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13 years old should be the legal age of an adult?

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult/rights & do you think its equal to 18yrs old

  • Total voters
    65
AGENT J said:
Is there anybody that honestly agrees/thinks that 13 should be the legal adult age and this means TOTAL ADULT
living on thier own all rights that a 18 year old has and more
drinking
gun ownership
choice to go to school or not
work
sex
draft into war or volunteer
drive
fla a plane
etc etc

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

yes of course no doubt
yes with some concern
no but maybe 16
no thats insane
other



and if you do i would LOVE to hear any facts or sound logic backing this claim up.

being 13 once, having a large family, raising a daughter passed that point and working with 13yr olds for 11 years I personally think this idea is mentally insane, irrational, delusional and has zero logic to support it.

many 13 yr olds would kill themselves and others if treated like adults
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drinking: It was 21, changed to 18 in the late 60’s and is now back to 21. 21 is probably right if we just go by age and not on individual characteristics or maturity

gun ownership: My dad bought me my first gun for my 10th birthday. Back in those days I could buy shells for it down at the Western Auto with no questions asked.

choice to go to school or not: Once one has finished Junior High, let it be on them or their parents. One of the problems today is we are keeping kids who do not want to be in school who disrupt and cause trouble causing those who do want to learn to learn less in a dumbed down curriculum to try to keep kids in school who aren’t learning anyway.

work: 16 for jobs like in a factory in the city.

sex: How can one put an age on when someone has sex? But whatever age they are, they need to be held accountable for their actions.

draft into war or volunteer: 18

drive: 16

fly a plane: 21

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

I would say a graduated scale along the lines of my answers above. Is an 18 year old an adult, yes in some areas and no in others. The same can be said of some 13 year olds. Some of them act more like an adult than some 25-30 year olds or older.
 
Perotista said:
drinking: It was 21, changed to 18 in the late 60’s and is not back to 21. 21 is probably right if we just go by age and not on individual characteristics or maturity

gun ownership: My dad bought me my first gun for my 10th birthday. Back in those days I could buy shells for it down at the Western Auto with no questions asked.

choice to go to school or not: Once one has finished Junior High, let it be on them or their parents. One of the problems today is we are keeping kids who do not want to be in school who disrupt and cause trouble causing those who do want to learn to learn less in a dumbed down curriculum to try to keep kids in school who aren’t learning anyway.

work: 16 for jobs like in a factory in the city.

sex: How can one put an age on when someone has sex? But whatever age they are, they need to be held accountable for their actions.

draft into war or volunteer: 18

drive: 16

fly a plane: 21

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

I would say a graduated scale along the lines of my answers above. Is an 18 year old an adult, yes in some areas and no in others. The same can be said of some 13 year olds. Some of them act more like an adult than some 25-30 year olds or older.
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Where are these 13-year-olds who act older than a 25 year old? I have yet to meet one.
 
Lachean said:
It used to be, in our more agrarian days, that at 14 you were a man in this country. These days, IMO a 21 year old is a child.
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I doubt many would want to go back and live the lifestyle which produced those 14 year old men. Or to be a bit more precise those who survived infancy to live to the ripe age of 14. Let's not forget the young ladies, I sure as hell didn't want my daughter to be having her first kid at 14.

As far as LEGAL age, I don't think 13 is the threshold.
 
AGENT J said:
Is there anybody that honestly agrees/thinks that 13 should be the legal adult age and this means TOTAL ADULT
living on thier own all rights that a 18 year old has and more
drinking
gun ownership
choice to go to school or not
work
sex
draft into war or volunteer
drive
fla a plane
etc etc

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

yes of course no doubt
yes with some concern
no but maybe 16
no thats insane
other



and if you do i would LOVE to hear any facts or sound logic backing this claim up.

being 13 once, having a large family, raising a daughter passed that point and working with 13yr olds for 11 years I personally think this idea is mentally insane, irrational, delusional and has zero logic to support it.

many 13 yr olds would kill themselves and others if treated like adults
Click to expand...


18 is probably too young.


btw - a minor correction. You can get a student pilot's license at 16, 14 if the aircraft is a ballon or a glider. That would allow you to fly by yourself (no passengers) for purposes of practicing or meeting the hour and cross country requirements for a private pilot license which you can get at 17.

