"Youth": The 30 Year Grace Period
written February 4th, 2002

"Youth is wasted on the young." That, of course, depends on the definition of youth. Before the concept of "childhood", children would work and help their families. Now childhood is revered as a precious time to cherish. Where children were once seen as descendants and part of a family unit, they are now seen as incapable of thinking or acting independently and in desperate need of nurturing and protection. Protection from what? From reality.

Before the creation of a new class of people named "teenagers", teenagers were considered to be "young adults". They were given responsibilities and were expected to contribute more to society than "reckless behavior". Yet, as young men became boys, childhood extended while responsibility did not. How do we learn to be responsible for our own lives while being sheltered from responsibilities? We don't.

Recently people have even questioned whether the star of Dark Angel, Jessica Alba, is too young to get married. In the past, someone in their 20s would be under pressure to get married. Today, 20-30 year olds have become "young adults". Why? Perhaps it's that baby boomers don't want to be considered elderly. They would rather think of themselves as adults and everyone younger as kids. They influence society's thinking and shape views of youth. Perhaps it's because America is driven by Caucasians. Whites look the most beautiful as children yet have the most hormonal problems, so they age the worst. They go gray, wrinkle up, and basically fall apart. So, naturally, they crave youth.

Our culture would say that this extended youth is good for society, but are we really better off? Of course not. Many problems arise because of this. One obvious one for teenagers is parental pressure. Parents and their teenagers fight because teens are becoming adults and adults don't like being told what to do. Modern young adults never grow out of being teenagers because adults are like children, still learning about responsibility. As tempting as it is for adults to live vicariously an "ideal childhood" through their children, adults also know all too well that children and adults learn not by seeing but by doing. Behavior, like responsibility, is often based on how someone is treated. If someone is constantly being told that they are "just a kid", how do you think they will perceive themselves and in turn act? They'll act like a kid of course. It confuses society. After all, what is the biological purpose of a teenager having a sex drive? That's why the Bible says that the onset of puberty is the ideal age to get married. Yet we are living longer now. We are wiser and progressive. That's what we believed before too and we've already rejected those previous beliefs. Soon, youth will expand even further. Until, that is, society changes. Of course, change is inevitable, but how far will we have to go before we realize that age doesn't matter and that we should be judged not by our age but by our actions? Hopefully not that far.

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