The Legal Age
The age at which one is considered a legal adult age in the United States is typically 18. However,
What defines a legal adult is the ability to legally work, participate in contract, vote, marry, and give
Sexual Consent, and join the military. In this context, what age constitute a legal adult age? Is it 18 or
21? I strongly believe that maturity of a person cannot be determined by age alone, because a person
may be 18 or 21 but he/she may still not have adult characteristic.
The age some one becomes a legal adult in the United States is largely the age at which most
children are considered adults in the rest of the world. However, a few counties set this age lower, but
most of the Western worlds consider 18 as legal adult age in some cases a child under 18 is a legal adult,
especially for the purposes of marriage or signing contracts prior to 18. This is legal but rare and it often
tends to occur if a child sues his/her parents for freedom to be self covered.
For many parents in the United States, the term legal adult does not mean that their children
possess certain adult characteristic. For instance, some parents may argue that being an adult may in
ply that their children are able to make mature delusion, participate in civic matters, and have self-
Control and be responsible. The fact is that there are some 18 year old that are simply not matured, and
does not have the characteristic necessary for adulthood. Therefore, they need more time to develop
and mature in those characteristics of an adult person.
In some States in the Unites States, some parents are concern about 18 year olds who are not
mentally ready to make life altering decisions such marriage at early age or joining the military, which
may not have been made with significant forethought. In this type of situations, there is very little that
parents can do to rectify the problem. As a result, many parents feel that they no longer have control
over their children, who may have reach legal adult age but are still not functionally ready to be adult.
The issue of adult hood is a very sticky one for children in foster care. At the age of 18, they
essentially age out of the system and the State no longer has the burden of supporting them. In few
cases, however, foster parents will continue to support a child who is technically an adult, but children
under this type of arrangement is always for short time. In few instances where the age is not a factor,
many children in the system are cared for by either a distance relative or biological parents.
In conclusion, a person may be biologically an adult and may have adult behavior but will still be
treated as a child if he is under the age. Conversely, a person may legally be an adult but possess none
of the maturity and responsibility that defines adult character. In this context, what age constitute a
legal adult age? Is it 18 or 21? I strongly believe that maturity of a person cannot be determined by age
alone, because a person may be 18 or 21 but he/she may still not have adult characteristic. Therefore
such person cannot to considered an adult even though they may have attained to legal age of
adulthood.
