When Do We Become Adults?Adolescents Are Filled withInner Questions That SpiralAround Their Minds

By Kevin Harris III
Staff Writer

We have all struggled with making it through high school as young teenagers ready to see what the world has to offer.

We are pushed to graduate and get through college so we can live out our stable lives as adults.

Now let me ask you this, when do you think we really become adults?

Some say it is when we get to college, others say that we officially become adults after college.

Being an adult is no walk in the park, but I am not too sure when “adulting” begins.

Does it begin when we get that first job at 16?

What if it starts when we file a tax return for the first time?

How about purchasing our first apartment, or even when we have to go shopping for our own groceries?

Some believe college is a huge step into “adulting.”

They think this because unlike high school, we are officially on our own when it comes to housing arrangements.

But what if we stay at our parents house through the course of our college career?

We have to handle our own responsibilities and make sure we do what we have to stay on point with all of our grades, but as college students we cannot do everything on our own.

We need the support of our family members.

We need ways to get from point A to point B.

We may even need money when we do not have that stable job.

My point is even if we are labeled adults, we still cannot do everything on our own.

I am pretty sure that every adult we have encountered in our lives has had to start from somewhere, just like the rest of us.

Does being an adult just mean your parents no longer have a say over what you do?

We clearly can’t say that being an adult means you have to handle your own responsibilities, because in some cases teenagers have to take on responsibilities at an age that is lower than 18, so would you consider them adults?

Maybe being an adult could just be a legal stigmatism that society uses to mark those who are 18 and over.

What if the term adult is just societies way of saying, “hey, by law you do not have to listen to your parents anymore. They’re no longer responsible for what you do.”

How much do you adult?

Do you receive a lot or a little bit of help?

What age do you believe is the right age to consider someone to be an adult?

Email Kevin at:
kharris17@live.esu.edu