by Polly Evans

Created on: May 21, 2007   Last Updated: June 21, 2007

All children need civil rights, the right to be cared for and protected. I think that many teenagers are being denied their rights as minors are treated like minors, because the law says they are. The question is: when does one become an adult? Is it 18? The age at which everything is becomes legal? Or is it when a boy first grows stubble and a girl wears a bra? It is probably more like a gradual process, some people never seem to grow up, yet because they are over 18 they are considered to be adults. There is no clear definition between a child and an adult. Yet more and more of the teenagers today are feeling frustrated and let down because they are being treated like children when in reality they have already become adults.

Many teenagers are perfectly capable of living an adult life, however the fact that they go to school and don't get paid for it stops them from doing that. If they weren't in school they would be working, therefore being an adult maybe? I think so. So why not treat the young adults out there as adults, and stop ridiculous legal age boundaries such as parents signing for everything and needing parents permission until the person is 18. The parents may as well pick out what music their children listen to, and choose what clothes they where and what books they read. In our society independence is encouraged yet suppressed. All many teenagers want is independence and individuality, this is obvious from the variation and style among them. No wonder so many teenagers act out, it is because they are being smothered by stupid laws and boundaries.

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