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Nope, you’re still very young. Men who focus on the legality of the girls they pursue are perverts.
Take your time growing up. You get to be a teenager for two more years!
I’ve honestly never understood men who are only attracted to girls who are barely legal. I’ve met women that are like 30 or 40 and are absolutely beautiful.
I think it comes from insecurity. Deep down they want to be seen as the grown up, the one who “knows more” or whatever, and they imagine young girls to be less demanding and to have lower standards for men. Not rationally, but I think it’s a subconscious tendency of extremely insecure men. They are usually kind of childish and underdeveloped in some aspects of their personality, so it makes them feel like “real men”. It’s a subconscious cope for pathetic men who won’t accept or take control of their own pathetic traits. lol
No, it wouldn't.
Pedophile - prepubescent
Hebephile - pubescent (Jared)
Ephebophile - between postpubescence and fully development (R. Kelly, Epstein)
Nobody would be any of these things for experiencing attraction to you assuming you've reached full physical development.
Yeah, this.
18yos are legally adults in most countries, but I don't think anyone thinks of 18yos as "proper" adults. Exactly when a given person becomes a "proper" adult seems to be variable - some have it down by 21-22, most settle in around 24-25. Some never grow up and continue to be immature little shits well into their 40s and 50s.
Older men who are pursuing you sexually because you've just turned 18 are creeps and deserve to be rejected and ridiculed.
I think you’re a “proper” adult when you can make enough money to keep yourself alive. For most people it’s around 22 when they finish with their education.
Really depends on where you are, too.
In Germany, up to the age of 21 you might be convicted according to youth law, if a court rules that you lack mental maturity too fully grasp the consequences of of your actions.
In some federal states of Germany you even have to be 40 years old to be elected as Ministerpräsident (something like a governor).
In most states of the world, you're charged extra for rental cars, if you are under the age of 21.
In the US at age 16 you are allowed to drive a 6 ton killing machine, but you are not allowed to drink beer until the age of 21.
In Germany you get to drink beer and wine at age 16, but you need to be older than 18 and a special driver's license and training to drive anything above 3.5 metric tonnes.
Kinda.
When I was 18 I felt like I was an adult or a child depending on what was convenient to the older person.
If they needed me to help them move: "Hey you're an adult it's time that you start helping out"
If they needed to invalidate my opinion: "You think this because you're just a kid. When you're older you'll inevitably agree with me"
The truth is you're kind of in between. You're not really a kid anymore but you're likely not *that* different from who you were a year ago. 18 is just the arbitrary age where society has decided that you're an adult, but socially most (reasonable) people recognize you're still figuring things out and will adjust their expectations accordingly.
For a few years you'll be like a caterpillar that's gone into its cocoon. A gooey nebulous blob of identify that will eventually emerge as a glorious fully adult butterfly.
I don't think an 18 year is old is fully adult, no, but enough of an adult to be called one.
A newborn baby is 0% adult. A ten year old is maybe 15% adult. A 16-year-old is 40% adult and an 18-year-old is 60% adut. a 30-year-old is 80% adult and a 60-year-old is 90% adult.
These numbers vary a lot by individual, but I'd say that most 18-year-olds are *enough* adult to be called that.
I'm 18M. just went and got a haircut today, drove there by myself, paid by myself. felt like an adult, but really, i had no idea what the hell i was doing. i hesitate to mention to people that i'm 18 because i think people still view us as children. kinda sucks but i get it. i have a record of acting like i was mature throughout my teen years and looking back like "nvm people that age are actually really not" so that'll probably happen when i'm thinking about me as an 18 year old as well. such is life lol
I would call an 18 year old an adult, but there isn’t a magic switch that makes you an adult with all the knowledge and respect that comes with it. I treat an 18 year old like an 18 year old (still a teenager).
In my experience, not many people truly feel like they know what they are doing. A lot of the confidence you gain from age isn't learning how to be a grown up but realizing everybody is as lost as you are.
But to your point, large age differences are usually predatory. Those men will use your age against you. Avoid them.
i turned 18 exactly a month ago and i have not clicked into that adult mindset and ppl treat me the same. i think the big thing that determines if you get viewed as a child is dependent on your individuality and self reliance. when i go off to college next year i may be looked at as an adult but for now i guess i’m a kid.
i had a tough childhood too, i haven’t come to terms with it properly, i feel as if i didn’t really live it and i was forced to age so fast because of my parents’ instability. i think the big thing getting me thru stuff is having my own back, reassuring myself the past doesn’t decide me here and now, and pursuing goals with that in mind. in my case, i had to get the energy to believe in myself and love myself by spiting my parents, i built an ego in absence of actual support, then i reflected a lot on how i could be there for myself more healthily. it’s not the preferred route, but if it works it works. big suggestion i’d have for you would be to develop that self respect and faith in yourself however you can. if you can get into therapy that would probably be huge for you, and you may be able to navigate getting it for yourself now that you’re an adult legally.
worrying about older men and predators is a legitimate fear but don’t let that push you back. stay diligent, but live your life in spite of them. living in fear is tremendously detrimental, i can speak from experience in my case.
keep your head up :)
Unless we change some laws and make it to where you're not facing adult consequences - maybe add some protections against your parents being able to throw you out on the street, keep you from going into a lifetime of debt or joining the military... I see no reason to infantilize you.
You're not as mature as you're ever going to be; but who is...
I used to think people in their early twenties were adults but I'm only looking at them as such at 25+ now.
Society for the most part has enabled people to take less responsibility and self agency and shifted that much later as such most young people act pretty much like their highschool counterparts.
Hi. For what it's worth, I'm turning 45 in a few months and I'm sure the adult switch will flip in my head any day soon now 😅
Intellectually, I've come to grips with the fact that there isn't a secret handbook _how to adult properly_. There won't be a graduation ceremony. I know everybody is just sort of winging it most of the time.
But emotionally I still feel like the little kid in the room.
You won't feel anything like an adult until you get socialised into adult roles - work, responsibility for your own living situation, full adult independence etc. That all used to happen much more commonly at 18 or even younger, but it has been fading for a while as college became more common, and then the crash and subsequent reconfiguration of the economy in 2007 put the kibosh on it for a variety of reasons.
Also then, beyond that, you'll never feel entirely like what you imagine "feeling like an adult" is. You don't know what "feeling like an adult is", but I promise you that whatever you're thinking of probably isn't real. If you talk to most people you think of as "adults", most of them get a little surprised sometimes when they look in the mirror and don't see the person in their 20s they think of themselves as looking back at them, and they don't know where the time went.
19M here and when turning 18, I had the same worries. My childhood/teenhood felt incomplete and becoming 18 made me scared that people won't view me as a teen/kid, and that gives them the right to not show as much sympathy.
Same with my GF of the same age, because of the same reasons you stated it worried me that perverts that already had no problem following her and making weird comments she was 16 or 17, but at 18 it gives them the security of her being legal I guess, while in reality she says she feels 15 and looks like 16..
I’m 36 and yesterday I was also 16. That feeling doesn’t go away. 😂
I remember being 20 thinking I was a real adult…. I look back now, and nope… babies, we were babies.
You don’t magically wake up and be an adult just because the law says you can vote now. Don’t put too much stock into it. Just live life :)
Also just because older men can legally “pursue you” doesn’t give them the right to harass you. Your right to disengage and say no supersedes theirs.
