Argumentative Essay: When Do Kids Become Adults?

683 Words3 Pages

When Do Kids Become Adults?
There is much controversy on when is the right age that kids become adults. Many people say that the legal age for adulthood should be moved to 21, while others say that it needs to stay. Neuroscientists have done research that proves that the age is much better at 21 than 18. Therefore, the age should be moved up to 21. The overall legal age should be moved to 21. Based on neuroscientific evidence, the brain doesn’t mature fully until early or mid twenties. When the legal age is bumped up, the child has a little more time to develop before being able to go out on their own.
“Significant changes in brain anatomy and activity are still taking place during young adulthood, especially in prefrontal regions that are important for planning ahead, anticipating the future consequences of one’s decisions, controlling impulses, and comparing risk and reward. Indeed, some brain regions and systems do not reach full maturity until the early or …show more content…

When the voting age stays the same while the legal age goes up, it gives the soon to be adult some gradual freedom. Not only that, but it helps him or her learn some politics first hand, while letting their voice be heard. It gives them a first taste of adulthood. “Like all lines that divide legal childhood from adulthood, the voting age is essentially arbitrary. Indeed, in modern America 18-year-old voting has become unmoored from one of its more important original justifications, which was matching the minimum age for draft eligibility (itself also an arbitrary line).” (Jenny Diamond Cheng, 237) When the voting age stays the same while the legal does not, it can still give the soon to be adult a first taste of political and legal freedom. While the legal adult age should be moved to give the brain more time to mature, keeping the voting age the same makes it easier for the young adult to go out into the