It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Why do people want to call teenagers children?

page: 1
5
<<   2  3 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Jan, 1 2016 @ 11:50 PM
link   
This is a phenomenon that's appeared over the last thirty years as far as I can tell. I cannot remember people calling teens children when I was growing up. In fact, if someone would have referred to me as being a child after the age of thirteen, I would have been deeply insulted. It's gotten to the point where people such as Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski refers to his players as "kids" all the time.


“I thoroughly loved coaching these kids,” said Krzyzewski following the 2001 national title. “They’ve been so good. They’ve given me their hearts, their minds, and not only that, they’ve given it to each other ... I get real close to the guys on my team. That’s the most rewarding thing about what I do.”
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI


Krzyzewski, those are men you're talking about.

This trend bothers me because I believe it can leave people in a retarded state. Call someone a child and they may act like one, it's the power of labels.

If there is one religious practice that I have any respect for at all, it's the Jewish concept of "bar mitzvah":


First, when a boy comes of age at 13-years-old he has become a "bar mitzvah" and is recognized by Jewish tradition as having the same rights as a full grown man. A boy who has become a Bar Mitzvah is now morally and ethically responsible for his decisions and actions.
What Is a Bar Mitzvah?


The concept of being equal with an adult when you become a teenager is how it should be IMHO. If you disagree with that, I can provide evidence that that belief is quite normal. Consider the following concerning American law:


In 1997, 22 states had provisions for transferring juveniles to criminal court which did not specify a minimum age. For those that did specify a minimum age, the most common (16 states) was age 14. Two states, Kansas and Vermont, set the minimum age as low as 10. In many states, once a juvenile is tried and convicted as an adult, he or she must be prosecuted in criminal court for any subsequent offenses.
www.pbs.org...


It looks to me like the average age for being tried as an adult for a crime is about 13 years old in the United States. Here's a question about that that I've never seen discussed:

Is it fair to tell teens they're children UNTIL they commit the wrong crime and then call them adults?

Why do people want to call teenagers children at all? What's the motivation for that?



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:00 AM
link   
Until a child's brain is fully formed at 'adult' hood, and they no more have raging hormones, i'd call them children too. From what i remember, Jesus wasn't considered a Man in his day until he turned 30 yrs old. I haven't a clue if that's just the Nazarites or only certain sects in jewish religion. But it's even funnier because i'm sure teenagers acted more like Men with a mature understanding of how to behave 2000 yrs ago than Teenagers do today.


+8 more 
posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:02 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

In my teens I hated being called a kid. Now in my 30's, I realize they were right.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:04 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

If you are still living with mommy and daddy and they are taking care of you, then you are still a child. Age isn't the determining factor.

I know plenty of children in their 30s.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:05 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

Adult in the age of the law and in the eye's of others are different things, that is just legal language.

A coach calling his/her players kids also is kinda a different thing, coaches can be strong figures in the kids lives, so I think that is more what that is about. The feeling that you helped raise someone to be who they are today.

I think people put way to much thought into this, calling someone a kid is what people who are much older than you are going to do.



This trend bothers me because I believe it can leave people in a retarded state.

This is a gross exaggeration, if you let someone have that much power over you just by what they call you, you might be a kid.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:07 AM
link   
i call people "kids" based on their behavior. And believe me, i've had to chastise a few 50 year old children in my employ before.

Typically, in my observations, people in this part of the world have their heads squarely planted in their ass until around 23-25. At this point they realize that they really are grown ups, then immediately begin feeling entitled to everything that they haven't yet worked for (because other grown ups have, and they want their Participant Ribbon, too).

For what its worth, my head stayed in the derriere until i was around 28.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:10 AM
link   
Gee, I didn't grow up till I was 52. That is when I start playing with a full deck. At sixty I am hoping to go into my second childhood, being an adult sucks.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:13 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

I call 20 somethings children.

It's just a perspective of mine, not a perspective of yours. It is that simple



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:31 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

If you are old enough to drive a car [ fully licenced ] you are an adult , we would not let children be in charge of lethal weapons would we . If you are old enough to go to war you are not a child , we would not let children get killed , or kill someone would we . Unless they were adults . If you are old enough to vote you are an adult , god forbid that anyone would be elected by children . However you can have your own children at quite young ages , not legally , but certainly you are mature enough to do so . Where the line is i have no idea .
edit on 2-1-2016 by hutch622 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:44 AM
link   

originally posted by: Profusion


The concept of being equal with an adult when you become a teenager is how it should be IMHO. If you disagree with that, I can provide evidence that that belief is quite normal.


