Poll: do you think children aren't able to make decisions for themselves?

[JWAN]

Yes, I actually have that poster.
You are legally your parents property so shut up and do what your elders tell you. Because yes, they do know better than you. If you do not like it. Shut up and move out. Prove that you can take care of yourself as an adult.
Crying about shit on the internet is so not the way to handle things and just proves you are not deserving of adult respect.

^This

I'm 20 and my mom still treats me like a little kid.(that's the real reason I'm going to college) It will never, ever, end. Even when YOU have kids. That's the way the planet works...or until you drop your parents off at a retirement home and threaten them with a worse one if they don't lay off.
Your going to have to man the hell up if you expect to make it anywhere in this world and you better thank God your parents care enough for you that they didn't drop your ass in a basket at a nunnery.
My dad gave me 3 options
1. College
2. Marine Corps
3. Being lazy and changing my last name so I don't shame the family.

I chose 1&2

 

[JWAN]

Yes, I actually have that poster.
You are legally your parents property so shut up and do what your elders tell you. Because yes, they do know better than you. If you do not like it. Shut up and move out. Prove that you can take care of yourself as an adult.
Crying about shit on the internet is so not the way to handle things and just proves you are not deserving of adult respect.

He said children. 3-12. Last time I checked 12 years olds can't get a job. No, not even Mc'donalds.

You can push a lawnmower or lift a shovel cant you?

 

[HatchetDown]

Come back dcomproductions! We want to know what your opinion is versus logic!

 

[Gir1yG4m3r]

Depends on the kid, the age of the kid, and how they were raised to act.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

it feels like my parents don't think of me as another human being, but that i'm but a toy to them, to be molded into what they want. i can make my own decisions and just because i'm not 18 doesn't make me less of a human. i want to know if there are others this blinded.

EMO ALERT!

*DANGEROUS LEVELS OF ANGST BASED RADIATION AHEAD*

Baton the hatches! duck and cover! to the bunkers!​

actually, my parents are the least of my troubles and am pissed at the world YOU PRICK.

[sub]Good thing I ducked and covered[/sub]

My advice to you:

Calm down and grow up. You're ignorant, young, and stupid.

Your parents know best.

your doing what most older people do to me, judge me. they think because my parents don't treat me as an equal that i'm immature "ignorant, young, and stupid". most of the time, they are right and have let me learn what's best but now it just feels like they're exercising authority just because they can. i won't go into details but no matter how old i get in their eyes i'm 5.

Get on the train with the rest of us mate. We're all in the same pickle until we move out. Deal with it.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

With teenagers, it varies. I am 15, I have tried to stay politically informed for the last 6 years of my life, and I can outlast almost every adult I know in debate without resorting to immaturity. On the other hand- many people I wonder how many people I know my age manage get through the day. That being said- I wonder how EVERY 18 year old I meet manages to get through the day.

Many are on "our" side in this. Socialist Party USA has this to say about their policies concerning youth:

Spoiler: excerpt taken from http://socialistparty-usa.org/platform/humanrights.html

1) We support the immediate ratification by the United States of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2) We call for children's allowances that will help ensure that every child's basic rights and needs are satisfied in a stimulating, empowering, and caring environment.

3. We support free, quality care and education for all children and young people, federally financed and community controlled through democratically elected local boards that will include youth members.

4. We support the rights of minors to be free of any kind of child abuse or neglect whether physical, mental, emotional, or sexual.

5. We oppose measures that increase responsibilities and penalties on youth ostensibly to curb crime.

6. We call for an end to military draft registration, and an end to military recruiting in educational institutions.

7. We call for the abolition of parent consent and notification laws for reproductive health services, including abortion.

8. We call for the right to comprehensive sex education in school that includes birth control methods, STD protection, and information about being GLBTQ.

9. We call for the lowering of the voting age to 15

10. We oppose age-based curfew laws.

As far as your original point- no, not everyone is "blinded", but many are. It is up to us, as the youth, to set an example of what we are capable of by striving to be the best we can be. It is only through exemplary actions taken by the youth, that the stigma against it will disappear.

Wow, this post gave me a hearty chuckle. I forgot how adorable teenagers with political ambition are, especially hard-left or hard-right wingers. Kid, you have no idea how the world works, you can't at 15. Hell, I'm a good deal older than that and I still don't think I see the whole picture. By the way, "no age based curfew" and "voting at 15" ?!?! Most 15 year olds cant even describe how our government works, theres no way I'd want them electing it..

wait, wait.. I better stop before I fall into a full-blown argument with a 15 year old. Those things are always fruitless.