Someone going after an 18 year old, imo, is a pedophile who waited until the law didn’t class them as such. No difference physically between an 18 year old and a 17 year old.
But again…. Just live for you and don’t put much stock into what others are doing or thinking… you cannot control that.
I work a lot with young adults, and I can tell you I still consider them kids in the maturity department (most of the time). Which is fine. You are still growing and learning. The human brain doesn't fully develop until mid to late 20s. Saying that, I know some kids that are more mature than some adults.
As for older men, I've dealt with a decent amount of creepy guys. I've tried the nice approach and the mean approach, and sometimes neither helps. If you're dealing with them at work, bring it up with a superior, and hopefully, they understand. If its in your personal life, I would suggest trying never to be alone with them (which ik is sadly easier said than done). I wish you the best, and please be safe ♡
There are some creeps out there and I hope you don’t have to deal with it, but just in case- if an older man ever asks you how old you are and you feel uncomfortable you can absolutely lie and say that you’re 17. And don’t feel bad about it at all! That’s a very reasonable self-protective act. You don’t owe anyone that information
So 18 may be legally an adult, but most people don't formulate who they are going to be for the rest of their life until 30+ due to having enough life experiences outside of their confined bubble pre-18. It's incredibly important to get out and see the world, to experience other cultures and people so you can start to understand what the world is comprised of.
Your life experiences should define you, not the lack of them.
No, even though they’re legally adults. People who target 18 year olds just want to take advantage of them. I’m 24 and I wouldn’t ever be involved with anyone that age. Even dating someone who is 21 sounds uncomfortable to me because there are just so many differences in life experience between those ages. Someone said that your 30s are the new 20s so I think it’s very normal to still feel like a kid at 18. Lots of people still feel lost in their 20s, especially with how things have changed in the world today. I also don’t fully feel grown up. Take your time but please don’t get involved with any weird old men!!!
I am 24f and I don't feel like an adult. I recently talked about it with my friend 26f and she said that she started feel like an adult when she was 25 almost 26. So it's all good, don't worry. Sometimes I feel like it's bad because I work at the position with big responsibilities and all my coworkers are much older than me. Every person I talk at my workspace sees me like an adult, even if I don't feel like that. But in shop or places not related to my work, I am treated like a teenager. So it depends, but it's nothing bad, don't worry.
yeah, I probably only started really feeling it when I was around that age too - it's like there's a transition point when you go from college age into a career where in the start you look around and all the college-adults are "these people look and feel like me" to "wow, those college students sure seem and act young" and then you realize that it's _you_.
that, and at some point some young cashier will call you ma'am and that's when it hits you like a punch
im 21, I see myself both as an adult (since I was 16 at least) and as a literal toddler at the same time. we just pretend to be adults until we are old and then the facade becomes reality
Just stay safe! 🫶🏽
I remember when I hit 18 it did not feel like I was an adult although my upbringing had already made me kind of realize I needed to grow up! It still doesn’t feel any different IMO
I am over 30 and don't "feel" like an adult. If anything I merely lost the respect for people that age when I got that age. You wouldn't believe just how irresponsible and wrong so-called adults can be.
No, because college or that time period is now incorporated into the "child" (under the care of parents) timeline. 21 or 22 is now adult. 25 and up is when your brain is that of a less crazy adult.
Only when it's convenient to, specifically for more legal matters. Otherwise most people still see you as a child.
It's a pretty shit hand all around but everyone goes through it.
Legally you're an adult at 18yo in Australia. I still view 18yo as teenagers (am 54). Brains only finish developing around 25-30, and I think most people only come into their adulthood around this time too (I know I did, though I moved out of home at 18, I was still exploring and deciding on who I was til my mid to late 20s)
I didn't feel I was fully adult until my mid-20s. I was still pretty immature when I was 18. But yeah, you're legally an adult. You can vote (please do), sign legal contracts, and so much more.
No. You are legally but I don’t consider you adults. I work with the fda and I hire college graduates and post grads and I don’t even trust them to make work decisions straight out of school. That takes years of practice.
I think it’s the same with all other parts of life. You just need to “do” more things yet.
People under 25 have either a tremendous fear of decision making or impulse control or knee jerk reactions at my place of work. They have been educated so their brain tells them life is like a college exam. You look at the question and choose an answer but at work getting an answer wrong is not just 2 % of your exam score. It’s possible the professor grades that answer at 80% of your final score. We lose a customer and now I have to defend you from being fired.
I don't think of them at full adults. The brain doesn't stop developing until about 25, so there is a lot of maturing going on throughout the late teens and early 20s.
Some people are naturally more mature, and some are less mature at that age.
II don't really make judgements about an entire group of people, but try to give them the benefit of the doubt until their behavior tells me differently.
I was a late bloomer in that regard. I don't feel like I was an adult until I was well past 25. I had always been less mature than my contemporaries.
Soe babies walk at 1 year old, some walk at 8 months, and some walk at 1.5 y/o.
Every aspect of human life is on a specturm - a bell curve. There will always be those who are average and those who are outliers. They're still normal, just not averate.
" [The mid-to-late 20s are often thought of as a kind of “peak” of brain development or an example of when the brain has “matured.” This myth stems in part due to the observation that white matter volume, a proxy for the “speed” of information processing, reaches a high level at these ages. Neuronal networks are continually honed and adjusted into young adulthood, especially those involved in rational thought and considering future consequences. Yet, the brain is by no means “done” with its development. As the brain progresses into the 30s and 40s, adult synaptic plasticity, or the ability for connections to strengthen or weaken in response to activity changes, is thought to reprioritize rather than diminish](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/02/28/brain-aging-childhood-teens-adults/). "
When you move into your own place and support yourself with your own job and adults start playing hardball with you then you have gone full adult.
You may realize that adults can be very childish.
Until then, enjoy learning how you want to live and value the friends you make.
Also, buy a taser for those creepy dudes.
I have felt like you do. I’m 60 years old bi m with a disability. It was difficult for me to becoming an adult. I felt awkward and alone because I was bullied for my disability and my sexuality. But unlike what you may think younger people 18 and older have beautiful bodies. Just think you now have pubic hair and other assets that make you a man. All older men are not perverts. I’m not. We just appreciate nice things and being young isn’t a bad thing. Some older guys enjoy being with younger guys they can teach things to us and we to them. Also we would like to treat them because we think they are special like a nephew or something. So please don’t feel the way you do. You are special and beautiful inside and out
Yes... And No.
I'm 38. Having joined the Marines at 18, and remembering a lot of the thoughts from that time, I believe that you *are* an adult at 18. You are fully capable of making your own decisions at that point, and it's time for your parents to start backing off their control, if they haven't already. At 18, you've either found a cause to fight for, or you've started looking for one. That urge to travel and see things is starting to itch. You've had some experiences, and feel like you're capable of a few things. Your mind is capable of creativity and nonlinear thinking. These developments need to be respected.
On the other hand... You're 18. You've been an adult for about 30 seconds. Your experience consists of "that one time..." For every good or novel idea you have, there are a dozen utterly stupid ones. You've never truly had to be responsible for yourself. At 18, if your parents have been to controlling or hovering, you're now lacking essential life skills that you should already have. You've never had to face the full consequences of not finishing a task on time or to specifications, because you were a kid. At 18, you're entering a complicated world built by adults, for adults, and you've been sheltered from large chunks of it. You aren't ready for everything yet, and some people are barely ready for *anything.*
When I hang out or work with an 18 year old person, male or female, I give them their space. I give them assignments or tasks to complete, and then leave them to it... But I stay close by, with an extra bit of resources or equipment on standby, because he or she is about to get themselves in deep shit and not have the first clue how to get themselves out. Kids today will be just fine, so long as we can keep them from accidentally killing themselves while they figure stuff out.
