For instance: age of sexual consent, age for legally drinking alcohol, age for driving, age for voting, age for participating in pornography

Depending on the place, each of those requires a different minimum age. Why is that? Are some activities “more adult” than others? Using USA as an example: legal drinking age is 21, legal driving age is 16, age of consent varies between 16-18.

Not asking about different countries/states having different ages, but any single place having different ages for different adult activities

  • Today@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Yeah, but do you know anyone who waited until 21 to drink alcohol?

    • Fondots@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I actually did. I have some minor family history of alcoholism, nothing too drastic, but enough that I figured my brain could probably use an extra couple years of development before I pushed my luck on it.

      Don’t know if it actually made any significant difference, but I have a pretty healthy relationship with booze, I’m no teetotaler by a longshot, but I don’t drink to excess except for a small handful of parties a year, and normally go a couple weeks even a month or more between drinking.

      • Today@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Thats amazing. I did not have the awareness at 17 to not drink. I grew up in a house that always had alcohol but drunkenness was pretty rare. Both of my kids struggled with alcohol and figured out pretty early that it could be bad for relationships.

        • digitalgadget@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Not who you replied to, but I also had no interest due to excellent role models in my family for what NOT to do. I have had 1 alcoholic beverage my entire life, on my 21st birthday, and it was completely lackluster.

        • Fondots@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I will say that in my home my parents also had healthy relationships with alcohol, when I say I have some family history it’s not like I grew up surrounded by drunks, I have a few aunts and uncles and such who I’d call borderline or functional alcoholics, my grandmother was an alcoholic but sobered up long before I came around, etc. There were enough good cautionary tales around, but also plenty of good role models that did a good job of setting me on a good path to be a responsible drinker.

          Also, my parents are almost a caricature of responsible, boring suburbanites who did a good job of teaching me the value of a dollar and all of that boring crap that my fellow millennials complain about not learning in school, so while I very much enjoy drinking, my wallet would never let me become an alcoholic. Even the cheap stuff is too damn expensive, and life is too short to drink shitty beer.

    • jeffw@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I do, yeah. I would make them play drinking games with water so they weren’t left out. College was a wild ride