Teens as basically kids, or basically adults? (+poll)

[indagold]

I don't know why puberty causes people to regress but teens have the mental capacity of a grapefruit. I've met more mature 10 year olds than teens.

[Macarenaoftime]

I'm just sitting here watching older people define what's up with a demographic I was part of not so long ago, and it's kinda bizarre to be honest.

[Rhonder]

I agree with others that teens have enough unique general/typical characteristics to be their own category, BUT the question that's asked is which other category do they fall more towards? And in that respect I definitely feel (and voted) "children".

It's definitely not a one-size fits all thing, of course. But some reasons that influence my thoughts:

• the average teen (in my country at least) still has a primary focus on school rather than work or other independent goals
• still typically living with their family and often as dependents
• starting to explore themselves and develop more as a person, but still has a long ways to go
• still relatively immature and lacking in life experience to make sound decisions consistently

There are many exceptions to each of these rules, of course, but I see teens at least up to the age of 18 as still essentially being children, and looking back on my own experiences and many of the people close to me, I would argue that was still largely the case even into 18, 19, and maybe even up towards the early 20's as well. Speaking personally, I ended up attending university right out of highschool and didn't really feel "adult-y" until after graduation from there at age 22 lol Although folks who take on more responsibility and such earlier may reach that point faster, certainly.

It goes the other way too though. Similarly there are a number of grown-ass adults that I know that are way more childish than any child, unfortunately some people never mature... but they're similarly not representative of the whole group lol

[Ranty-cat]

I accidentally clicked adult. Don't count my vote. Trying to undo it. Not working.

Edit: Managed to undo it. Picked children. Even 18 years old seem kids to me, even though I'm 26.

Also, no matter how smart teens are, psychological structure remains fragile until they learn to be super strong, face their failures and rejections head on and deal with day to day lives of manipulating adults and predators etc.

[domisotto]

If it's 16-19, then it's adults to me.

[domisotto]

Yes, they've been groomed since birth for the role but even real life royals (depending in the kingdom) might not inherit their respective thrones until they are in their 40s or 50s. It still baffles my brain.

History has a lot of teen rulers and/or in positions of responcibility, both male and female.

[Ranty-cat]

Teen rulers usually get a guardian untill they reach a certain age. They remain under guidance.

[cherrystark]

I'm aware that historically that was the case, but regents were still a factor. If the same logic of a teenager inheriting the throne when they turn 18 to modern society, Prince William would be king.

[erudenedure]

I prefer saying minors/adolescents versus kids/children, since adolescence is an in-between from childhood to adulthood. Being the parent of 1 teenager and 1 child, it's obvious the former is closer to adulthood than the latter. (Plus, when I was a teenager, I felt like I was being talked down to or infantilized if called a kid/child.)

Anywhoo, as someone closing in on 31, I don't really consider someone an adult until they're 25ish. There's still a ton of maturity to be developed from 18 to 25.

So, I do agree teenagers in media need to be portrayed by minors/adolescents. Having adolescents play teenagers gives more realistic representation. Too many teenagers think looking or acting like particular characters is the goal, when those actors and the people who write the stories are adults. So obviously they're flawed representations.

Further, I think it's kind of an insidious tactic that allows minor-aged characters to be put in adult situations, justified by the actors are adults. Like, they're sexualizing this underage character, but it's fine because the actor is actually an adult? But that doesn't translate well from that universe to ours, which leads to over-sexualization (especially by adults) of actual minors today. Not to mention the grooming aspect, which allows adolescents to accept sexualization aimed at them from adults.

As for narrative examples of teenagers, that's a bit more difficult. Adult writers probably forget how to think, act, or speak like a teen, to some extent. lol

[nauko]

Isn't the fact we have a separate name for that age group telling enough that they are neither an adult or a kid?

Is this a, "if you had to choose" scenario or..?

[Maxedrox]

Huh, kids are related to videogames, toys, being supervised, being innocent, and in most cases being incapable to take care of themself.

Teens are crazier, more irresponsible, they are moody, they can drink alcohol and smoke if they want to, they can have sex and drug themself if they want to, they can go to parties, they can drive, they can do almost anything if their parents don't control them so, in my opinion, Teens are mostly closer to adults, especially if they are 15 and over, but 13 and under, they are still kids.