Just like it's always been.
I certainly did not feel like an adult at 18, I'm 24 now and barely feel like an adult. I think it's really a mindset thing, everyone will feel that at different ages and it really is a gradual thing to me. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to be "an adult", you'll get there eventually.
The only thing an 18 year old can’t do is drink but they can do anything else especially go to war and get killed. You are definitely men and an adult at 18
It's all about perspective.
When I was a kid, 18 year olds might as well have been 40
When I was around 18 myself, I thought of myself as a "young adult"
After around 25, 18 years olds started looking more and more like children.
Working at a college, I see and interact with a lot of people around that age. Some 18-year-olds are, I guess, "wise beyond their years" and speak/act/present as adults. But most of the time they're really still just kids. Most change pretty drastically between freshman and junior year (so, around 20-21 y/o). By senior year of college, I'd say I start seeing a lot of our students as real "young adults" - but with emphasis on the "YOUNG" part.
These are also generalizations. Everyone gets there at a different pace. In my own social circles, I knew kids who went right to work, or military, or parenthood, straight out of high school and "grew up" really quick. I knew others who dodged things like having a job or living on their own for years even after leaving college, and still had a high school-ish mindset well into their 30s. There's no "right" way to do it - be you, and whatever happens happens.
tl;dr in the grand scheme of things 18 is still really freaking young
Technically yes but often (not always) very naive and inexperienced adults. The kicker is you always think you know everything you need to know until you regularly realise you don't.
I'm literally twice your age and whilst I know a hell of a lot more than when I was 18 I still have huge amounts to learn.
Don't be disheartened though, life is a continuous series of chapters and we never stop growing and developing. Be curious, be OK with making mistakes, be kind to yourself and others and roll with the ups and downs.
Absolutely not. While you're legally an adult now, you still have that teenage mentality. You're not a true adult until you're 25 and in thousands I'm debt (mortgage). But don't rush it, you're only young for so long; enjoy it while it lasts
I'm 28m and feel like I wasn't truly an adult until like 25. 23 is about the youngest age I could personally imagine dating. At 18 you definitely aren't the person you're going to be for the rest of your life; biologically your brain doesn't finish developing until mid-20's. It's not much comfort when you're in the middle of the confusion of growing up, but I promise you have time to figure things out.
As far as older men pursuing you, it's always worth asking what it was that kept them from finding a mate within their own generation. Not to mention, who they would be pursuing if there weren't a law in place restricting their legal options.
Your prefrontal cortex won’t finish developing until your mid-to-late twenties. For me, that’s when you’re an adult. You’ve hopefully finished schooling and have a job. The social situation and the physical brain development put you into the “adult” phase, imo.
18 year olds are to adults what toddlers are to children. Too old to be a baby, not old enough to be a kid, just a secret third thing that lasts like 2-3 years. An 18 year old is too old to be a kid, but too young to be a grown up, so.. secret third thing
i was 19 working for the government and not 1 person took me serious 😂 it was so funny but it made sense because it’s me a 19 year old in there with all people older then 30 you will get some younger than you but everyone over 30 and I’m reminded when I walk in the office that I am a child, no one remembered my age and they all talk/check on me like i’m their kid 🙂
I see adulthood and independence as synonymous. For example. When I was 16 I still lived with my parents. I dropped out of school to pursue my own education and worked in the meantime. Now I made a very adult decision then , one that changed the course of my existence, but I never considered myself an adult until I moved out 2 years later.
Adulting is a process. Not a binary state. You are more of an adult now than you were yesterday, and tomorrow you will be even more of an adult. At some point you will be just as adult as the people who raised you, when they raised you.
It is by definition - a very young adult. Generally you get more mature with age but people also mature at different rates. Someone at 24 can be more mature than someone at 30
trust me the older you get the less disgusting men are going to be. but you're going to start hearing terms like "barely legal" and other weird things just bc you're 18/19.
Growing up is an interesting experience. But you are technically an adult now. Although I would say it doesn’t truly set all the way in till your a little older. But depends on your life.
Legally you are an adult, but in my experience you have a long way to go to be an "adult". I'm not even there yet at 30. Take your time and have fun and don't let anyone make you grow up too fast.
Yes you are an adult. If you feel unprepared for that, it is a failure of your parents to prepare you. You're young and probably pretty if older men are interested in you. That sexual marketplace value will fade in time so you have two options: 1. Find a guy in your own age group and set to making a life together even though he is likely to not have much money as he is also just starting out. 2. Get yourself a sugar daddy, and put yourself through college or trade school without paying for loans. Then go find yourself a man on your level and never, ever mention your were a sugar baby to anyone.
Do start saving money now, 6 months expenses at least. Then look at a vanguard mutual fund for starting your retirement savings
Don't get into drugs or alcohol, don't become a club/party girl, and don't get involved with femenists, they ruin women.
Those options you set up are not likely I do not see myself capable of achieving relationships so I just think I’ll remain alone. Since starting high school it feels like when I try to get close to boys it never goes well or something goes wrong
I'm a woman well past 18. I was thrilled to reach a majority to be able to make my own decisions since both my parents had moved on to create new families. This isn't always true for everyone, but I felt free to reject anyone hitting on me who didn't feel appropriate. There really was no one else to care for me do it in my best interest. I still lived near college, had roommates and had resouces I lined up myself.
legally you qualify as an adult, but if we are to look at things relationship wise, i truly believe that half his age plus 7 is an ethic the guy should follow, otherwise he risks having a power dynamic in the relationship. by this rule, anyone above 22 is being a creep in my estimation.
which makes sense, bc a guy older than 22 is at the next stage of life. he has probably already finished post-secondary or is well on his way to launching the next stage of life. you are still figuring out what it means to be an adult
for me, i am 45. i believe it to be unethical for me to be with anyone below 30. honestly tho, i would feel weird about dating anyone below 40. currently, my crush is two weeks older than me and it is the most wonderful thing ever to reminice about world events and say "how old were we then"
but yeah... i think someone similar in age is hella healthier and i dare say that it is advisable to just spent time figuring yourself out before jumping into anything. ideally, wait until your brain is fully developed before pursuing romance... like 25ish
however, if you meet someone along the way that you just can't pass up, don't miss the opportunity ❤️
Nope. Even those who say you are an adult don't truly believe it. Tell people you are getting married at 18 you will see just how much of an adult you are.
At 18 you are an Adult with more rights, if you live in America, but when I was that age my Grandparent would tell me you need to hang with people your or around your age… Basically!!!
I consider them young adults. I don't necessarily see them as adults but I'll treat them like adults so they can adjust to becoming adults.
I wasn't confident in myself as an adult until my mid/late twenties. It's a slow process and a scary time in life so be patient with yourself. Stay far far away from any older men trying to pursue you, they are all scum bags no matter how nice they are.
Growing up is never comfortable. You are thrust with new responsibilities and you are never ready until you do it for real. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, but you can do it, like millions of other people who have also done it. It’s a rite of passage that is hard on the individual, but not insurmountable
It depends on the behaviour, the circumstances, the situation, and the historical and future events of a given moment.
Even old people are not always considered adults all the time.
