My teenager is going to be 18, the magic age when everything changes (hmm, what is it that really changes?)* IN. ONE. WEEK. May 23rd.
This has been a very challenging year for all of us. I am stopping now and thinking: can I remember what it was like to be that age and think I knew everything? And clearly more than my parents did?
What it was like to be at the brink of a huge change in my life? My next step was already settled (college, which one, etc.), while his is not yet...and it was still immensely scary for me. Of course I didn't want to admit that!
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*Further to "what really changes at age 18" - I did a Google search. At 18 in Texas, he can now get married without parental consent.
He can vote.
Of course he could join the military, hurrah. Must register for Selective Service.
He can't legally drink in Texas until age 21, but if he joined the Marines, they have lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 for soldiers on liberty overseas and taking part in official on-base functions. Now there's an incentive.
Dartmouth scientists have found that people's brains change significantly after age 18. Here's the post-18 year old brain, with areas of change in color:
My first thought on seeing this was, is that ALL that's going on in his brain!? ;) But wait, I get it. Areas of change.
Wikipedia says:
"Eighteen is also the age in most countries at which a person may appear in a pornographic video, if pornography is legal at all, or express legal consent to sexual relations with another. (Man, I'm glad he doesn't read this blog. And if he does...B, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Think Brooklyn Bridge. Think "Jerks"!)
An eighteen year-old is able to purchase goods from television commercials which otherwise would have been a liability issue for the seller.
In addition, eighteen year-olds in the United States have the right to bear arms, own property, get an abortion, donate their body to science, and serve on a jury. With these new privileges come responsibility: eighteen year-olds are tried as adults in court."
