MARCH 2020 Issue two page spread

Morgan DelFava
staff writer
Many high school seniors are turning
18 this year: but what are the benefits? They
don’t get more freedom, as the majority stay
with their parents until graduation, they
are not able to purchase alcohol or nicotine
products (which have been very popular in
the generation) nor are they even able to rent
a hotel or purchase a car at most reputable
places/dealers. Why is the adult age suddenly
becoming 21 in every aspect--except for serving
in the military?
Northwest alumni of 2019 Cielo Esquivel
shares that her boyfriend, Aidan Prendergast,
went to the military upon graduation. While
an honorable service and career path to follow,
she states her concerns regarding this age
problem.
“Many times when I travel to his base
to see him, I have to get a hotel through the
military or my mom has to get it, they won’t
let me stay even for a night because they
think I’m some kid trying to run away from
HEAD
when they suddenly raise the legal age to buy
tobacco products, it directly affects me because
I can’t suddenly just stop smoking,” Esquivel
said.
Even still, more responsibility is thrown
upon young adults as many times seniors are
balancing high school, a job, and college preparation.
Yet, the government and even private
sectors seem to be forgetting that people are
maturing much faster due to the society that
we are living in. A few months ago, after my
eighteenth birthday, I was attempting to test
drive a new car. Upon arrival, I learned that
the dealership was “unable to allow a minor
to test drive a vehicle,” yet being a young
adult is just that--an adult. The inability to
do something as simple as test drive a car
demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt the
distrust of 18-year-olds, and even up through
19 and 20-year-olds who have undergone
similar frustrations.
Young adults who experience this type
of distrust are left scrambling, as not all of
them are still with their parents or may have
circumstances that are not as fortunate as
“It’s ironic how the army
goes to high schools to recruit
18-year-olds to join
the army but they can’t buy
a pack of cigarettes,
Northwest alumna,
Cielo Esquivel
“
2
HEAD
When you turn 18, you can vote, go to
war and pay taxes. You can buy a house, go into
debt and enter legally binding contracts. You can
even buy a gun. However, you can’t drink alcohol
or smoke tobacco until age 21. Why is that?
The answer is that 18-year-olds were considered
too young to make the important decision of
whether or not to smoke and drink. The time we
should truly consider people as adults should be
21, despite the U.S. legal age of adulthood.
“Part of it is on what you are expected to do
as a 15-17 year old,” social studies teacher Scott
Bennett said. “Do you have a job? Do you have a
driver’s licsense? What kind of responsibilities do
you have? Because that is going to help you learn
how to function as an adult.”
Studies show that a human brain isn’t fully
developed until age 25. Adult and teen brains work
differently. Teenagers think with the two amygdalae
located on the side of their brain, and adults
think with the prefrontal cortex, which isn’t fully
developed until one had passed their teenage years.
“
HEAD TO HEAD
When are teenagers considered adults?
18 year olds are old
enough to be adults
Angela Lam
staff writer
Only 21 year olds are
developed enough to
be considered adults
Northwest junior,
Benjamin Ramsey
was lowered to 18. As a direct result of this act,
advocating for the voting age to be raised increased
significantly. “Old enough to fight, old enough to
vote” became a widespread slogan at this time.
States govern most of the age restriction laws.
After Prohibition, the legal drinking age was set
at 21, consistent to the voting age at the time. So,
when the voting age was changed to 18, the drinking
age was changed in turn.
In 1984, president Ronald Reagan began
advocating for states to raise their drinking age,
claiming that it contributed to the problem of
drinking and driving among teenagers. This
resulted in most states raising their legal drinking
age to 21 years.
“I think that if the age for being drafted into
the military is 18 then yes, people should have the
rights of adults,” Latin teacher Parker Jackson said.
“However, I do not think that 18 year olds are typically
ready to be adults mentally.”
