09/15/08 What Age is an Adult?

At the same time that Universities across the country are rallying to lower the legal drinking age to 18 auto safety groups are calling on states to raise the age for being able to get a driver's license to 17 or 18. This age group, 16 to 20, has apparently become the "lost" age group, the group that no one wants to take responsibility for. Granted, it is one of the most difficult ages to deal with, for those themselves who are that particular age, and the parents, teachers and other adults that come into daily contact with them. But they are also our nation's future and hope and deserve better than to be cast off under the guise of adolescence. State laws concerning this age group have long been out of sync, with young men and women being able to legally marry in some states at 16, vote at 18, legally seek medical treatment at 14, or fight and die for their country at age 18, while at the same time not being considered old enough to legally drink alcohol. State legislators need to dispose of the "salad bar" lawmaking regarding 16 to 20 year olds and carefully review and implement more balanced laws regarding this age group.