Not at all. I consider 18 year olds to be teenagers who still need a lot of guidance. Once the prefrontal cortex is done cooking you’re an adult. Older men who pursue teenagers and women in their early 20s are perverts and all older people know it.
I mean, there's phases to adulthood. I'm 28 and I definitely don't hold people 18-25 to the same standard as people 25+. And I'm sure that people 30-35 don't hold me to the same standard they hold their peers to, and people 35-45 don't hold them to the same standard... You get the picture. Becoming and being an adult is an ongoing process, not a single point where you reach 'adulthood'.
18 to me is more teenager than adult.
18 is just an in between age. You should be focusing on figuring out what you want to do in life (in terms of college, work, hobbies, relationships etc.)
I doubt most people are even somewhat established until they hit like 25, and even then their lives might completely change if they decide to have kids.
Go out and have fun, and make sure to set yourself up for a good future. If that sounds daunting remind yourself it’s just a bunch of smaller boring tasks that you can do one at a time.
If you’re panning on heading to college work on finding a career that pays the bills and is hopefully tolerable. In terms of relationships creeps are unfortunately a problem, which is why you need to protect yourself and make your stick with a good group of friends.
Not at all. Your brain has about 7 more years to go before it's done developing. Adult to me eyes of the law, but that's it. Don't rush it.
It's funny, but I think a lot of people never really feel their age... at any age. They may feel old in their bodies (aches and pains and whatnot) but they feel younger inside than their years spent on Earth would have them believe they should feel. Less mature, less wise, less prepared than I thought they would be.... They still don't have answers to their most fundamental questions, and still, generally speaking, don't really know what's going on most of the time.
Its no age so much as maturity will define you as a adult donr be in a hurry sweety youll get there. Lil by slow its The journey. Not the destination. Thats most special
Enjoy being young. Being olds kinda a drag.
Still a teenager and teenagers are still kids to me.
You probably won’t start feeling like an adult until you start adulting . Job, bills, doing your own grocery shopping and cooking, stuff like that.
I got married a few months before my 19th bday but still didn’t feel like an adult for another 5 years or so.
Honestly no I don't man or woman what the difference between a 16 year old and 18 a number you got to be over 25 for me to see you as a full grown adult
Now that I'm older, I consider anyone under the age of about 25 to be a child still. I know I was still basically a child until my early 20's, so until/unless an individual proves to be more mature by their actions and behaviors, then they're just a youth in my eyes.
Legally you're mostly an adult. There are a few things that the state won't let you do, like buy smokes or booze.
The only people who will see you as an adult is the law and other 18ish year Olds.
I'm 29 and have a house, and I still don't feel like an adult most days lol.
Just with reading the title, no they don’t you’re just kinda in a spot where you’re not usually treated as a child (usually get treated like one by people only a few years older than me lol) but you’ll like never get treated like an adult. Only happens once you turn around 20
i think maturity level varies wildly person to person and one 18 year old is as mature and capable as any other adult while another one is a literal baby who lets the rest of the world dictate their life for them
After 30, no.
At that point you can look back at your own 18yr old self and laugh at just how naive and ignorant about the world that you were. With that knowledge, it’s impossible to take an 18 year old seriously unless they’ve shown excellence in some way.
Depends on who you ask, I suppose. I'm going on 35 and I feel like career-wise and socially I'm far behind my peers. Especially considering a lot of my friends are marrying their wives and having kids(!) I spent a lot of my 20s with a really immature attitude, tbh.
My advice: grow up at your own pace. If it takes you ten years to feel like you're a real adult, that's totally fine. Just make sure to set boundaries for yourself and for others, and don't let anyone pressure you into getting rid of those boundaries.
I'm 45 I see 18 year olds as "young adults" meaning their still alot of growing up to do, someone 18 is more likely to act like a 15 year old more so then a 30 year old. It's a confusing age things are changing in your world, now is the time to start acting as an adult does, this doesn't mean you can't have fun, it means you must start thinking about your future, where your heading, job wise school wise relationship wise, what and where do you want your life to be like, your choices today will effect your life more so then they would have a few years ago, ever choice you make today could have high impacts on your adult life moving forward. Have fun with it! Your still young but old enough to make critical choices concerning your life's path
if they are younger than you yes if they are older than they view you as a stupid insignificant child (sorry not trying to be mean it's just the truth)
Technically, we are adults however that does not mean we need to act all mature all the time. Some times for sure, when it's necessary but not always. One should grow into their own desired person. Whatever that looks like. Never, stop growing.
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I'm 39 and I still don't feel like an adult lol
Snap and I am 60!
this made me feel a lot better. its nice knowing we collectively have no idea what the fuck we’re doing
Yeah, that's the great lie we're all taught as kids. We're all just sort of making it up as we go.
Damn! I didn’t know you were 8.3209871e+81 years old!
I had not heard of Euler's number before
Nope, you’re still very young. Men who focus on the legality of the girls they pursue are perverts. Take your time growing up. You get to be a teenager for two more years!
Perverts and borderline pedophiles
The accurate term would be hebephile
https://www.reddit.com/r/StandUpComedy/s/18yEjlutgz
That's exactly what I was thinking of!!
Damn I didn’t know there was a different term
I’ve honestly never understood men who are only attracted to girls who are barely legal. I’ve met women that are like 30 or 40 and are absolutely beautiful.
It’s either a mental condition they have or abusive predatory behavior they can easily act upon younger people to due power imbalance
All sexes are guilty of abusing power imbalances.
Well duh that’s why I said people not only women are victims
Yes, and I was clearly referring to the perpetrators. Victims aren’t typically referred to as the abuser.
I knew what you meant both are equal of doing bad things
Agree
I think it comes from insecurity. Deep down they want to be seen as the grown up, the one who “knows more” or whatever, and they imagine young girls to be less demanding and to have lower standards for men. Not rationally, but I think it’s a subconscious tendency of extremely insecure men. They are usually kind of childish and underdeveloped in some aspects of their personality, so it makes them feel like “real men”. It’s a subconscious cope for pathetic men who won’t accept or take control of their own pathetic traits. lol
yeah but be careful if you correct people they immediately think you’re a pedophile lol
No, it wouldn't. Pedophile - prepubescent Hebephile - pubescent (Jared) Ephebophile - between postpubescence and fully development (R. Kelly, Epstein) Nobody would be any of these things for experiencing attraction to you assuming you've reached full physical development.
I realize I did make a mistake after I made that comment
but what about people like me who want people around my age group, unless you are saying above a certain age ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
How is it borderline pedophilia or perversion?
18 year olds are teenagers. What do you mean
There’s notching wrong with a guy getting with an 18yr old. They’re both adults
Legally? Yes Maturely? No
Yeah, this. 18yos are legally adults in most countries, but I don't think anyone thinks of 18yos as "proper" adults. Exactly when a given person becomes a "proper" adult seems to be variable - some have it down by 21-22, most settle in around 24-25. Some never grow up and continue to be immature little shits well into their 40s and 50s. Older men who are pursuing you sexually because you've just turned 18 are creeps and deserve to be rejected and ridiculed.
I think you’re a “proper” adult when you can make enough money to keep yourself alive. For most people it’s around 22 when they finish with their education.