I cannot agree with that as it will thusly expose the majority of immature minors who are not yet fully developed metally, emotionally, or even physically for that matter to sexual exploitation as well as easily manipulated into crime. The fact that a teenager would be offended at being called a child by an adult is primarily EXACTLY why they continue to be called children. Imagine a hormonal fifteen year old boy who ends up being a cop?? How exactly will that go down??

Most adults who call other adults kids are just doing so from the age gap without meaning to be offensive. I think if an adult was a child at the point another adult was already adult, then the older person has the right to still call them kid


Im thirty, if your at least 48, you can all me kid if you want



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 12:55 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

Anyone younger than me could be called a child. I wonder why this is so important to you? If a coach has youngsters he is teaching they are children. Now calling a teenager a child is not really a huge problem. If you treat a grown person like a child then there is a problem. You have to allow for mistakes to be made in order to learn from them, but they must be forced to contend with the consequences of their actions regardless of their age or maturity level. Of course there are certain infractions that a teenager can be treated as an adult in a court of law, but that does not mean they are not still children.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 01:35 AM
link   

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: Profusion

If you are still living with mommy and daddy and they are taking care of you, then you are still a child. Age isn't the determining factor.

I know plenty of children in their 30s.


You got that right. Mine are not quite 30 yet but I have two in their 20's still at home. And yes, they are children. I still wonder if I was as naive as they are currently at that age.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 02:02 AM
link   
Teenagers are children.

What’s wrong with calling a spade a spade?



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 03:32 AM
link   

originally posted by: Astyanax
Teenagers are children.

What’s wrong with calling a spade a spade?


First, your'e stating your opinion as a fact. My opinion is that teens aren't children. Without either of us giving our rationale, we're at a stalemate.

I tried to describe why I think it's wrong to call teenagers children in the original post. Did you read the following?


originally posted by: Profusion
"In 1997, 22 states had provisions for transferring juveniles to criminal court which did not specify a minimum age. For those that did specify a minimum age, the most common (16 states) was age 14. Two states, Kansas and Vermont, set the minimum age as low as 10. In many states, once a juvenile is tried and convicted as an adult, he or she must be prosecuted in criminal court for any subsequent offenses."
www.pbs.org...

It looks to me like the average age for being tried as an adult for a crime is about 13 years old in the United States. Here's a question about that that I've never seen discussed:

Is it fair to tell teens they're children UNTIL they commit the wrong crime and then call them adults?


I wish you would address that because if you're going to say teens are children until they've done X, Y, or Z, I would say that is a total lie that's about as unfair as it gets. That's one problem I have with calling teenagers children.

I have more examples like that but I want to get your answer to the above first.

edit on 2-1-2016 by Profusion because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 03:59 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

I would say that the legal question troubling you arises from the character of a penal code that provides differently for adults and children but is not flexible enough to allow for the gradually increasing presumption of responsibility that comes with adolescence. In practice, though, a good sentencing judge could deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis.


I wish you would address that because if you're going to say teens are children until they've done X, Y, or Z, I would say that is a total lie that's about as unfair as it gets.

You needn’t worry. My argument is not that teenagers are children until they’ve completed some rite of passage. They’re children — or juveniles, if you prefer to use a word that is also applied to young animals — until they stop growing.


At the completion of puberty, the reproductive glands in both males and females increase the production of the hormone estrogen. It is the high concentration of estrogen in the blood that causes the growth plates of our bones to fuse. This fusion effectively closes the growth centers of long bones and renders them unable to respond to the hormones that initiate growth.

I understand that, with humans, this happens at age 17 or 18 on average, though many people keep growing till their early twenties.

Incidentally, the idea of adolescence as a separate stage in the life-cycle of a human being (or of an animal) is quite new. The word ‘teenager’ was invented in the 1950s, and even the older word ‘adolescent’ was rarely used until 1890 or so. The idea of teenagers being anything but children is not as well established as you thought it was.

To the ancients, one was a child until one ‘grew up’, and then one became a woman or man. In most ancient cultures (and in many traditional cultures today) childhood was short. For girls it ended at puberty; for boys it came a little later and usually involved being accepted as a man by older men in the tribe or community. Very often one had to go through some ordeal (fight in a battle, kill someone, hunt a mammoth, steal a cow or a girl from the neighbouring village, get a driver’s licence) in order to win acceptance.

