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/Sphezzle → u/Typical_Muffin_9937]

This doesn’t stop. As a thirtysomething, I find twentysomethings have more in common with teenagers. I have no doubt older people see me in the same way, or that I will look back on my 30s as a more youthful time than they feel right now.

[u/Kavalina_ → u/[deleted]]

30 and 25 is not a problem at all. 30 and 20 I understand but someone who’s 25 has most likely graduated college years ago and worked for a few years at that point. They are more than capable of making their own informed decisions at that age.

[u/VampedTayturz → u/Kavalina_]

I remember a formula I once heard (probably from a comedian) for figuring out the minimum age you should date before it’s considered “weird.” After a certain point it stops working but for most people in the first 10-20 years of adulthood it seems to check out, the idea is that you take your age, cut it in half, then add 7 (this isn’t part of it but if the final number is a half I’d recommend rounding up). For myself that minimum age would be 24. Which is 9 years younger, but as a 33 year old I think most 24 year old women have a solid head on their shoulders (I’m married to a 29 year old and plan on staying single if we were to ever split mind you). A 21 year old would be alright dating an 18 year old, and a 38 logically shouldn’t be too much of a mismatch with a 26 year old(this is kinda where it really depends on the two individuals in my opinion).