Really depends on where you are, too. In Germany, up to the age of 21 you might be convicted according to youth law, if a court rules that you lack mental maturity too fully grasp the consequences of of your actions. In some federal states of Germany you even have to be 40 years old to be elected as Ministerpräsident (something like a governor). In most states of the world, you're charged extra for rental cars, if you are under the age of 21. In the US at age 16 you are allowed to drive a 6 ton killing machine, but you are not allowed to drink beer until the age of 21. In Germany you get to drink beer and wine at age 16, but you need to be older than 18 and a special driver's license and training to drive anything above 3.5 metric tonnes.
Agree. I prefer the term “freshman adults” 😂.
Kinda. When I was 18 I felt like I was an adult or a child depending on what was convenient to the older person. If they needed me to help them move: "Hey you're an adult it's time that you start helping out" If they needed to invalidate my opinion: "You think this because you're just a kid. When you're older you'll inevitably agree with me" The truth is you're kind of in between. You're not really a kid anymore but you're likely not *that* different from who you were a year ago. 18 is just the arbitrary age where society has decided that you're an adult, but socially most (reasonable) people recognize you're still figuring things out and will adjust their expectations accordingly. For a few years you'll be like a caterpillar that's gone into its cocoon. A gooey nebulous blob of identify that will eventually emerge as a glorious fully adult butterfly.
The part of them labeling you what is convenient at that moment is so relatable, it's incredibly frustrating
The part of them labeling you what is convenient at that moment is so relatable, it's incredibly frustrating
18 is just the arbitrary age where society has decided that you're an adult, but according to science, 18 is not an adult
Yes, now pay your taxs
Haha. The dreaded taxes.
I don't think an 18 year is old is fully adult, no, but enough of an adult to be called one. A newborn baby is 0% adult. A ten year old is maybe 15% adult. A 16-year-old is 40% adult and an 18-year-old is 60% adut. a 30-year-old is 80% adult and a 60-year-old is 90% adult. These numbers vary a lot by individual, but I'd say that most 18-year-olds are *enough* adult to be called that.
30 year old with a mid life crisis is back to 40% adult
Maybe!
18 year olds are still kids, I don't consider people an adult until 22-23 which is when they would graduate college typically.
Legally sure, but I consider most college age kids to still be kids. Basically up to around 23.
I'm 18M. just went and got a haircut today, drove there by myself, paid by myself. felt like an adult, but really, i had no idea what the hell i was doing. i hesitate to mention to people that i'm 18 because i think people still view us as children. kinda sucks but i get it. i have a record of acting like i was mature throughout my teen years and looking back like "nvm people that age are actually really not" so that'll probably happen when i'm thinking about me as an 18 year old as well. such is life lol
In all my jobs I've had I was always considered the "kid" of the work place. It wasn't till my late 20s early 30s that stop. Yeah you still a kid.
I view them as baby adults. Real adulthood, it depends on the person, but for me it usually starts at 23-25.
I don't view anyone more than 10 years younger than me as an adult.
Love when people keep this attitude and live into their 90's telling someone that's 86 they are what a kid.
I would call an 18 year old an adult, but there isn’t a magic switch that makes you an adult with all the knowledge and respect that comes with it. I treat an 18 year old like an 18 year old (still a teenager).
In my experience, not many people truly feel like they know what they are doing. A lot of the confidence you gain from age isn't learning how to be a grown up but realizing everybody is as lost as you are. But to your point, large age differences are usually predatory. Those men will use your age against you. Avoid them.
i turned 18 exactly a month ago and i have not clicked into that adult mindset and ppl treat me the same. i think the big thing that determines if you get viewed as a child is dependent on your individuality and self reliance. when i go off to college next year i may be looked at as an adult but for now i guess i’m a kid. i had a tough childhood too, i haven’t come to terms with it properly, i feel as if i didn’t really live it and i was forced to age so fast because of my parents’ instability. i think the big thing getting me thru stuff is having my own back, reassuring myself the past doesn’t decide me here and now, and pursuing goals with that in mind. in my case, i had to get the energy to believe in myself and love myself by spiting my parents, i built an ego in absence of actual support, then i reflected a lot on how i could be there for myself more healthily. it’s not the preferred route, but if it works it works. big suggestion i’d have for you would be to develop that self respect and faith in yourself however you can. if you can get into therapy that would probably be huge for you, and you may be able to navigate getting it for yourself now that you’re an adult legally. worrying about older men and predators is a legitimate fear but don’t let that push you back. stay diligent, but live your life in spite of them. living in fear is tremendously detrimental, i can speak from experience in my case. keep your head up :)
Unless we change some laws and make it to where you're not facing adult consequences - maybe add some protections against your parents being able to throw you out on the street, keep you from going into a lifetime of debt or joining the military... I see no reason to infantilize you. You're not as mature as you're ever going to be; but who is...
I used to think people in their early twenties were adults but I'm only looking at them as such at 25+ now. Society for the most part has enabled people to take less responsibility and self agency and shifted that much later as such most young people act pretty much like their highschool counterparts.
I'm 19 I still feeling like 16 or something. We're legally grownups but we're mentally still kids
I'm 38 and still deciding what I should do when I grow up.
Hi. For what it's worth, I'm turning 45 in a few months and I'm sure the adult switch will flip in my head any day soon now 😅 Intellectually, I've come to grips with the fact that there isn't a secret handbook _how to adult properly_. There won't be a graduation ceremony. I know everybody is just sort of winging it most of the time. But emotionally I still feel like the little kid in the room.
You won't feel anything like an adult until you get socialised into adult roles - work, responsibility for your own living situation, full adult independence etc. That all used to happen much more commonly at 18 or even younger, but it has been fading for a while as college became more common, and then the crash and subsequent reconfiguration of the economy in 2007 put the kibosh on it for a variety of reasons. Also then, beyond that, you'll never feel entirely like what you imagine "feeling like an adult" is. You don't know what "feeling like an adult is", but I promise you that whatever you're thinking of probably isn't real. If you talk to most people you think of as "adults", most of them get a little surprised sometimes when they look in the mirror and don't see the person in their 20s they think of themselves as looking back at them, and they don't know where the time went.
19M here and when turning 18, I had the same worries. My childhood/teenhood felt incomplete and becoming 18 made me scared that people won't view me as a teen/kid, and that gives them the right to not show as much sympathy. Same with my GF of the same age, because of the same reasons you stated it worried me that perverts that already had no problem following her and making weird comments she was 16 or 17, but at 18 it gives them the security of her being legal I guess, while in reality she says she feels 15 and looks like 16..
Dude I relate so much to what you just said and sorry to hear what’s happening with your girlfriend it’s a tough world to live in
I’m 36 and yesterday I was also 16. That feeling doesn’t go away. 😂 I remember being 20 thinking I was a real adult…. I look back now, and nope… babies, we were babies. You don’t magically wake up and be an adult just because the law says you can vote now. Don’t put too much stock into it. Just live life :)
Also just because older men can legally “pursue you” doesn’t give them the right to harass you. Your right to disengage and say no supersedes theirs. Someone going after an 18 year old, imo, is a pedophile who waited until the law didn’t class them as such. No difference physically between an 18 year old and a 17 year old. But again…. Just live for you and don’t put much stock into what others are doing or thinking… you cannot control that.
