★ In this story 02
What does it mean to grow up, and at what point does one reach adulthood? That question might seem like one with a simple answer, but there’s a lot more to it than just turning 18 or 21.
Adulthood – A Complicated Concept
How old are you? Ten, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21? At any of these ages, you might be considered an adult in some regards but not in others. Adulthood is defined in the APA Dictionary of Psychology as the stage of life that begins after physical growth and adolescence are complete, marked by full physical, mental, and legal maturity. But each of these means something slightly different socially, legally, and even physically.
Though it varies around the world, adulthood legally begins in the United States at 18, which we call the age of majority. This is the time when society in general and the law consider one an adult rather than a minor or child – though even here are exceptions.
But federally, an American reaches adulthood – or what we might call stage one of adulthood, anyway – at 18. Those born in any US state or territory other than American Samoa is a US citizen and can join the military, vote, marry, sign contracts, and be held criminally liable at age 18 under federal law no matter what the individual state law says.
From there, it gets tricky.
Five states – Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin – set the juvenile cutoff age for criminal prosecution at 16, meaning a 17-year-old caught shoplifting in these states is tried as an adult automatically. Vermont holds the age of criminal liability at 19. Alabama has its entire age of majority set to 19 and requires parents to provide care up to that age even though separate state laws allow people to marry without parental consent, sign contracts, and make independent medical decisions at 18. Nebraska’s age of majority is 19 as well, and state law allows only 18-year-olds or older to sign a lease for an apartment, start college on their own, or make certain medical choices if they marry before age 19. Mississippi and the US territory Puerto Rico set their ages of majority at 21, with varying and complicated rules.
And that isn’t all. Every state in the country prohibits the sale of alcohol or tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. At 17, joining the military becomes an option, so long as the parents allow it. As for marriage, as long as the parents permit, that could be legal as early as 15 in some states such as Hawaii or Kansas – or potentially even younger in states such as California, Mississippi, or New Mexico, which have no legal minimum age as long as the parents and either a court clerk or judge approve.
And let’s go back to crime for a moment. Depending on the state and the severity of the crime, the protections of youth might disappear earlier. Many states allow prosecution of minors as adults in cases of violent felonies – especially murder – sometimes as young as 14, 12, or even ten.
Finally, there’s physical development. Socially and biologically, you might be said to have reached adulthood at anywhere from 15 to 18 – but scientists have long believed that the brain doesn’t fully develop into adulthood until well into the 20s. More recent research shows adulthood by brain development might not occur until age 32!
Coming of Age Through the Ages
If that’s about as clear as mud, it’s thanks to a special blend of history and human psychology. For one thing, the medical knowledge of brain development is a relatively new thing, considering how long people have been around. Different civilizations considered people adults at different ages based on a variety of factors. Under Roman law, for example, adulthood was legally set at 14 for boys and 12 for girls, though young men remained under the household authority of their fathers (a concept called patria potestas) until their fathers died.
Medieval and Catholic church law recognized that same age limit for age of consent in marriage and legal liability, and 14 was the age boys often became apprentices or squires. Even into the early 1900s in America and Europe, 14- and 15-year-olds often worked full-time in factories, married with consent, and faced adult criminal courts. In early America, boys could join the military at age 16, though the 1792 Militia Act established the primary pool of service-age white male citizens as those aged 18-45. That said, one couldn’t legally vote before age 21 until the 26th Amendment in 1971.
In fact, the idea that “children” were still children and belonged in school rather than out in the workforce at 14 or even 16 didn’t really take hold until the 1900s. Though attempts had been made much earlier, the first US federal law that successfully and permanently banned oppressive child labor was the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which set the minimum age for dangerous jobs such as mining and factory work at 16.
When am I an adult? It may seem like such a simple question. But as you can see now, there never has been a simple answer – and there probably never will be.
