25 is the new 18

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24173194
New guidance for psychologists will acknowledge that adolescence now effectively runs up until the age of 25 for the purposes of treating young people. So is this the new cut-off point for adulthood?
"The idea that suddenly at 18 you're an adult just doesn't quite ring true," says child psychologist Laverne Antrobus, who works at London's Tavistock Clinic.
"My experience of young people is that they still need quite a considerable amount of support and help beyond that age."
Child psychologists are being given a new directive which is that the age range they work with is increasing from 0-18 to 0-25.

Did you feel grown up at 18 or did you mature later, personally, I didn't feel fully grown up until I left home at 23. If you're not considered mature until 25, where does that leave those in military service who could find themselves in a life or death situation.

SV

I'm 25 and still feel like a child.

meoklmrk91

I'm 22, I don't think I am any different than I was when I was 18, but then I have always been told that I have an old head on young shoulders and have pretty much been this way since I was like 12 .

meoklmrk91

I'm 22, I don't think I am any different than I was when I was 18, but then I have always been told that I have an old head on young shoulders and have pretty much been this way since I was like 12 .

Femme_Fatale

I didn't feel like a proper grown-up until I was 27/28. It's crazy that 18 - or 19/20/21/22/23 are deemed adult. I don't mean that in a sneering-at-the-young-people kinda way, but you're only discovering the world/yourself during those years. I certainly was.

_Redzer_

I was always quite a mature 18 year old in many ways, with people even commenting on it, but I still wasn't 100% there. I still needed more time to mature and fill out, though I'd a decent foundation by 18.

Everyone is different, but I definitely think that at 18 though you may be there in many ways, but you're still not quite, and more years are needed to really get you there.

Seachmall

dolanbaker wrote: »

If you're not considered mature until 25, where does that leave those in military service who could find themselves in a life or death situation.

They would be matured I'd imagine.

I'm guessing maturing is one of those things you don't do until you have to. And us young folk, in general, don't really have to mature until later in life unless we take the initiative to do so at a younger age than our peers (either by choice or are required to by circumstances).

Kick a 16 year old out of your house and force him to fend for himself and he'll be more mature than a 23 year old who's been living in daddy's pocket.

_Redzer_

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I didn't feel like a proper grown-up until I was 27/28. It's crazy that 18 - or 19/20/21/22/23 are deemed adult. I don't mean that in a sneering-at-the-young-people kinda way, but you're only discovering the world/yourself during those years. I certainly was.

I wasn't. I knew myself inside out even before I was 18, so I never had to deal with that. I think that's what lead me to advance a lot quicker in that area.

pajor

dolanbaker wrote: »

Did you feel grown up at 18 or did you mature later, personally, I didn't feel fully grown up until I left home at 23. If you're not considered mature until 25, where does that leave those in military service who could find themselves in a life or death situation.

I think it's got to do with college really and all for the better IMO. Until you've done the stint in college and fly the nest, most (including myself) haven't really been exposed to the big bad world.

Anybody who has the 'when I was your age' mentality needs to wake up and just have a look at the modern world.

And in terms of life or death situation for military service.. I dunno really. God help them. I've never been able to fathom the idea of that sort of conscription, especially Vietnam.

El Guapo!

I'm 26.


Bollox.

ARWRanger

She's correct.

Frosty McSnowballs

El Guapo! wrote: »

I'm 26.


Bollox.

32 is the new 26 dude!

El Guapo!

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

32 is the new 26 dude!

Ah I'll be dead by then!

B.A._Baracus

No way a person is mentally an adult at 18. You are just starting your adulthood. Of course you only realise that until years later and you cant exactly explain that to an 18 year old as those years have yet to pass.

gramar

pajor wrote: »

I think it's got to do with college really and all for the better IMO. Until you've done the stint in college and fly the nest, most (including myself) haven't really been exposed to the big bad world.

Anybody who has the 'when I was your age' mentality needs to wake up and just have a look at the modern world.

And in terms of life or death situation for military service.. I dunno really. God help them. I've never been able to fathom the idea of that sort of conscription, especially Vietnam.

Not everyone goes to college but somehow they do turn into adults!

pajor

gramar wrote: »

Not everyone goes to college but somehow they do turn into adults!

That's what I mean. They don't become 'adults' until afterwards.

Sciprio

I'll be 27 tomorrow, Does that mean i'm over the hill? I don't feel like it and still feel like 19 haha.

The Backwards Man

When I was 18 I knew it all.
Now I'm 36 and I know fcuk all.

claypigeon777

You are as old or as young as you feel.

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros (83) and married his wife just the other day who is half his age.

Some women in their 20s dress and act like they are middle aged.

Some women in their sixties are more active than many 20 year olds.

Some men in their 30s still live with their parents and collect model airplanes.

Other men in their 30s are government ministers.

average hero

I agree with these assertions by the psychologists. Not only are people living longer anyway, but 40 years ago young men and women were married and having children at 18. They were getting a job to work for 30/40 years at that age too. In ancient Egypt children married and had kids at 12/13!

Nowadays children are only leaving school with no responsibility whatsoever at 18/19 and then are being ferried straight to college for another 3 or 4 years. It is only then at the age of 22/23 that they are beginning to see what the world is all about. With the wide range of activities and travel opportunities available some young people aren't even putting a thought into getting married, getting a career orientated job and kids until well into their late 20's.

