[cSoze]

Fully fledged citizen and adult are two concepts that deserve a distinction: http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html

Most 18 year olds are nowhere near mature enough to take college education as seriously as it deserves to be taken.

[wyager]

>Most 18 year olds are nowhere near mature enough to take college education as seriously as it deserves to be taken.

But they're mature enough to kill for and be killed for the national military (sometimes against their will), contribute to governmental policy decisions, and have children?

Just because their brains are still plastic doesn't preclude them from making good (or at least reasonable) decisions.

[cSoze]

>But they're mature enough to kill for and be killed for the national military (sometimes against their will), contribute to governmental policy decisions, and have children?

I don't think they are mature enough for that, no. We weren't arguing that part (at least not yet). 21 would be a much more reasonable age for that, but 25 would probably be best. There's a reason that you can't rent a car below 21 and that you have to make a significant extra payment below 25.

[philwelch]

Honestly I think many 18 year olds would be well served to go through a good 2-4 years of national service before university. Being a private in the Army takes a lot less maturity and self-direction than being a freshman in university.