CajunMama wrote:Regit, so you believe that all teenagers are "capable of reasoning exactly the same as an adult".
This isn't open for serious debate. The Period of Formal Operations (ability to think and perform abstractly) begins at ages 11-15, but usually 12. This is why the threshold for charging a minor as an adult is generally set at 12. However, some people never enter this stage. The keyword there is NEVER. So, getting older does them no good.
CajunMama wrote:So then why are some states wanting to raise the age that a teenager can get their license? Why did the drinking age go from 18 to 21?
This is partly connected to a feeling of invinicibility. As you get older, you become more aware of your own impending mortality. Making a stupid decision doesn't demonstrate a lack of ability to determine right from wrong.
CajunMama wrote:Why is it a crime for someone to have a sexual relationship with someone under the age of 18?
In MOST states (and most western societies) it's 16, but regardless, this is a number chosen because of post-victorian social standards. There were generally no ages of consent a few centuries ago. Finally it was set at 12 in parts of Europe. It crept up into Victorian times and eventually came to settle at 16. There was no research done to pick this number, it's just a feel-good number.
The fact that this number was chosen decades ago has no consequence in the study of Psychology.
Lindaloo wrote:Regit, do you have any kids?
Biological no, but have had guardianship and have, all totaled, had hundreds of children under my care during my life.
Additionally, I've studied child development.
AussieMark wrote:using this analogy a 12 yo could be sentenced same way as a 20 yo since they have the same mind as a adult as u claim.
As I pointed out above, 12 is generally the cut-off age. It has gone as low as 11.