Because society and lifespan are encouraging it, people aren't fully grown until approximately 24/25-ish in my opinion however I one hundred percent concede that there are many many exceptions to this.

Femme_Fatale

claypigeon777 wrote: »

You are as old or as young as you feel.

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros (83) and married his wife just the other day who is half his age.

Yes, I'm sure she married him for his youthfulness and virility for an octogenarian. :pac:

Celly Smunt

pajor wrote: »

That's what I mean. They don't become 'adults' until afterwards.

i'd argue some never become adults.

NegativeCreep

I'm 19. Still feel like a baby and probably always will as I'm the youngest in the family by quite a big margin. I'm quite mature though really so it's grand.

princess-lala

I'm 28 and still feel like an 18 year old

The Backwards Man

princess-lala wrote: »

I'm 28 and still feel like an 18 year old

Negative Creep is 19 but I know he's not fussy.

princess-lala

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Negative Creep is 18 but I know he's not fussy.

Once its legal

Fighting Irish

I'm 29 and i still fuk around

Potatoeman

Depends what you consider mature. People now have more time to educate themselves and choose what they want to do. Being financially independent is a big part of growing up and many are financially dependant on their parents through college. I do notice people that are not reliant on their parents are far more self sufficient and respect the money they earn. Relying on family is fine but I've met people that have credit cards from their parents after they have left college and are working.

princess-lala

Fighting Irish wrote: »

I'm 29 and i still fuk around

What's fcuking got to do with the price of turnips

NegativeCreep

princess-lala wrote: »

Once its legal

I'm in lads :pac:

Sgt. Al Powell

I think a lot of people are confusing 'adulthood' ..with the hardened life experience that comes with living.

Just because you have not had much of the latter, does not mean you are not an adult.

I'm in my late 30s and I'm still learning things about life and accumulatiing regrets as I go, much like everyone else, but that doesn't make me any less of an adult.

As far as I'm concerned, you're an adult at 16.

princess-lala

Sgt. Al Powell wrote: »

I'm still learning things about life.

Everyday is a school day!

markomuscle

I'm 21, left home at 19, have the maturity of a 80 year old

somefeen

The house I left is my parents house, where I live now is home. They can do whatever the hell they want to my former bedroom. I don't live there anymore.
I think I knew I had become/ was becoming an adult when I accepted that my parents have their own lives and their house is their space.
Happened not long after I moved out on a full time basis. I wasn't fully financially independent yet, that only happened recently but that was probably the start of me moving from a teenaged mentality to that of a young adult.

Femme_Fatale

Sgt. Al Powell wrote: »

I think a lot of people are confusing 'adulthood' ..with the hardened life experience that comes with living.

Just because you have not had much of the latter, does not mean you are not an adult.

I'm in my late 30s and I'm still learning things about life and accumulatiing regrets as I go, much like everyone else, but that doesn't make me any less of an adult.

As far as I'm concerned, you're an adult at 16.

A person isn't even legally an adult at 16.

princess-lala

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

A person isn't even legally an adult at 16.

Legal age of consent is 17!

Weevil

I started college aged 16, predictably messed it up, and I'm still an optimist 30 years later. I prefer scepticism to cynicism, and maybe that's the lesson I have learned.

WoollyRedHat

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

starlit

Well I was a late learner on that only starting to feel more like a more grown up adult now but felt it from when I left home that is when I felt more like an adult. I was 23 now 28. I was mature for my age at 18 but immature in other respects during my 20's.

Lad Of Banter

I'm 28 but because of the amount of messing I've done over the last ten years I still have the mentality of an 18 year old and the physicality of a 38 year old so I dunno.

Sunglasses Ron

pajor wrote: »

And in terms of life or death situation for military service.. I dunno really. God help them. I've never been able to fathom the idea of that sort of conscription, especially Vietnam.

As a young lad having a long think on 9/11 about how much the world had just changed, conscription, even in Ireland, didn't seem too far fetched from a historical perspective during those hectic hours and days after the attack. I remember on the news the next day they were showing queues of eager teens lining up outside US army recruiting offices, it really was game changing stuff.

Reindeer

I find that most people will mature as fast as they are required to.

irritablebaz

everyone is different obviously but there is a growing culture of people in the early twenties still living with parents and being over reliant on their parents.

i read an interesting article on this being parents fault by spoiling their children. psychologically instilling a narcissistic character by over praising average, lazy and greedy children.

i can see something in that but also a look at good old economics with property prices and job opportunities is also making leaving home more difficult.

Seachmall

irritablebaz wrote: »

psychologically instilling a narcissistic character by over praising average, lazy and greedy children.

The most concise summary of my childhood and teens I've ever read.

Santa Cruz

SV wrote: »

I'm 25 and still feel like a child.

Don't say that out loud in a pub!

irritablebaz

Seachmall wrote: »

The most concise summary of my childhood and teens I've ever read.

would you like the new i phone princess?

omahaid

Should we not increase the age of maturity to 25 then? No drinking until 25, no voting until 25, can't enter legal contracts until 25, etc etc.

TeddyTedson

I've always been told I'm very mature. It used to annoy me actually but I think it's a good thing.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

I think moving out of home is the biggest game changer. The reality of if you don't cook you won't eat is the most sobering.

BeerWolf

Would this imply that 18-24's should be trialed as a juveniles in the criminal courts?

Absurd <_<;

SantryRed

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I've always been told I'm very mature. It used to annoy me actually but I think it's a good thing.

OR you're a Buzz Killington...