18 Year Old: "I'm an adult now. Why am I still not allowed to go on social media or have a smartphone?"
Parent: "Because the law now forbids both until you are 21, and the law is the law."
18 Year Old: "But Canadian, Australian, British, and European people my age are allowed to. As are people my age in almost every other country as well."
Parent: "Well, we're not Canada, Australia, Europe, or any other country for that matter. Different cultures and such. America has too many problems as it is."
18 Year Old: "But your generation was allowed to at a much earlier age than me!"
Parent: "That was then. Life was cheap back then. We know better now. And your grandparents were allowed to drink and smoke too at your age, which we obviously no longer allow either, so your point is?"
18 Year Old: "And they were allowed to play outside with their friends unsupervised even when they were in single digits too, or so I have heard. Grandma and Grandpa actually got to enjoy the real world before they forgot how to, while you got to enjoy the virtual world at least. My generation had neither."
Parent: "Well, the real world was much safer back then compared to now, and as for me, we didn't know just how dangerous the virtual world really was."
18 Year Old: "Statistics say otherwise".
Parent: "You need to watch more news and true crime documentaries before you can argue statistics. It's really a jungle out there now. In any case, I see your statistics, and I raise you a "Because I said so!""
18 Year Old: "Statistics beat logical fallacies and anecdotes every time. Regardless, it's not fair in what is supposed to be a free country."
Parent: "Life isn't fair. Deal with it!"
18 Year Old: "But I'm literally old enough to get married, and yet I can't even post my own wedding on Facebook? That doesn't make any sense at all."
Parent: "If you're so mature and such an adult, then why don't you get married right now?" (Tries to trick the young person into saying they are "too young".)
18 Year Old: "Because as an adult, I know that just because you CAN do something, it doesn't mean that you SHOULD. Just like you raised me".
Parent: (speechless)
18 Year Old: (Mic drop)
I think that the medical community is a big reason why the laws are the way they are. Some of the reasons why laws are being passed to ban girls and boys from social media is because of mental health concerns. The same goes for the legal drinking age of 21, legal smoking age of 21 and other ageist laws. In reality, those laws don't protect young adults are girls and boys on social media. Those laws also don't protect society. Those laws are supported by its supporters because medical organizations and medical professionals don't want to respect the civil rights and civil liberties of young adults and of young people in general. However, in a constitutional republic such as ourselves, such laws go against the inherent freedoms which everyone is supposed to have. Anything else is tyranny.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
DeleteI refuse to raise my children in the US
ReplyDeleteI personally don't plan on having kids myself, but if I did, I would not want to raise them in the USA either. Whether it is the People's Technocratic Republic of Amerika (blue states) or the Benighted Snakes of Amerikkka (red states), they are two wings of the same bird nowadays.
Delete