In NY you can get a hunting license at 12. That allows you to take a rifle/shotgun into the field alone (at least as far as I know).

Even so a lot of the 18 year olds I see seem to have an emotional age closer to 14 than 18.
 
ChrisL said:
There is nothing adult about a 13-year-old. I don't care what time in history it was or what geographical location they live in. Not only do they lack any kind of experience, but their brains and bodies are not fully mature yet. And THAT is scientific evidence right there.

We made LOTS of mistakes in the past and treating children as adults is just one of them.
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What do you consider fully mature? 13 year olds are capable to procreation and I think that's generally the criteria we use to distinguish mature from immature in most species.
 
I'm wondering whether it should be 25.
 
Arcana XV said:
Sure it does. I'm saying many people in their 20s are nowhere near adult material, let alone a 13 year old. I will argue that they're not children anymore either, though.
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But that truth doesn't prove that 13 years are grown up enough.
 
American said:
But that truth doesn't prove that 13 years are grown up enough.
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Sweets, you're just repeating what I'm saying. :lol: Even if we stopped coddling our precious dears the way we do, 13 year olds would not be adult material. I never implied that they would be. Sorry if I was unclear.
 
AGENT J said:
Is there anybody that honestly agrees/thinks that 13 should be the legal adult age and this means TOTAL ADULT
living on thier own all rights that a 18 year old has and more
drinking
gun ownership
choice to go to school or not
work
sex
draft into war or volunteer
drive
fla a plane
etc etc

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

yes of course no doubt
yes with some concern
no but maybe 16
no thats insane
other



and if you do i would LOVE to hear any facts or sound logic backing this claim up.

being 13 once, having a large family, raising a daughter passed that point and working with 13yr olds for 11 years I personally think this idea is mentally insane, irrational, delusional and has zero logic to support it.

many 13 yr olds would kill themselves and others if treated like adults
Click to expand...

It should be 30. From what I've seen that's the age that people generally cease doing gratuitously stupid things, and people who continue to be gratuitously stupid after 30 will never grow up anyway.
 
AGENT J said:
Is there anybody that honestly agrees/thinks that 13 should be the legal adult age and this means TOTAL ADULT
living on thier own all rights that a 18 year old has and more
drinking
gun ownership
choice to go to school or not
work
sex
draft into war or volunteer
drive
fla a plane
etc etc

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

yes of course no doubt
yes with some concern
no but maybe 16
no thats insane
other



and if you do i would LOVE to hear any facts or sound logic backing this claim up.

being 13 once, having a large family, raising a daughter passed that point and working with 13yr olds for 11 years I personally think this idea is mentally insane, irrational, delusional and has zero logic to support it.

many 13 yr olds would kill themselves and others if treated like adults
Click to expand...

We live in a society here in the USA where people try to hold your hand form cradle to grave. It wouldn't work here. It is possible that in another environment that it could be workable, even as young as 13. It's always about education, not age. That doesn't necessarily mean formal education from books.
 
Kal'Stang said:
You obviously quoted that from someone/somewhere. Mind providing a link?
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since you are a mod ill give you a direct answer and motivation for not providing a link.
I thought if i quoted somebody and made a side poll/topic UPSTAIRS, then called the idea mentally retarded it might be considered B/F/T

but i will say the link doesnt provide any further info, the conversation missing simply developed into a simply question. the poster was asked by multiple posters if they thought 13 is equal to 18 and that 13 yr olds should be full adults, what is quoted is thier answer.

If its not B/F/T ill gladly post it. ;)
 
Oh for god sakes. The thread in question was about the child's parents forcing her to abort her pregnancy. There is limits to parental rights and all people were arguing is that this is one of them.
 
roughdraft274 said:
Who on earth actually argued that? Who did you quote?
Click to expand...

if i get the thumbs up from a mod ill answer but im sure it wouldnt be hard to find, and yes someone here actually believes that
 
Perotista said:
drinking: It was 21, changed to 18 in the late 60’s and is now back to 21. 21 is probably right if we just go by age and not on individual characteristics or maturity

gun ownership: My dad bought me my first gun for my 10th birthday. Back in those days I could buy shells for it down at the Western Auto with no questions asked.

