Feel free to interpolate this to other unique situations, regardless of how adulthood is defined elsewhere (usually to the detriment of the newly minted “adult”).

Why do I think the social practice of adulthood in America is usually hypocritical bullshit?

Because it maximizes adult penalties and responsibilities for minors while denying them the adult benefits and options.

This analysis in no way suggests that non-adult teens (1) should be considered legitimate romantic and sexual partners for adults, (2) should be using hard drugs recreationally, or (3) should not be supervised.

What I am critiquing, especially in America, is the idea that we should be (a) micromanaging teens to such an extent that we load them down with as many adult responsibilities as possible while (b) concurrently denying them direct knowledge, experience, and consequences.

Traditionalists will of course blather on and on about what’s appropriate rather than allowing teens to decide what’s appropriate for themselves.

In other words, adolescence is marked, especially in North America, by a profound degree of childism and adultification.

Without the academic talk, what it really means is the idea that non-adult teens (especially unprepared ones) belong to parents/the state while simultaneously facing adult responsibilities and punishments.

If we actually thought children and non-adult teens belonged to themselves, we would realistically prepare them for adulthood while allowing them as much self-reliance as possible.

We do the exact opposite of that in America. We load them down with adult responsibilities while keeping them as ignorant as possible, expect them to fail, and then throw the book at them when they fuck up. Add extra degrees of difficulty if the individual in question is not violent, not able bodied, neurodivergent, poor, QUILTBAG, non-white, non-male, other than cisgender, etc.

It’s like we’re just looking for excuses to treat children like shit.

Way to go, USA </s>.

Why do I believe many non-adult individuals rush to engage in questionable social status markers that suggest adulthood (unprotected sex, irresponsible drug use, etc.)? Because, despite authoritarian meddling, these activities are some of the few areas under their direct control. In a sane and rational society, we’d be preparing them with as much accurate, fact-base knowledge and access as possible so that they could make informed and enlightened decisions for themselves. In this society, kids rush towards adulthood because that’s the only real power many of them are able to wield.

A potential answer to children being targeted by abusive and/or predatory adults is having an educated, non-adult population that {i} can thoroughly identify the many types of abuse and has the right to call them out, {ii} is allowed to enforce boundaries, and {iii} will be believed when they report to social and/or legal authorities.

If we really thought children were our future, we’d give them as much education and leeway as possible, value their opinions, give them enough space to stumble without incurring irreparable harm, and welcome them into adulthood without being ageist and dismissive.

I don’t know what that society looks like or how it functions, but neither do the people who insist what we’re doing right now is functional or ideal.