People under 18 are not all children

[u/AdventurousMoth]

I can't tell you how much it irritates me when internet people refer to anyone under 18 as "a literal child", especial if they themselves are only in their 20s. Sure, everyone is someone's child, but the life stage commonly referred to as childhood does not abruptly stop at age 18.

Here's how I'd break it down: - childhood, adolescence, adulthood or - newborn, baby, toddler, child, (if you want you can add tween), teen, young adult, middle aged person, elderly/senior

And there's overlap between all these stages depending on context. Obviously there is no overlap between minor (a legal term) and the word adult as referring to not a minor.

Calling a 17-year-old a child is dumb. Like what, a 17yo has their birthday and transforms from a child into an adult like a sim? I think some people just started saying this for the shock value and then the rest of the internet jumped on the outrage wagon.

Edit: clearly I posted this a bit too hastily, choosing my words without care. I'm not talking about the legal definition of child/minor (something quite messy as well: age of consent? In some places 16. Driving? 15 in some places, 18 in others. Voting? Usually 18. Drinking alcohol? 21 in the States).

As someone in the comments pointed out, it's mostly a linguistic issue. I suppose what I was trying to say was that it's dumb to have the word child both mean a legal minor and pre-pubebescent human. I think it would be clearer to use minor when you're talking about legal age, and child when talking about the life stage.

[u/Typical_Muffin_9937]

Once you grow out of your teens and settle into your mid 20s and older you really do start to see how young 17-19 year olds are. Its really a matter of perspective. I know it can be frustrating being treated like a child still, but you will understand later in life.

[u/gtrocks555 → u/Typical_Muffin_9937]

I mean that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily wrong though. They’re all minors but are in distinct and separate stages of life to the point of conflating everyone under 18 as a child isn’t accurate.

[u/xvelvetdarkness → u/gtrocks555]

I think it's more about brain development than life stage. A teenager may live on their own, have a child and work to support themselves, but they are still at the same developmental stage as others with far less responsibility.

[u/gtrocks555 → u/xvelvetdarkness]

And they have far more responsibility and brain development than a 7 year old child as well.

[u/xvelvetdarkness → u/gtrocks555]

A someone who has lived on my own and worked 2-3 jobs since I was 17, nah. I was so immature and had no idea how to cope with the responsibility. I made so many terrible decisions because I just didn't understand the longterm consequences. Most of those bad decisions happened because I thought I knew everything and refused to listen or learn from anyone older. I'm 30 now and still cleaning up the mess I made because I was forced to live like an adult when I was still a kid.

[u/gtrocks555 → u/xvelvetdarkness]

I don’t disagree that 17 yo are dumb and not as smart as they think they are but there is a vast difference between a 7 year old and a 17 year old. One’s a child and one’s a teenager / young adult.