choice to go to school or not: Once one has finished Junior High, let it be on them or their parents. One of the problems today is we are keeping kids who do not want to be in school who disrupt and cause trouble causing those who do want to learn to learn less in a dumbed down curriculum to try to keep kids in school who aren’t learning anyway.

work: 16 for jobs like in a factory in the city.

sex: How can one put an age on when someone has sex? But whatever age they are, they need to be held accountable for their actions.

draft into war or volunteer: 18

drive: 16

fly a plane: 21

So the question is:

Should 13 be the legal age of full adult and rights and do you consider them equal to 18yr old

I would say a graduated scale along the lines of my answers above. Is an 18 year old an adult, yes in some areas and no in others. The same can be said of some 13 year olds. Some of them act more like an adult than some 25-30 year olds or older.
Click to expand...

its not a question to break up, the question is: is 13 equal to 18 and should 13 be the age of full adult/rights
also if any 13 yr old is more adult that a 25-30 yr old ill show you a savant 13yr old and a mentally retarded or sociopathic 25-30 year old

also just for the record if i the discussion was to make things different ages, i would agree in some areas for sure, im just going very specific based of the comments i qouted
 
Last edited:
Cardinal said:
It should be 30. From what I've seen that's the age that people generally cease doing gratuitously stupid things, and people who continue to be gratuitously stupid after 30 will never grow up anyway.
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lol thats funny
 
AGENT J said:
its not a question to break up, the question is: is 13 equal to 18 and should 13 be the age of full adult/rights
also if any 13 yr old is more adult that a 25-30 yr old ill show you a savant 13yr old and a mentally retarded or sociopathic 25-30 year old
Click to expand...

Any teens that are that mature are going to be the minority anyway. Most 13-year-olds are not going to have a maturity level equal to a person in his or her 20s, and it doesn't make any sense to set limits based on the minority instead of the majority.
 
AGENT J said:
its not a question to break up, the question is: is 13 equal to 18 and should 13 be the age of full adult/rights
also if any 13 yr old is more adult that a 25-30 yr old ill show you a savant 13yr old and a mentally retarded or sociopathic 25-30 year old

also just for the record if i the discussion was to make things different ages, i would agree in some areas for sure, im just going very specific based of the comments i qouted
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Okay, no 13 year old should be treated like an 18 year old.
 
Perotista said:
Okay, no 13 year old should be treated like an 18 year old.
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lol

sorry

you didnt have to cut off the extra conversation and i wasnt trying to be smart (hope you didnt think that) i was just pointing out i was "trying" to be specific
 
American said:
That may be true, but doesn't counter the argument that 13 years old is adult material.
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Not physically, emotionally or intellectually... other than that you are correct though.
 
AGENT J said:
lol

sorry

you didnt have to cut off the extra conversation and i wasnt trying to be smart (hope you didnt think that) i was just pointing out i was "trying" to be specific
Click to expand...

Nothing to be sorry about. I just think so much depends on what we are talking about, no 13 year old should be driving on the highways, now driving a tractor planting, picking, harvesting, baling, that is something different. I have no problem with 16 year old working in a factory but not 13. But I have no problem with 13 year old having their own gun, like I said I had mine at the age of 10. But there are a bunch of 21 year and older I sure wouldn't like them having a gun.

In my world so much depends on the individual and their maturity. I know we must have age limits especially when dealing with the law. But I see having different ages when the young are able to attain certain privileges depending on the privilege and in responsibility.
 
Bodhisattva said:
How about respectfully? Should a 13 year old get that treatment?
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How about respectfully? Did you mean respect? I respect everyone unless they give me a darn good reason not too. If you mean responsibility, everyone should be held accountable for their actions.
 
If they're culpable for crimes and lawsuits at that age, the only morally consistent and defensible thing to do is grant them full adult rights. Not to mention i've met plenty of teenagers more capable in every respect than plenty of adults, so why is it someone becomes magically able to vote at 18?

But no, the frontal cortex isn't developed fully until mid 20s. THAT should be the legal age of adulthood. Until then, everyone lives with parents, immune from prosecution etc.
 
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