I am all for returning to this method, at least for boys. Frightful abuses will occur, of course, but it’s all part of the fun.


edit on 2/1/16 by Astyanax because: of Steven Pinker



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 04:04 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

Personally, I think we are all children until we die. It's just the bit in the middle where we pretend we are intelligent, responsible and mature even though we grow beards and breasts.

Some 'adults' behave worse than some 'kids' throughout their lives.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 04:06 AM
link   

originally posted by: Profusion



This trend bothers me because I believe it can leave people in a retarded state. Call someone a child and they may act like one, it's the power of labels.

If there is one religious practice that I have any respect for at all, it's the Jewish concept of "bar mitzvah":


First, when a boy comes of age at 13-years-old he has become a "bar mitzvah" and is recognized by Jewish tradition as having the same rights as a full grown man. A boy who has become a Bar Mitzvah is now morally and ethically responsible for his decisions and actions.
What Is a Bar Mitzvah?





As you have said "It is a religious concept, and not the *law*

and as has oft been said "the law is an ass"


The law states a person can have sex at 16, there fore in reality be

responsible for a child (another human being) but still be lawfully

unable to
#drive a motor vehicle, #be able to drink alcohol, #vote

for a government.

Where is the sense in that?


A girl of 16 and sometimes under can seek contraception and abortion

advice without parental consent .... yet if taken into hospital for major

surgery cannot sign a consent form, it has to be signed for by a parent!!

Where is the sense in that?


This situation has long puzzled me, and I did start a thread *When is a child

not a child* some time ago on this very subject stating it was time to come

to some sort of resolution and one age for when a child becomes an adult.

Personally I would think 17/18 years?
edit on 2-1-2016 by eletheia because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 04:13 AM
link   
Sorry but I have had to deal with a lot of these so called grown ups at work recently 18/19 year olds and they are still kids children or whatever.
I If they want to be treated like adults they should drop their me me me attitude and actually think of the people they are supporting instead of worrying about their clothing getting mucky.
Sure a couple are decent enough but the staffing crisis we have at work we can't even let them go....
One kid I'm mentoring is going to get it next time I see him he left someone in a dangerous situation which could have been front page news and when asked why he did it he lied he isn't even grown up enough to hold his hands up and admit he is wrong.
My Dad always told me you are not a Man until the age of 21 I didn't used to agree but with age and looking back I do now.



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 04:16 AM
link   
a reply to: Profusion

Heck I wish someone would call me a kid again lol.
Also I'm still a massive child at heart I never lost my childhood I can still "play" because the day you lose your childhood the day you start to die.
But there are times and places where maturity has to be involved

edit on 2-1-2016 by boymonkey74 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 2 2016 @ 04:25 AM
link   

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: Profusion

I would say the legal question that troubles you arose from the practice of having a penal code which provides differently for adults and children but is not flexible enough to allow for the gradually increasing presumption of responsibility that comes with growing maturity. In practice, though, a sentencing judge could deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis.


You're VERY candid and down-to-earth for a poster on ATS. It's very refreshing, like a breeze of fresh air.

Here's my take on the above (and why I think the rest of what you wrote is not of consequence to this issue in modern times in most countries):

If a society is going to hold people of a certain age accountable as adults then that's the age when they should be considered adults.

Incidentally, I grew up in a place where the prevailing belief was that children/teens/adults were distinct categories. Coming from a background like that may be affecting my views on this issue.

However, that fact doesn't change my position that it's a terrible lie to tell someone they're a child until they do the wrong thing and then suddenly treat them as an adult. Can't you admit that's unjust?

Concerning your information about the age one stops growing, I don't even see how that applies to whether one is a child or not in the big picture (or even individually). Society needs a clear definition which is fair to all. Basing it on growth isn't fair. Also, some people stop growing before they become teens so you're "You're an adult when you stop growing" idea falls apart if you want to also claim, "Teens are children" based on when they stop growing.


That's why I'm in agreement with the Jewish "bar mitzvah" concept. If you're expected to have adult responsibilities, you should be treated as an adult. And, you should be recognized as an adult as well. That's only fair.

edit on 2-1-2016 by Profusion because: (no reason given)



new topics

top topics



 
5
<<   2  3 >>

log in

join