S/O - Should 16 Year Old's Be....?

[karina5]

-be able to vote?
-be allowed to legally drink?
-be tried as adults for all crimes?
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish?


I'll be honest. It's hard for me to think of a 16 yr old as an ADULT. When I used to hear of a 16 yr old parent-to-be, I would get sad and think of a child having a baby.

IRL the teen mothers I have known - both through my personal life and my professional life - were typically not in even a little bit of a good place to be a decent parent.

BUT...before you flame me to pieces...I am opening my mind up towards that since I have "met" so many great mom's here on MDC that were teen mothers.

I realize of course that youth does not mean a teen mother will be a bad mom, just as an older mom is not automatically going to be a good mom! =)

So if a 16 year old is ready to be a parent, should they be treated as a legal adult in all the other "definitions" currently used by US society?

[Brigianna]

1 yes
2 yes
3 yes but with serious reforms, and
4 no. I think you should have to have a certain amount of experience to serve in the armed forces.

[Lucilla]

JMPO, but...

-be able to vote? no
-be allowed to legally drink? no
-be tried as adults for all crimes? many, but maybe not ALL crimes...it depends
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? no

[littleaugustbaby]

-be able to vote? Yes. I think. I see pros and cons, but mostly the pros outweigh the cons.
-be allowed to legally drink? Yes, with some restrictions.
-be tried as adults for all crimes? No. For some crimes, yes, but not all. I think it should be on a case by case basis.
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? No.

[JustVanessa]

Yes to vote, no to drink, yes to being tried as an adult, and yes to serving in the millitary (but maybe not in a combat position.)

[katheek77]

Yes - why not?
Yes - I'd prefer a lower drinking age and a higher driving age, personally
Yes - Although I'm not sure where you would lower the limit to...but there are already people under 16 who are tried as adults.
Yes - my husband joined two weeks after he turned seventeen...I don't think there was a sudden maturation in that two week period from 16-17.

I will say I think there need to be "benchmarks", so to speak, for all of these...sort of like you have graduated liscensing in some states...as you prove yourself able to handle the responsibility, you are granted more privileges.

[Ravin]

I could see turning the voting age back a couple more years.
I could also see moving military entry back a year, with parental permission.
I could see moving back the age for drinking, perhaps with parental supervision and 1 or 2 drink limits on an underage person buying in a restaurant/bar. Honestly I think the unsupervised binge drinking that results from kids sneaking around to get access to alcohol (and increases the likelihood they'll be driving under the influence).
I truly think too many 16 yo.'s in our current set-up are tried for crimes as adults. If you're not going to give them the rights/privileges of the majority, they should still be able to enjoy the special protections of minors, period.

The overall factor that I think plays into whether the average 16 yo. is ready for x or y is how they are treated culturally--as an adult or as a child. If anything, showing one can be successful at adult things should lean the system towards treating one as such, while screwing up should lead to a tendency to treat the adolescent as a child rather than an adult--which is the opposite of what tends to happen (tight restrictions on minors, the turning around and charging them as adults when they commit crimes).

[katheek77]

Originally Posted by Ravin

I could see moving back the age for drinking, perhaps with parental supervision and 1 or 2 drink limits on an underage person buying in a restaurant/bar.).

Little known fact: In many states, minors ARE allowed to drink under parental supervision, in private clubs, etc.

[joy2bmom]

-be able to vote? NO
-be allowed to legally drink? NO
-be tried as adults for all crimes? Some
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? NO

[the_lissa]

Originally Posted by littleaugustbaby

-be able to vote? Yes.
-be allowed to legally drink? Yes.
-be tried as adults for all crimes? No. For some crimes, yes, but not all. I think it should be on a case by case basis.
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? No.

I agree with you with some minor edits.

[the_lissa]

I really don't understand people who say 16 year olds should be charged as an adult at least in some cases, but not have the right to vote or drink, etc.

[Smokering]

ANY 16-year-olds? I think it greatly depends on the 16-year-old (which is, of course, not much help when deciding questions of law). When I was 16 I was working two part-time jobs and paying my way through Uni. When DH was 16 he was flunking school because he was frantically bored, and spending way too much time playing Quake. We weren't at the same stage of development at all.