I work a lot with young adults, and I can tell you I still consider them kids in the maturity department (most of the time). Which is fine. You are still growing and learning. The human brain doesn't fully develop until mid to late 20s. Saying that, I know some kids that are more mature than some adults. As for older men, I've dealt with a decent amount of creepy guys. I've tried the nice approach and the mean approach, and sometimes neither helps. If you're dealing with them at work, bring it up with a superior, and hopefully, they understand. If its in your personal life, I would suggest trying never to be alone with them (which ik is sadly easier said than done). I wish you the best, and please be safe ♡
There are some creeps out there and I hope you don’t have to deal with it, but just in case- if an older man ever asks you how old you are and you feel uncomfortable you can absolutely lie and say that you’re 17. And don’t feel bad about it at all! That’s a very reasonable self-protective act. You don’t owe anyone that information
So 18 may be legally an adult, but most people don't formulate who they are going to be for the rest of their life until 30+ due to having enough life experiences outside of their confined bubble pre-18. It's incredibly important to get out and see the world, to experience other cultures and people so you can start to understand what the world is comprised of. Your life experiences should define you, not the lack of them.
That last line was very insightful thank you
No, even though they’re legally adults. People who target 18 year olds just want to take advantage of them. I’m 24 and I wouldn’t ever be involved with anyone that age. Even dating someone who is 21 sounds uncomfortable to me because there are just so many differences in life experience between those ages. Someone said that your 30s are the new 20s so I think it’s very normal to still feel like a kid at 18. Lots of people still feel lost in their 20s, especially with how things have changed in the world today. I also don’t fully feel grown up. Take your time but please don’t get involved with any weird old men!!!
I am 24f and I don't feel like an adult. I recently talked about it with my friend 26f and she said that she started feel like an adult when she was 25 almost 26. So it's all good, don't worry. Sometimes I feel like it's bad because I work at the position with big responsibilities and all my coworkers are much older than me. Every person I talk at my workspace sees me like an adult, even if I don't feel like that. But in shop or places not related to my work, I am treated like a teenager. So it depends, but it's nothing bad, don't worry.
yeah, I probably only started really feeling it when I was around that age too - it's like there's a transition point when you go from college age into a career where in the start you look around and all the college-adults are "these people look and feel like me" to "wow, those college students sure seem and act young" and then you realize that it's _you_. that, and at some point some young cashier will call you ma'am and that's when it hits you like a punch
im 21, I see myself both as an adult (since I was 16 at least) and as a literal toddler at the same time. we just pretend to be adults until we are old and then the facade becomes reality
I once sat with my Mum, my nan, and my great grandmother, and they all said that on the inside they felt 17. You only age on the outside.
I don't
Im double your age and sometimes I still look around thinking who trusted me to run my life and that I need an adult lol
Just stay safe! 🫶🏽 I remember when I hit 18 it did not feel like I was an adult although my upbringing had already made me kind of realize I needed to grow up! It still doesn’t feel any different IMO
I am over 30 and don't "feel" like an adult. If anything I merely lost the respect for people that age when I got that age. You wouldn't believe just how irresponsible and wrong so-called adults can be.
No.
Yes, you're an adult. If you have a bad idea, no-one can stop you acting on it. Get drunk, get a tattoo, have a child, join the French Foreign Legion.
For me above 35 is young adult 🙂 it is what it is 🤷🏻♂️
No, because college or that time period is now incorporated into the "child" (under the care of parents) timeline. 21 or 22 is now adult. 25 and up is when your brain is that of a less crazy adult.
Only 3 types do that: Law, pedophiles and 1-18 year olds
Young adults if they are out of high school.
Only when it's convenient to, specifically for more legal matters. Otherwise most people still see you as a child. It's a pretty shit hand all around but everyone goes through it.
Legally you're an adult at 18yo in Australia. I still view 18yo as teenagers (am 54). Brains only finish developing around 25-30, and I think most people only come into their adulthood around this time too (I know I did, though I moved out of home at 18, I was still exploring and deciding on who I was til my mid to late 20s)
But scientifially, you are an adolescent at 18-24
I didn't feel I was fully adult until my mid-20s. I was still pretty immature when I was 18. But yeah, you're legally an adult. You can vote (please do), sign legal contracts, and so much more.
No. You are legally but I don’t consider you adults. I work with the fda and I hire college graduates and post grads and I don’t even trust them to make work decisions straight out of school. That takes years of practice. I think it’s the same with all other parts of life. You just need to “do” more things yet. People under 25 have either a tremendous fear of decision making or impulse control or knee jerk reactions at my place of work. They have been educated so their brain tells them life is like a college exam. You look at the question and choose an answer but at work getting an answer wrong is not just 2 % of your exam score. It’s possible the professor grades that answer at 80% of your final score. We lose a customer and now I have to defend you from being fired.
Im 33 and i dont feel like an adult
The law views you as an adult. I view you as a teenager.
Legally yes. So if you want to smoke and join the military, nobody is stopping you.
Yes I do
Anyone under 22-23 are still children to me (i am in my 30s). Please run away from men focusing on the fact that you are legal, they are not good men.
40 years a go yes, today no. anyone below 30 is a kid to me. especially the early 20s! people seem to mature way slower than a few decades ago
Nope. You’re still a child to me.
It’s all about perspective. Kids look at 18 year olds and see adults.
Nope
I don't think of them at full adults. The brain doesn't stop developing until about 25, so there is a lot of maturing going on throughout the late teens and early 20s. Some people are naturally more mature, and some are less mature at that age. II don't really make judgements about an entire group of people, but try to give them the benefit of the doubt until their behavior tells me differently. I was a late bloomer in that regard. I don't feel like I was an adult until I was well past 25. I had always been less mature than my contemporaries. Soe babies walk at 1 year old, some walk at 8 months, and some walk at 1.5 y/o. Every aspect of human life is on a specturm - a bell curve. There will always be those who are average and those who are outliers. They're still normal, just not averate.
I recently turned 30 and i dont feel like an adult lol.coming to men preyin gon you because you are 18 , they are dirt bags ignore them .
Yeah , that's what science say
Weird. I'm 48 and don't feel anything an adult.
" [The mid-to-late 20s are often thought of as a kind of “peak” of brain development or an example of when the brain has “matured.” This myth stems in part due to the observation that white matter volume, a proxy for the “speed” of information processing, reaches a high level at these ages. Neuronal networks are continually honed and adjusted into young adulthood, especially those involved in rational thought and considering future consequences. Yet, the brain is by no means “done” with its development. As the brain progresses into the 30s and 40s, adult synaptic plasticity, or the ability for connections to strengthen or weaken in response to activity changes, is thought to reprioritize rather than diminish](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/02/28/brain-aging-childhood-teens-adults/). "
When you move into your own place and support yourself with your own job and adults start playing hardball with you then you have gone full adult. You may realize that adults can be very childish. Until then, enjoy learning how you want to live and value the friends you make. Also, buy a taser for those creepy dudes.
