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Are teens capable of behaving like young adults?
Results so far:
| Yes | 72% | 72 votes | Total: 100 votes | |
| No | 28% | 28 votes |
Yes
by Lawrence George
Created on: January 17, 2010
Teens can behave like adults in many ways. The pressure they are under at school mirrors the pressure adults are under at work: they have targets, are asked to assess their own performance, and are regularly assessed, tracked and monitored by a stream of examinations. Modular courses for secondary pupils mean that a major exam is never more than six months away at most, and school life is a cycle of preparation and examination.
In some ways, given teenagers' relative immaturity, they are treated more harshly at school than many adults at work. In the face of modern demands for qualifications, they are aware as never before that if they want to earn money as an adult, they must go to university. This means that instead of teens being able to enjoy life, form dreams and learn how to be themselves, they are already stuck on the treadmill of work. Often they will not even have worked out what it is they want to do before they find themselves at university, studying something they don't particularly enjoy, simply because they know it is expected.
Teens therefore can and do behave like adults every day: improving their performance, working hard, organising themselves.
There are some ways in which it is wrong to expect them to behave like adults, however. We put a lot of sexual pressure on teenagers now - bombarded with images and messages about sex, they feel they should have mature sexual relationships: but their hormones and inexperience makes it very difficult for many of them, and they get themselves into trouble with infections or pregnancies. We tell teenagers to make sure they use a condom, thereby telling them sex is fine, and then we are surprised when they do what they are expected, but the condom breaks, or they "get swept up in the heat of the moment" and forget the condom. Then we call them idiots and tabloid newspapers make examples of them.
Because their brains are drowning in hormones, because they are on the cusp of adulthood but not there yet, telling them they can enjoy the fruits of adulthood is fraught with danger. Many parents now will allow their teens to have parties with alcohol - or will even make sure they have enough alcohol when they go on holiday with their friends! But these parents are ignorant of the damage it does to immature livers. Teenagers simply cannot drink in the same way as adults for their bodies are not ready for it. But we expect them to make these judgements and decisions for themselves.
Teenagers can be wonderfully confident, self-possessed and mature. But they are still developing and appearances can be deceptive. We should allow them the time and space to grow up safely, without the pressures of adulthood and without being expected to be adults.
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No
by Jeffrey Miller
Created on: August 18, 2011
The answer is no.
There are any number of reasons why a teenager should not be considered a young adult-from having a part-time job and learning to drive to being old enough to vote-but teenage years should be a period of transition before teens are thrust into young adulthood and expected to function fully in society.
What's happening today is that children are growing up too fast and are really not prepared for the world they are about to enter as adults. Now one can argue that this period of preparation is what would constitute young adulthood, but what I am driving at is that children, and yes they are still children, do not have enough time just to be children. Kids grow up too fast but, and here comes the rub, they have matured emotionally enough. Sure, they can drive, vote, and work in their local fast food joint, but they haven't been given the chance to mature emotionally gradually.
Fair enough one might say, but driving, working, and voting all encompass some degree of responsibility (hopefully) and wouldn't that qualify for being a young adult, having matured to make rational decisions and in some cases, be held accountable for motor vehicle violations and accidents? Yes, I would agree, but what a terrible and harsh way to be taught a lesson based, in the case of say a car accident, on having made a mistake. Teens are still dealing with all kinds of emotional and physical issues that they need to deal with as teens-not as adults.
Sadly, teens are thrust into adulthood far too young without having matured emotionally. In some cases they might have no choice in the case of when one parent or both parents die and he or she has to take care of his or her brothers and sisters. And what about young men and women who join the military at aged 17 or 18? Would we say they are not capable of behaving like young adults, when in fact they are young adults, who are responsible for the lives and safety of the men and women around them.
There can be good and convincing arguments made for both sides, but getting back to my original thesis, teens need more time to be teens and not young adults. They need time to focus on the emotional and physical changes taking place in their lives and to mature accordingly. Along the way, they will take on more responsibility and learn more which will adequately prepare them to behave like young adults.
Learn more about this author, Jeffrey Miller.
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