[choli]

-be able to vote? yes
-be allowed to legally drink? yes
-be tried as adults for all crimes? most,not all.
-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? yes.

My sister had her first baby at 16. She was a better and more prepared mother than most I have met twice her age.

[WonderWild]

-be able to vote? NO

-be allowed to legally drink? NO

-be tried as adults for all crimes? All crimes, no. Violent crimes, yes.

-be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces if they wish? Yes

[delicious]

i am surprised that people think they should not be allowed to vote or drink, but that they can certainly die fighting for something they could not even vote on. !! or be responsible enough to handle a weapon, but not a beer.

[Brigianna]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

I really don't understand people who say 16 year olds should be charged as an adult at least in some cases, but not have the right to vote or drink, etc.

I don't understand it either. If anything, I think we should err on the side of more rights, and err on the side of more leniency. It doesn't make much sense to say that a 16 yr old should have the full accountability of an adult, but not the right to have a say in the laws under which he's being charged.

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by Brigianna

I don't understand it either. If anything, I think we should err on the side of more rights, and err on the side of more leniency. It doesn't make much sense to say that a 16 yr old should have the full accountability of an adult, but not the right to have a say in the laws under which he's being charged.

exactly. and further more how can you try them as an adult and not give them the right to have sex? i know *some* states do and i'm not directing this question at MDC moms but it's about the laws in general. when i was 17 my 20 something boyfriend was arrested for statutory rape. i sat there while the cop berated me for having sex because i didn't "have the right to" and all i can think is if i had killed my boyfriend instead of had sex with him i would have been considered an adult. : it's BS.
drink? yes- it took me a second. i was worried about the whole bar/party thing....
vote? yes
armed services? yes
crimes? yes, but only if 16 year olds are finally considered as young adults as they should be.

[karina5]

I forgot about driving. Shoot! I wish I added that to the list (and I realize in many (most?) states you can drive at age 16...oh well...

And yeah, I realize people do get tried as an adult and it happens more and more frequently, but I am wondering if that should be the automatic case always.

It is interesting to me that some posters ONLY picked "tried as an adult" at 16, and none of the others. That really scares me to be honest. Seems to be part of our "lock 'em up and throw away the key" mentality which REALLY bothers me.

I didn't post my answers b/c honestly, I don't know. As I said, most 16 year olds that *I* know personally and have known in the past, I shudder to think of them legally drinking and serving in the armed forces. MOst 16 year olds *I* have known don't really care much about politics, so it's hard to imagine that many interested in voting, but I don't see why they shouldn't.

This is a tough one for me. I wish I knew some 16 year olds that were more mature. That would help.

[holyhelianthus]

As I said, most 16 year olds that *I* know personally and have known in the past, I shudder to think of them legally drinking and serving in the armed forces. MOst 16 year olds *I* have known don't really care much about politics, so it's hard to imagine that many interested in voting, but I don't see why they shouldn't.

honestly i think it's because we as a society treat them like children. they don't have to grow up so why would they? the 16 year olds i know who do have to work, take on serious responsibility, or whatever blossom beautifully and rise to the occasion. if they were actually given these rights i think they'd use them and use them well for the most part. of course there will be those who really abuse it but it would be unfair to assume they'd all do that. if this were the case than the rights of 25 year olds would be revoked.

JMO, though

[Brigianna]

Another thought on the crime thing...

I think the U.S. criminal justice system would be improved by modeling itself more on our juvenile justice system. In the juvenile system, judges have discretion, the individual circumstances of the case are taken into account, and the emphasis is on preventing the offender from reoffending--sometimes this means punishment, and sometimes it means teaching.

Which is a long roundabout way of saying--do I think a 16 yr old should go to prison for smoking pot? No. But I don't think a 50 yr old should, either. We need a criminal justice overhaul based on a sense of proportion and intertwined with compassion.

Yeah, yeah, I'd like a pet unicorn too....