You graduate from high school as an adult
at 18 years of age. However, some people might
feel that they are unprepared for adulthood, as
the complete 180 from rigid school schedules and
dependence on adults to the sudden independence
I feel like there are a lot of
things about adulthood and
life in general that I do not understand
because they do not
teach these things in school,
“
home; even though I’m 20,” Esquivel said, “I
also think it’s ironic how the army goes to
high schools to recruit 18-year-olds to join the
army but they can’t buy a pack of cigarettes; if
someone is old enough to join the army, they
should be able to buy tobacco products.”
If you are eligible to vote, go to a club at 1
in the morning and serve in the military, one
would think that you ought to be allowed to
rent a room from a hotel for a night or test
drive a car. This simply is not the case and is
completely backwards as our society does not
seem to realize that kids are growing up faster,
not slower.
“It’s so frustrating having to ask an ‘adult’
to book it for us, and it’s ironic because once
you’re 18 you are considered an adult--or at
least used to be,” Esquivel said.
The new law of having to be 21 years of
age to purchase nicotine/tobacco products has
directly affected many people in this age range
as well. Those who have been smoking for longer
periods of time (legally) yet are still under
21 are now expected to suddenly quit smoking,
as if it is as easy as switching off a light to a
room.
“I have been smoking for over a year, and
others. If one must provide for themselves but
cannot even purchase a vehicle--a necessity in
the society we live in today--where do they go
for support?
“Society expects so much from 18-yearolds
and up; they expect us to manage a
budget, go to high school or college, have a
part time job in order to pay bills and do all
these things but when we want to rent a hotel
or buy tobacco products we are denied it,”
Esquivel said.
Whether hotels, car dealerships, or even
the government with the new nicotine age
raise, entities seem to be forgetting that many
times students have busier lives than even
most adults and balance it much better. Why
are we trying to halt student success, their
achievements, or their adulthood as a whole?
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting that the
government has raised the legal age from 18
to 21 to purchase tobacco products yet they go
to high schools and talk to 18-year-olds about
joining the army,” Esquivel said, “It’s like ‘Oh,
you’re 18? You can’t buy cigarettes, but you
can join the army and kill people!’ It’s just not
right.”
The amygdala is most well-known for its
role in fear responses. It can send signals to the
hippocampus, which activates the ‘fight or flight’
response. It’s also important for forming memories
that are associated with both positive or negative
memories. It also has a role in arousal and hormonal
secretions.
The prefrontal cortex is most well-known
for its role in one’s executive functions. Executive
functions include the ability to focus, prediction
of consequences of actions, anticipation of events,
impulse control, planning for the future and
adjusting complex responses to stimuli. It also
contributes to personality development. It is the
last part of the brain to fully develop, maturing at
around 25 years old.
“If you look at it neuroscientifically, once you
reach the age of 25 you actually reach full maturity.
Your brain is still developing (at 18), so you’re
still going through a lot of changes,” junior Ysantis
McKenzie said. “Experience -- failure, relationships,
college-- and actual chemical changes in our
brain shape us into being adults.”
Originally, the voting and conscription age
was set at 21. Then in 1942, the conscription age
of adulthood and jobs is daunting.
“I think that is (because) a lot of times, they
are not the ones making their full decisions in
high school, and sometimes that’s a shock to them
when they go to college or choose a different path,
so I think that is stressful, especially if you haven’t
been trained for that,” Marshall said. “What would
help that was if parents and students would work
more collaboratively while they’re in high school to
make those decisions, with the student having the
ultimate choice, and the parents being hopefully
on board with that choice.
Eighteen might be the current legal adult
age, but 21 is by far the better choice. Twenty-one
in fact, used to be the legal adult age, but was
changed so that the government could draft
more people during wartime. Teens aren’t adults
right when they get out of high school, from a
psychological and physical standpoint. They should
be given more time to mature and develop after
high school.
“Personally, no (I’m not sure I’ll be an adult at
18) I feel like there are a lot of things about adulthood
and life in general that I do not understand
because they do not teach these things in school,”
Ramsey said.
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