Age of Responsibility Is Different for Everyone

According to the state the age where someone may receive the legal rights and responsibility of an adult is at 18. Many debate on what the age of responsibility should be , the age where someone may receive all the rights the government offers for an adult. The age of responsibility that has been put by the government is confusing, because at 18 teenagers become an adult, but are not allowed to drink until 21. There really is no age of responsibility, only through hard work, parenthood being raised in a good manner, and teens showing that they can support themselves, that is what determines responsibility. The age of responsibility can vary for everyone many mature differently.

First of all, teenagers can show responsibility through hard work, using real life experiences. According to What is the Age of Responsibility, Greenblatt states that “What’s important, after all, is not passing a test or meeting an arbitrary age requirement, but learning lessons and applying them to real life.” This means that we can’t grow or mature if we are not learning from our mistakes. Everybody goes through different life experiences, some teenagers must grow up faster than others. For example, being pregnant at a young age, they must learn how to cook, clean, work, and take care of a child. All this requires hard work, I have observed from my siblings not having their mom around as much required them to work harder to achieve what they needed.

Next, parenthood plays a big role in how teens grow to become responsible. According to What is the Age of Responsibility Greenblatt states that “Even before the current recession, plenty of college grads and dropouts had “boomeranged”back to Mom and Dad’s house”This means of parents are always holding on to their child to tightly they won’t know how to survive on their own even after graduating. My older brother from what I observed went to college but dropped out and continued living with my parents, they never made him responsible for his own being, never let go through life experiences that would help him in the future.

Finally, the government and constitution also helps determine when teens are responsible. The government can send mixed signals, that many teens misinterpret. According to What is the Age of Responsibility, Greenblatt states that “then, the complaint was that soldiers were old enough to die but not to vote. (The 26th Amendment took care of that problem by lowering the voting age to 18.)”When taken into account it really doesn’t make sense. Young people are considered an adult at 18, but yet do not receive all the rights they should be getting as an adult.

In conclusion, being responsible isn’t something that teens have naturally, this something teens must learn. Being a hard worker not letting any opportunities that could benefit them pass ny. Age is just a number number, and a number cannot determine when teens are ready to become an adult.

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