Crouch, 2017). These mistakes happened due to the assumption that simply because a child reaches a certain age, they should behave like the rest of the children nearly a year older than them. Those older children have had a year’s more experiences in dealing with new stressful, challenging and demanding situations. The study showed a report saying nearly 2.9 percent of the boys included in the research received medication for ADHD (Crouch, 2017). The percentages make sense since common knowledge proves that young girls mature must faster compared to boys of the same age. In the end, however, in order to reach full ‘maturity’ every person must go through their own life and experience situations which allow them to develop and grow into their own unique
Maturity has a …show more content…
Legal maturity essentially assumes that because a person has lived for a certain period of time, they can now handle certain responsibilities. The official definition of legal age says “the age at which a person enters into full adult legal rights and responsibilities” (Legal Age, 2018). The federal law says a person must reach twenty-one or older before they may buy alcoholic beverages (Responsibility, 2018). States go further and say a person must also reach eighteen years of age or older before they may buy tobacco products or go gambling, depending on the state. Legal maturity and actual maturity prove two very different categories. Simply because a law says a twenty-one-year-old college student can now binge drink legally to his or her hearts content, does not mean the college student has reached full mental maturity. In fact, one could even say the decision to binge drink until vomiting is a very immature act, therefore proving the difference between legal and mental …show more content…
Maturity mostly deals with the mental development of a person, not the years he or she have existed on earth. Although, recent studies have suggested that children whose birthdates fall after the cutoff date for most grade-level placements are more likely to misdiagnosed with ADHD. The misdiagnoses, according to the study, happened due to the children’s relative ‘immaturity’ compared to the rest of the older children in the same level (Crouch, 2017). These mistakes happened due to the assumption that simply because a child reaches a certain age, they should behave like the rest of the children nearly a year older than them. Those older children have had a year’s more experiences in dealing with new stressful, challenging and demanding situations. The study showed a report saying nearly 2.9 percent of the boys included in the research received medication for ADHD (Crouch, 2017). The percentages make sense since common knowledge proves that young girls mature must faster compared to boys of the same age. In the end, however, in order to reach full ‘maturity’ every person must go through their own life and experience situations which allow them to develop and grow into their own unique