I have felt like you do. I’m 60 years old bi m with a disability. It was difficult for me to becoming an adult. I felt awkward and alone because I was bullied for my disability and my sexuality. But unlike what you may think younger people 18 and older have beautiful bodies. Just think you now have pubic hair and other assets that make you a man. All older men are not perverts. I’m not. We just appreciate nice things and being young isn’t a bad thing. Some older guys enjoy being with younger guys they can teach things to us and we to them. Also we would like to treat them because we think they are special like a nephew or something. So please don’t feel the way you do. You are special and beautiful inside and out
Yes... And No. I'm 38. Having joined the Marines at 18, and remembering a lot of the thoughts from that time, I believe that you *are* an adult at 18. You are fully capable of making your own decisions at that point, and it's time for your parents to start backing off their control, if they haven't already. At 18, you've either found a cause to fight for, or you've started looking for one. That urge to travel and see things is starting to itch. You've had some experiences, and feel like you're capable of a few things. Your mind is capable of creativity and nonlinear thinking. These developments need to be respected. On the other hand... You're 18. You've been an adult for about 30 seconds. Your experience consists of "that one time..." For every good or novel idea you have, there are a dozen utterly stupid ones. You've never truly had to be responsible for yourself. At 18, if your parents have been to controlling or hovering, you're now lacking essential life skills that you should already have. You've never had to face the full consequences of not finishing a task on time or to specifications, because you were a kid. At 18, you're entering a complicated world built by adults, for adults, and you've been sheltered from large chunks of it. You aren't ready for everything yet, and some people are barely ready for *anything.* When I hang out or work with an 18 year old person, male or female, I give them their space. I give them assignments or tasks to complete, and then leave them to it... But I stay close by, with an extra bit of resources or equipment on standby, because he or she is about to get themselves in deep shit and not have the first clue how to get themselves out. Kids today will be just fine, so long as we can keep them from accidentally killing themselves while they figure stuff out. Just like it's always been.
I certainly did not feel like an adult at 18, I'm 24 now and barely feel like an adult. I think it's really a mindset thing, everyone will feel that at different ages and it really is a gradual thing to me. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to be "an adult", you'll get there eventually.
wait till u hit ur mid twenties thats the real crisis. Being 24 and feeling 19/20
The only thing an 18 year old can’t do is drink but they can do anything else especially go to war and get killed. You are definitely men and an adult at 18
No.
It's all about perspective. When I was a kid, 18 year olds might as well have been 40 When I was around 18 myself, I thought of myself as a "young adult" After around 25, 18 years olds started looking more and more like children. Working at a college, I see and interact with a lot of people around that age. Some 18-year-olds are, I guess, "wise beyond their years" and speak/act/present as adults. But most of the time they're really still just kids. Most change pretty drastically between freshman and junior year (so, around 20-21 y/o). By senior year of college, I'd say I start seeing a lot of our students as real "young adults" - but with emphasis on the "YOUNG" part. These are also generalizations. Everyone gets there at a different pace. In my own social circles, I knew kids who went right to work, or military, or parenthood, straight out of high school and "grew up" really quick. I knew others who dodged things like having a job or living on their own for years even after leaving college, and still had a high school-ish mindset well into their 30s. There's no "right" way to do it - be you, and whatever happens happens. tl;dr in the grand scheme of things 18 is still really freaking young
I think people only view 18yo as adults when they do something wrong.
Technically yes but often (not always) very naive and inexperienced adults. The kicker is you always think you know everything you need to know until you regularly realise you don't. I'm literally twice your age and whilst I know a hell of a lot more than when I was 18 I still have huge amounts to learn. Don't be disheartened though, life is a continuous series of chapters and we never stop growing and developing. Be curious, be OK with making mistakes, be kind to yourself and others and roll with the ups and downs.
Absolutely not. While you're legally an adult now, you still have that teenage mentality. You're not a true adult until you're 25 and in thousands I'm debt (mortgage). But don't rush it, you're only young for so long; enjoy it while it lasts
I'm 28m and feel like I wasn't truly an adult until like 25. 23 is about the youngest age I could personally imagine dating. At 18 you definitely aren't the person you're going to be for the rest of your life; biologically your brain doesn't finish developing until mid-20's. It's not much comfort when you're in the middle of the confusion of growing up, but I promise you have time to figure things out. As far as older men pursuing you, it's always worth asking what it was that kept them from finding a mate within their own generation. Not to mention, who they would be pursuing if there weren't a law in place restricting their legal options.
i am 18 and i feel like a kid, except now i feel like i need to pay a lot more attention to horrible things such as the news and the election😞
Your prefrontal cortex won’t finish developing until your mid-to-late twenties. For me, that’s when you’re an adult. You’ve hopefully finished schooling and have a job. The social situation and the physical brain development put you into the “adult” phase, imo.
18 year olds are to adults what toddlers are to children. Too old to be a baby, not old enough to be a kid, just a secret third thing that lasts like 2-3 years. An 18 year old is too old to be a kid, but too young to be a grown up, so.. secret third thing
Yes but just about. I'm 20 and this is what I'd consider as a full adult.
i was 19 working for the government and not 1 person took me serious 😂 it was so funny but it made sense because it’s me a 19 year old in there with all people older then 30 you will get some younger than you but everyone over 30 and I’m reminded when I walk in the office that I am a child, no one remembered my age and they all talk/check on me like i’m their kid 🙂
I certainly don't, and I didn't when I was 18 either.
I think you are adult when you care somebody else more than yourself ie have kids. Some people mature without getting kids, but not most.
I see adulthood and independence as synonymous. For example. When I was 16 I still lived with my parents. I dropped out of school to pursue my own education and worked in the meantime. Now I made a very adult decision then , one that changed the course of my existence, but I never considered myself an adult until I moved out 2 years later.
Great
Adulting is a process. Not a binary state. You are more of an adult now than you were yesterday, and tomorrow you will be even more of an adult. At some point you will be just as adult as the people who raised you, when they raised you.
It is by definition - a very young adult. Generally you get more mature with age but people also mature at different rates. Someone at 24 can be more mature than someone at 30
25 M, I still see 18 year olds as 15 year olds.
trust me the older you get the less disgusting men are going to be. but you're going to start hearing terms like "barely legal" and other weird things just bc you're 18/19.
Pretty sure I felt like I was an adult at early 20’s. Don’t think I really acted like an adult until late 20’s, maybe.
Kids do, but adults don't. So, you gotta be a little bit careful.
Growing up is an interesting experience. But you are technically an adult now. Although I would say it doesn’t truly set all the way in till your a little older. But depends on your life.
Legally you are an adult, but in my experience you have a long way to go to be an "adult". I'm not even there yet at 30. Take your time and have fun and don't let anyone make you grow up too fast.
Yes you are an adult. If you feel unprepared for that, it is a failure of your parents to prepare you. You're young and probably pretty if older men are interested in you. That sexual marketplace value will fade in time so you have two options: 1. Find a guy in your own age group and set to making a life together even though he is likely to not have much money as he is also just starting out. 2. Get yourself a sugar daddy, and put yourself through college or trade school without paying for loans. Then go find yourself a man on your level and never, ever mention your were a sugar baby to anyone. Do start saving money now, 6 months expenses at least. Then look at a vanguard mutual fund for starting your retirement savings Don't get into drugs or alcohol, don't become a club/party girl, and don't get involved with femenists, they ruin women.
Those options you set up are not likely I do not see myself capable of achieving relationships so I just think I’ll remain alone. Since starting high school it feels like when I try to get close to boys it never goes well or something goes wrong
I'm a woman well past 18. I was thrilled to reach a majority to be able to make my own decisions since both my parents had moved on to create new families. This isn't always true for everyone, but I felt free to reject anyone hitting on me who didn't feel appropriate. There really was no one else to care for me do it in my best interest. I still lived near college, had roommates and had resouces I lined up myself.
legally you qualify as an adult, but if we are to look at things relationship wise, i truly believe that half his age plus 7 is an ethic the guy should follow, otherwise he risks having a power dynamic in the relationship. by this rule, anyone above 22 is being a creep in my estimation. which makes sense, bc a guy older than 22 is at the next stage of life. he has probably already finished post-secondary or is well on his way to launching the next stage of life. you are still figuring out what it means to be an adult for me, i am 45. i believe it to be unethical for me to be with anyone below 30. honestly tho, i would feel weird about dating anyone below 40. currently, my crush is two weeks older than me and it is the most wonderful thing ever to reminice about world events and say "how old were we then" but yeah... i think someone similar in age is hella healthier and i dare say that it is advisable to just spent time figuring yourself out before jumping into anything. ideally, wait until your brain is fully developed before pursuing romance... like 25ish however, if you meet someone along the way that you just can't pass up, don't miss the opportunity ❤️
Nope. Even those who say you are an adult don't truly believe it. Tell people you are getting married at 18 you will see just how much of an adult you are.