Being mature or immature doesn't have any meaning to me, even people that are beyond 30 can be mature or immature, so I'm thinking more about what a Teen can do and what a Kid can do.

[therosesword]

Is the post about modern or historic teens. And actually, here's a test of my British History, wasn't Mary, Queen of Scots only like... a week old... when she was proclaimed queen but didn't take the throne until she was... rats, that's where I'm iffy, I think she was late teens which was considered a woman at that time plus James V (her daddy) died shortly after her birth and she was the heir so... bingo!

Anyway, they had other people who ran things (good old mumsy is she was alive) or a team of people appointed by the late royal.

[domisotto]

Not always, and they often ruled without a guardian still in their teens. Ivan the Terrible gets rid of his guardians and crowns himself at 16. By the time Astorre Manfredi was murdered at 17, he was married, had a kid, and a thorn in Cezare Brodgia's side. By the time Napoleon graduated age 16, he was already head of the family, because his father died (and Heavens know, he keeps looking after his brothhers and sisters till the very end of his career). The same often occurred to teenage women, because once married, they assumed fully adult roles and responcibilities that are not at all decorative as people often believe. It is pretty horrific idea by the modern standard, but if you do write fantasy that emulates the historic life spans and the mortality rates, the teens in charge are believable. Now, if you write a modern urban fantasy, then it is weird.

Pretty much nobody rules alone, not a teen, not an adult, not if they are 100 years old...

[domisotto]

I'm aware that historically that was the case, but regents were still a factor. If the same logic of a teenager inheriting the throne when they turn 18 to modern society, Prince William would be king.

it depends entirely on how you write the rules of succession--if only male line was allowed, I suppose, William would have been king when reaching the age of majority, like what Edward VI was waiting for... and died prior to. But, honestly, I am sure British have the succession line ironed out to the n-th degree...

Anyway, in a story, as long as it is internally consistent, and author has a degree of discretion on how they portray their teen characters and what rights they have in their world.

In history, you can find teens grabbing the reigns of power early on (like, look at Octavian at 19...) and the rulers that never did, into the old age...

[cherrystark]

I was not trying to argue about teenage royals. They played an important role in several societies. However, life spans change. We live much longer now and more education and growth is required. Most people don't inherit a role without further education or training, like job promotions or certain degrees. My point was like others where authors paint teenager characters as adults or put them in adult like situations without acknowledging that the teen still has growing to do.

[Freemints30]

Teens are teen, children are children, adults are adults. There's a reason why we separate them in terms of psychology and biology. Treat a teen as an adult or a child and your just either disrespecting and stifling a mind creating and adult who never had a transitionary period or being kinda preditory.

Really you don't treat 10-year olds as toddlers nor treat toddlers as new borns.

Teens want a power fantasty of them taking over a government and ruleing? let them have it. its just dumb fun.

[sarrowsmith10]

I think it depends on the focus of the piece of fiction. Kids love to pretend they are adults and LOVE to act out adult things, its a part of learning and growing. And teenagers are just starting to get a taste of actual adulthood which is very tantalizing to them. So for example in the new WINX tv show on netflix, Bloom is only 16, but she is in many ways is treated like an adult by the creators. The demographic of the viewers are hypothetically teenagers around the same age. Same could be said for hunger games. Katness and her gang are all teenagers fundamentally changing their world. In the context of their stories, it makes sense to make them seem older. In my comic The Chevalier, most of the main characters are actual adults with teenager side kicks so to speak. So my teens tend to lean towards childhood in the way they act and see the world. In my other comic Goblins of Razard, the main character is an older teenager, but he's on the run and people want to kill him, so he has to grow up very quickly and act like an adult.

[therosesword]

i thought this was about fiction

[domisotto]

Fiction has different genres, so if someone writes historic fiction or historic fantasy they can work with the wider range of option for teen behavior than high school fiction set in real world.

Also, some teens see themselves as adults... I heard teen athlets, for example, defending use of grown up pieces of music in their program with something like "why should I skate to the music from kids' cartoons? At fifteen, I am a grown-up."

My own teen calls her classmates 'children' lol..............

[CursedBeasts]

I think the whole thing about teen years is this weird in-between state between being a kid and being an adult.

I'd see younger teens as more like kids, and older teens (approaching 20) as more like young adults.