"Children over 15 should be allowed to make decisions about their lives without the interference of their parents or teachers. Society should accept that children mature at a younger age and should adjust the law accordingly."
The fact that we are not able to determine the exact moment at which maturity is realized due to the gradual changing nature of the growing process does not prevent us from establishing a practicable criterion by using the concept of a legal age, and placing on it an excessive amount of reliance as if it were a creed.Objectively, since the interpretation of maturity merely bears a local, temporary meaning (e. g. , it is understood distinctly in different cultures), not to mention the diversity of particular individuals, clearly an age criterion is definable only in the sense of statistics, yielding an average result of which the legislation should be adjusted to. However, no evidence indicates the invariance of the statistical result under the vicissitudes of the times.
Persisting in an a priori assumption may not be as highly laudable and dependable as believing in an empirical conclusion.While, both facts and analyses, verifying uniformly the time-dependency of the statistical mature age, suggests the shift to a younger age of children‘s maturity.
In reality, phenomena serving as foundations of the above statement are enormous, such as the manifest superiority of the young in knowledge structure and quantity to their elder generation for a corresponding age, their highly developed intelligence and advanced ability in comprehension and their sophisticated behavior in schools and their communities. Neither could all related evidence be listed, nor should it be ignored. Even with a phcnomenological attitude, one is bound to perceive the indispensability of a change to the old rule to meet the requirement of the new situation.
Analyses yield an identical verdict. A brief investigation of new situation.
Analyses yield an identical verdict. A brief investigation of the environment in which the new generation has been brought up is sufficient to justify all the observed phenomena. Physiologically, unimaginable revolutions in food supply and nutritional structure took place globally after the 2nd World War, which,together with other developments concerning living conditions,guarantee the necessary material bases. Psychologically, the young, confronted with a world of information and education,are entitled to nearly the same rights and freedom as the adults in front of the television or other mass media. They know everything. They understand everything.
The determination of the mature age is based on scientific principles rather than on doctrines. If the young, indeed, possess judgments by no means inferior to that of the generally acknowledged adults, others should treat them as adults, allowing them to make decisions independently. Moreover, there is no difficulty in the law, which is not the truth of the universe, but a sheer compromise of social forces, and have undergone innumerable historical modifications and revolutions with a potential
transformation today.
Though the precise new legal mature age is only attainable through statistics, the obvious tendency implies an absolute modification. With an unknown date of realization, it is expected that teachers and parents should discard the traditional ideas and really treat the young equally when the time comes.