Age of Responsibility
AGE OF RESPONSIBILITY The “Age of Responsibility”, 21, is a completely arbitrary age chosen unintelligibly by a group of men because twenty year olds still aren’t fully developed or trusted by society in general, and people don’t even develop at close enough rates to have a universal “Age of Responsibility”. No two people exactly the same, so people develop at different rates. “The fact that every person is different and develops at his own pace doesn't make the creation of policy any easier.” (Greenblatt 22). It would be extremely difficult to make a solid age of responsibility since everyone is different. Any age decided upon would be unfair for some people and perfectly fine for other. There is also the fact that there is no upper limit to the age of responsibility. There are copious amounts of older people whose minds are fading; they can’t recognize it themselves and they don’t always have someone there to recognize it for them. These people are equally if not more dangerous than someone under the age of responsibility because they are not always capable of making sound judgments and there is a strong possibility of them being under the Influence of some form of medication and/or alcohol. It is a well-known fact that women generally mature faster than men physically, emotionally, and mentally. Does this mean that women should have a lower age of responsibility than men? No, because this fact is a general statement based on the analysis of a few individuals and couldn’t possibly represent everyone. Some women mature slowly and some don’t mature at all, while some men mature quickly, and some mature at a normal rate. Due to the individuality of people and the many factors that affect growth and maturity there is no way to make a solid, fair age of responsibility. The average twenty-one year old isn’t fully done growing and maturing. Research shows that the average twenty-one year old’s brain isn’t even fully developed yet. “Texas State Representative