why is 18 most commonly seen as when you become an “adult”?

Question

Is it just because that’s when you’re done with high school? College is still fairly “expected”, so why isn’t that counted?
I don’t understand why most/a lot of cultures view 18 as that turning point, even though we know the brain isn’t even fully developed until 25.

In: 0

Answer 1

The important thing is that it is considered enough to be responsible, not necessarily fully developed.

One might expect more responsibility from a 12 year old than a 4 year old. This does not make a 12 year old an adult.

The majority of young people going to college is not universal even today. Even in developed countries, having the majority of young people college educated is probably less than a 50 year old phenomena (and is certainly less than 100 years old). The current global average for some college attainment is approximately 40% by some estimates.