I'm starting to go the opposite direction of all the "you're a literal baby infant until 25 bc your bwain is a baby bwain :(" shit
We should be treating teens as more adult than we do. I don't mean some lowering the age of consent creep shit, I mean presuming competence. Get a job, learn life skills, learn to cook, be fully responsible for a pet, walk places alone (in daylight) or with a friend, have intergenerational friendships, teach skills to littler kids, be someone people can trust with more than wiping their own ass. Be someone they themselves can trust to do stuff and go places. We're stealing children's confidence by treating them like they can't do anything. Treat them like they can and should do many adult things and more will find the confidence to practice at them.
Yes, the brain isn't finished growing when you're like 15. No, you shouldn't get treated like a preschooler till it is. The general experience of adulthood is like 90% practice 10% maturity I think. The maturity is needed but it doesn't account for much if you just do nothing.
This is how it was for most of human history, probably. As much as I like the lower pressure, I do feel like I 'missed out' a bit.
Your entire childhood and adolescence is supposed to be preparing you to be an adult.
If you don’t start learning how to be an adult until after you’ve already been one for several years you’ve been set up for failure.
This is also used to strip young adults of their civic rights and autonomy.
There's a reason that transphobes are going for 25 as a new age limit for gender-affirming care--this myth that anyone under 24 has a baby brain is perfect for them to start banning it for adults.
