How And Why Childhood Lasts 30 Years And What We Can Expect

Jun 01, 2018 by apost team

Conventional wisdom has long been that one is a child until age 18, at which point they are an adult. However, conventional (and legal) wisdom doesn't hold up to how childhood has developed over the years and become more and more elongated.

While everyone matures in at least some way with age, our notions of adulthood aren't as applicable as they once were. 
 

Legal adulthood and emotional adulthood are two very different things. Just because someone is old enough to vote or open a bank account doesn't mean that they have a grasp on adulthood. If you ask an 18-year-old if they feel like an adult, they might confidently reply that they do. However, you should touch base with them again in five years. They might feel even less like an adult. Stressors like bills and work difficulties become more pronounced. 

That doesn't mean being an adult has to be a miserable experience. However, being an adult is like playing a game that you have to improvise your way through constantly. It involves juggling duties to the absolute best of your abilities. It can take upward of a decade of being legally considered an adult for someone to actually "feel" like one. That is, someone who feels they can handle various stressful moments with a reasonable level of confidence. 
 

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With increased life expectancy comes more room for self-exploration. Back in the days when people only had a few decades to look forward to after their twenties, it made sense that they needed to take to adulthood responsibilities as swiftly as possible. However, now there are longer lifespans and more time for this sort of discovery. 

That doesn't mean young adults should be waiting around for some miracle to happen and for them to suddenly feel more like adults. Being an adult all about putting yourself out there and understanding that your first few attempts will likely not be successful. Once you've realized this, you need to keep at it and learn from your mistakes. It's rare that these mistakes are so big that they should stop you from moving forward in life. 
 

The world is not how it used to be. There aren't armed conflicts the size of World War II. There's also a decreased rate of teen pregnancy and few births in general, thanks in part to better access to things like contraceptives and abortion. 

As a result, people don't have to mature as quickly as they used to. They are allowed more opportunities to go through life without a surefire direction. Someone could feel more or less like a child in their 20s due to still having the ability to feel curious about the world around them. 
 

People might like to decry the younger generations as being immoral, but that perception doesn't live up to reality. Younger people are actually much more pragmatic about their decision-making, resulting in a lower crime rate.

Taking part in risky sex is also decreased among the millennial generation. 
 

Just because millennials are more aware of risks doesn't mean they're afraid of taking chances. They just want to take ones that will pay off. Instead of prescribing to the notion of starting a family and having a routine job right after college, they are using their 20s as a time to explore who they are. 


If you are wondering about your place in the world of adulthood, give this article some consideration. You should also show it to your friends to fuel a discussion of what it means to be an adult!