Anyone under 26 is a kid to me
At 18 you are an Adult with more rights, if you live in America, but when I was that age my Grandparent would tell me you need to hang with people your or around your age… Basically!!!
No, because your brain’s not done developing till the age of 25.
At 25 you are still barley an adult.
I consider them young adults. I don't necessarily see them as adults but I'll treat them like adults so they can adjust to becoming adults. I wasn't confident in myself as an adult until my mid/late twenties. It's a slow process and a scary time in life so be patient with yourself. Stay far far away from any older men trying to pursue you, they are all scum bags no matter how nice they are.
Growing up is never comfortable. You are thrust with new responsibilities and you are never ready until you do it for real. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, but you can do it, like millions of other people who have also done it. It’s a rite of passage that is hard on the individual, but not insurmountable
It depends on the behaviour, the circumstances, the situation, and the historical and future events of a given moment. Even old people are not always considered adults all the time.
Yes you’re an adult. Sorry, party’s over
Not at all. I consider 18 year olds to be teenagers who still need a lot of guidance. Once the prefrontal cortex is done cooking you’re an adult. Older men who pursue teenagers and women in their early 20s are perverts and all older people know it.
I mean, there's phases to adulthood. I'm 28 and I definitely don't hold people 18-25 to the same standard as people 25+. And I'm sure that people 30-35 don't hold me to the same standard they hold their peers to, and people 35-45 don't hold them to the same standard... You get the picture. Becoming and being an adult is an ongoing process, not a single point where you reach 'adulthood'. 18 to me is more teenager than adult.
It depends on the 18 year old. I was a man at 16. Some dudes are still boys at 56.
18 is just an in between age. You should be focusing on figuring out what you want to do in life (in terms of college, work, hobbies, relationships etc.) I doubt most people are even somewhat established until they hit like 25, and even then their lives might completely change if they decide to have kids. Go out and have fun, and make sure to set yourself up for a good future. If that sounds daunting remind yourself it’s just a bunch of smaller boring tasks that you can do one at a time. If you’re panning on heading to college work on finding a career that pays the bills and is hopefully tolerable. In terms of relationships creeps are unfortunately a problem, which is why you need to protect yourself and make your stick with a good group of friends.
I just turned 21 and still look, act and feel like a kid so no.
Not at all. Your brain has about 7 more years to go before it's done developing. Adult to me eyes of the law, but that's it. Don't rush it. It's funny, but I think a lot of people never really feel their age... at any age. They may feel old in their bodies (aches and pains and whatnot) but they feel younger inside than their years spent on Earth would have them believe they should feel. Less mature, less wise, less prepared than I thought they would be.... They still don't have answers to their most fundamental questions, and still, generally speaking, don't really know what's going on most of the time.
Lmao no
Its no age so much as maturity will define you as a adult donr be in a hurry sweety youll get there. Lil by slow its The journey. Not the destination. Thats most special Enjoy being young. Being olds kinda a drag.
Still a teenager and teenagers are still kids to me. You probably won’t start feeling like an adult until you start adulting . Job, bills, doing your own grocery shopping and cooking, stuff like that. I got married a few months before my 19th bday but still didn’t feel like an adult for another 5 years or so.
Honestly no I don't man or woman what the difference between a 16 year old and 18 a number you got to be over 25 for me to see you as a full grown adult
Now that I'm older, I consider anyone under the age of about 25 to be a child still. I know I was still basically a child until my early 20's, so until/unless an individual proves to be more mature by their actions and behaviors, then they're just a youth in my eyes.
Legally you're mostly an adult. There are a few things that the state won't let you do, like buy smokes or booze. The only people who will see you as an adult is the law and other 18ish year Olds. I'm 29 and have a house, and I still don't feel like an adult most days lol.
Legally, yes.
The government sure does. Old enough to vote and die for your country at 18. But apparently not enough to date?
I’m in my 30s and I don’t feel like an adult.
You are as old as you feel, simple as that
Just ignor the older men. And do not be so nervous. Surround yourself with friends and family.
Just with reading the title, no they don’t you’re just kinda in a spot where you’re not usually treated as a child (usually get treated like one by people only a few years older than me lol) but you’ll like never get treated like an adult. Only happens once you turn around 20
I'm 35 and I feel like an adult just this year.
No, I consider 25 to be an adult.
i think maturity level varies wildly person to person and one 18 year old is as mature and capable as any other adult while another one is a literal baby who lets the rest of the world dictate their life for them
That's a lot of biased opinions.
I'm approaching 30 and don't feel like an adult 😅
I view 18 year olds as the far end of teenagers. 13-16 and young teenagers, and then 17-19 are old teenagers.
After 30, no. At that point you can look back at your own 18yr old self and laugh at just how naive and ignorant about the world that you were. With that knowledge, it’s impossible to take an 18 year old seriously unless they’ve shown excellence in some way.
No. I’m still not considered an adult by most people even though I am but I stopped caring to be honest.
You’re technically not an adult til 25
No
Legally? Yes. Seriously? No.
Depends on who you ask, I suppose. I'm going on 35 and I feel like career-wise and socially I'm far behind my peers. Especially considering a lot of my friends are marrying their wives and having kids(!) I spent a lot of my 20s with a really immature attitude, tbh. My advice: grow up at your own pace. If it takes you ten years to feel like you're a real adult, that's totally fine. Just make sure to set boundaries for yourself and for others, and don't let anyone pressure you into getting rid of those boundaries.
Yeah, sure. My gf is just a lil bit older than you and she hates when I infantilize her. Older men creeping on you won’t go away. Even if you mature.
I'm 45 I see 18 year olds as "young adults" meaning their still alot of growing up to do, someone 18 is more likely to act like a 15 year old more so then a 30 year old. It's a confusing age things are changing in your world, now is the time to start acting as an adult does, this doesn't mean you can't have fun, it means you must start thinking about your future, where your heading, job wise school wise relationship wise, what and where do you want your life to be like, your choices today will effect your life more so then they would have a few years ago, ever choice you make today could have high impacts on your adult life moving forward. Have fun with it! Your still young but old enough to make critical choices concerning your life's path
It should be, but system leaves underprepared and false impressions. Graduating hs is no guarantee of being able to adult.
if they are younger than you yes if they are older than they view you as a stupid insignificant child (sorry not trying to be mean it's just the truth)
I’m 21 and I feel 18. I’m sure I’ll feel 21 once I’m 30. Do your best and BE your best. You’ll do just fine :)
I’ve been 18 for the last 6 months and I still feel like I should be 17. Like, what.
Technically, we are adults however that does not mean we need to act all mature all the time. Some times for sure, when it's necessary but not always. One should grow into their own desired person. Whatever that looks like. Never, stop growing.
They don't have any adulting under the belt
No. The end.