Being 20

I recently had my 20th birthday. I am no longer a teen, and it feels very strange. I've been considered a teen for seven years; now for the next 10 years I will be considered a young adult.

I am growing, changing, and developing. I have the body of a woman, but science has proven that I still have the mind of a child until my frontal cortex fully develops at age 25. CRAZY! I'm expected to decide my future in college before my brain has even finished developing, and the part of my brain that makes that decision is still developing! I think some people's frontal cortex develops faster than others, and at less than 25 they can make decisions. But for some people, that frontal cortex never gets put to use. That's why, even though young people often are the ones who change history and start revolutions, they are usually the soldiers of an older young person. Usually that person is over 25 - because their frontal cortex has developed by then and they can understand decision-making and the long-term effects of their decision.

Typically, 18 is seen as the first AGE TO BE. At 18, princes and princesses can inherit their thrones with complete power. At 18, children are no longer required to live with their parents, although most do. At 18, people can buy cigarettes and sell alcohol, although consuming alcohol is left for the 21-year-olds. They can be put away for life in prison, although that age requirement is dropping down lower and lower and is at 12, I think, which is completely and 100 percent WRONG. Children are not responsible for their decisions until they are 25 - but then again, who is, if they aren't? Should they be allowed to murder people, steal things, and do other violent crimes? If they can do the crime, they can do the time.

That's why our jail cells are full. Abandon children to a violent visual on-screen society and don't offset it except with 'be nice, don't hit' weak moral lessons at school, and then punish them when they commit the same crimes they see glamorized on television? Young children enamored and enveloped by society, ads, and shows. They're going to be evil! Change society and then the children will change. Children reflect their parents and society's influences.

So being 20 is a lot of pressure - but then again, it isn't ANY pressure. Go figure.



Lots of Love,Rachel