They will remain fruitless with the attitude you display. A person who is 15 might be less likely to present a valid argument than somebody who is older, this is true. However, any time you wouldn't listen to an argument presented, no matter how valid, based upon any condition having nothing to do with the argument, you have lost. Not only have you lost the debate, you have lost out on a possibly beneficial experience. If you were to disregard an argument due to a believed ulterior motive of the speaker, or even because you personally disliked the speaker and could not stand to listen to them- that would be reasonable. Disregarding the possibility of intelligence due to something such as age shows nothing but weakness and immaturity in yourself.

 

[JaredXE]

Yes and No. Depending on age and intellect, but then any decent parent should know enough about their kid know whether or not they can be responsible and able to make decisions for themselves. However, once at around 13 or 14, that kid should be held fully responsible for any crime they commit, no foisting it off on the parents, the brat is old enough to know better and be held accountable for whatever they have done.

 

[Zildjin81]

it feels like my parents don't think of me as another human being, but that i'm but a toy to them, to be molded into what they want. i can make my own decisions and just because i'm not 18 doesn't make me less of a human. i want to know if there are others this blinded.

Not to be creepy but:

A. How old are you?
B. What kind of decisions are we talking about?

 

[Plazmatic]

You know you can't make decisions for yourself and you don't have high maturity when:

You've joined the military

You kill people in the military and you help kill people in the military, and last time I checked, killing people is not a very mature decision, nor a very smart one.

The only time you join a militia unit, is when you are actually protecting your homeland, not killing people who are trying to protect their homeland from YOU.

 

[Littlee300]

It depends on you, and if you CAN act for yourself.

it feels like my parents don't think of me as another human being, but that i'm but a toy to them, to be molded into what they want. i can make my own decisions and just because i'm not 18 doesn't make me less of a human. i want to know if there are others this blinded.

Not to be creepy but:

A. How old are you?
B. What kind of decisions are we talking about?

^^^^Tell you answer these questions, I cant say much.

 

[xenos60]

I don't believe that descision based thinking is based on someone's age, it's not like kids magically morph into mature stoic human beings when they turn 18. But then again; who the fuck gives a damn?

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

They will remain fruitless with the attitude you display. A person who is 15 might be less likely to present a valid argument than somebody who is older, this is true. However, any time you wouldn't listen to an argument presented, no matter how valid, based upon any condition having nothing to do with the argument, you have lost. Not only have you lost the debate, you have lost out on a possibly beneficial experience. If you were to disregard an argument due to a believed ulterior motive of the speaker, or even because you personally disliked the speaker and could not stand to listen to them- that would be reasonable. Disregarding the possibility of intelligence due to something such as age shows nothing but weakness and immaturity in yourself.

Well, perhaps. But then again, by your own admission the odds of running into a resonable 15 year old are less than stellar, so why give all those fifteen year olds the right to elect government officials? Also, forgive my skepticism but it's been earned through experience. You make a point that to dismiss any argument based solely on a person's age would be losing the debate, i like to think of it as circumventing a debate unlikely to be fruitful (although it's clearly failed here). And I don't think you can consider age a condition which "has nothing to do with the argument" seeing as the argument clearly centers on the intelligence and responsibility of members of a particular age group. In addition, I think it's fair for me to assume that you have an ulterior motive, as would anyone arguing for more rights for any specific group, namely power. No-one is objective when it comes to garnering power for themselves, how could I expect you objectively asses whether or not you deserve more power?

I wouldn't say that the odds are stellar- but they are less than that of a person who is much older. A persons age is one factor that will determine maturity, and before the argument is made it is a factor of the effectiveness of the argument. Once the argument is made- the age of the original speaker has nothing to do with the validity or lack of validity of it. Only the arguments content matters at that point. In addition, there are many other factors. I am straight edge and care a lot about politics. Compared to a 20 year old alcoholic who couldn't be bothered about politics- I would probably be more politically mature.

As far as giving myself more power, in all honesty I think that perhaps 15 is at the lower limit judging by the people I know. It could work, but I think that 16 would probably ensure a better educated electorate. The other sophomores I know are rather hit and miss as far as their maturity level- but almost all of the juniors I know are more mature than any of the 18-19 year olds I've met (due to the fact that they generally drink a lot less).

Anyway, sorry to have bothered you for so long at this point, as I know you didn't want a conversation.

 

[skitzo van]

Since the OP's gone I call for derailment!