They are one step away

I find this hilarious, and I think that it is high time somebody started yelling at this state's legislature.

That, combined with this ridiculous bill, has gotten me thinking about the whole "boomerang generation" phenomenon that my classmates have so lovingly embraced. Economic factors aside (and don't underestimate those. I'm looking at you, Dick Cheney), I think that legislation has played a big part in this.

In order to truly understand this, you have to gain an appreciation for the term "The Real World." And no, I don't mean the tv show. Regardless, going through school, students are constantly told about how when they enter The Real World, they are not going to get away with just getting detention for doing X. They'll have to take responsibility for their actions, the principal is like your boss and if you put a stink bomb in your boss's office you can be damned sure you are getting fired, and so on. The real problem is that there is no longer a clear line that one crosses into adulthood. I have a bunch of theories as to why that may be, but more on that in a minute.

As I understand, it used to be that you became an adult when you turned 18. Period. There didn't seem to be any recognition of any kind of "adolescent" stage, which perhaps was the wrong idea, but nevertheless. You knew exactly when people were going to start expecting you to act like an adult. Over the years, that line has become extremely blurry. You can smoke, vote, and serve in the military at 18, but you can't drink alcohol until 21. You can drive at 16 (sort of), see R-rated movies at 17, and you can't rent cars from Hertz until you're 25.

All these mini-milestones only serve to confuse. Teenagers (and even those in their early twenties) have a hard time figuring out when exactly when they have entered the Real World, in a society that doesn't seem to ever want to give them respect. And it's true, a lot of teenagers are tremendously irresponsible and stupid, which I am sure doesn't help in the effort to gain respect. But, in my opinion, it's our duty to give them the benefit of the doubt first, and take it away when they show themselves unworthy of it. It's the only way kids can make the transition smoothly.

So-called "protecting teenagers from themselves" does nothing of the sort. It merely puts off the bad decision-making until later, effectively making children out of your 18-year-olds and your 21-year-olds. All you need is a month or two of undergraduate college to see that. So why not let them make the mistakes in high school and get it over with? You're supposed to know how to act like an adult after high school, you're supposed to be ready for the workforce. We shouldn't lose sight of that just because more people are going to college.