Brain Development And Early Adulthood

Parents always say things like, “when you are an adult.” As a teen people always wonder what they mean, are not you already and adult? Herein lies the problem, why is eighteen the year the United States considers you an adult. At eighteen kids have just graduated high school and are just then ready to go to college. On the other hand, at eighteen it is legal to join the army and fight for your country. Three years later these “adults” can legally drink alcohol. Along with all of the joy in being an adult they also have to forgo people treating them like adults and overwhelming them with taxes and working long hours. The age of majority is not based on the science of the brain, but instead by politicians a long while age, before the new science
It seems that these days kids cannot wait to grow up, and though they may be more mature, mental development says that they are not adults until the age of twenty five. Neurologists have only started researching the age of brain development recently and what they found demolished what they previously hypothesized. It used to be common knowledge that kids became adults at eighteen, and that the brain was fully developed, but based on new brain scans, “ a consensus of neuroscientists agree that brain development likely persists until at least the mid-20s – possibly until the 30s” (Mental Health). Even though on the outside you may look like an adult and believe to be one, no one is. Ever heard a millennial tell an eighteen year old they are a kid and making stupid decisions? Turns out grandma may be more right than you think. In fact, “Someone who is 18 may make riskier decisions than someone in their mid-20s in part due to lack of experience, but primarily due to an underdeveloped brain’’ (mental health). Risk taking is not the only thing that is controlled by the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that is the last to mature and it controls the qualities that are considered to be determining factors on when you are an adult. These qualities include “Attention Complex
The prefrontal cortex not only controls the keys to being an adult, it also tends to be fragile. Ever hear a new story about underage drinking or teens caught with drugs? Odds are the inflicted teens are already on the road to an underdeveloped brain. It seems that the brain has an opinion on underage drinking because it directly affects the prefrontal cortex, and “Teenagers should avoid alcohol abuse, smoking, drugs”. Some parents may ask themselves, “what is the reality in this, my kid would never do something like that.” Sadly, statistics show evidence that completely destroys that claim. Though it would be better if reality was what most parents claim the truth is, “80 percent of college students drink alcohol, and almost half report binge drinking in the past 2 weeks”(Strauss). Think about it, not all college students are twenty one or over so part of that 80% is illegal drinking, but the more shocking statistic is that close to 40% binge drink. What is binge drinking? “Binge drinking is the practice of consuming large quantities of alcohol in a single session, usually defined as five or more drinks at one time for a man, or four or more drinks at one time for a woman.” Binge drinking heavily affects the brain's development and if 40% are binge drinking about 40% are tampering with their brain development. But drinking is not the only thing that