Did you automatically feel like an adult after you turned 18?

[Anonymous]

I’m 22 and I don’t call myself a “woman” if just feels wrong and weird, I feel like “woman” is for people in their late 20s and 30s +

Yes

No

[Anonymous]

Fun fact also, in Nebraska and Alabama, the legal adult age is 19, and in Mississippi, it’s 21. In about half of the Canada, the legal adult age is 19. In Cuba, it’s 16. In Japan and New Zealand, it’s 20. In North Korea and Scotland, it’s 17, and in South Korea, it’s 19. In Iran, it’s 14 for boys, and 8 for girls. In the Jewish religion, they consider boys 13 and above as adults and girls 12 and above as adults. In Singapore, it’s 21 but the legal drinking age there is 18. In Brazil, legal adult age is 18, but its citizens can vote starting at age 16. Most nations has legal adult age at 18. In Niger, a nation in Africa, you have to be at least 23 to get a driver’s license. In a few places, legal adult age can go as high as 25.

[Asker]

Wow so it’s literally subjective. That’s crazy.

[DJB72]

I'm 49 and I'm still waiting. Billy Connolly said when he hit 70 that he had never grown up. I like that idea.

[ohshee]

I love that you're being honest I think we all try to grow up too fast I started going to bars after work when I was 17 because the bartender would serve it to me and my friends and then when I turn 21 I still didn't feel like an adult because I have gotten away with drinking in that bar for so long hell I didn't think I was going to live past 21 LOL and with every year I still didn't feel like an adult because I don't even know what that word means if it means I become smarter wiser I think deeper I learn faster and I want to understand more and now I make it about other people and not myself if that's an adult then cool I guess that's what I am but I still have that teenager boy inside me have fun joke and not be serious because I know in time there's going to be a moment where I have to be serious and take care of business and that's all fine and dandy I can handle that and most of my friends come to me when they need someone to talk to or do you need help with something because they understand that I see things different than most people where they are living in the negative I can show them the positive I can't talk to anybody else but I don't think I've ever grown up and if I did well it's cool I like it then but age means nothing to me as long as I keep my body in tune and in shape and my mind Sharp I'm good with whatever

[natured]

I started calling myself a Woman ever since i started being indipendent, got a degree, (even two), found my own appartment and all that.. not because the title should be used on somebody who is indipedent. BUT i felt more like a WOMAN when i accomplished things, and this started when i was 23 / 24 years old.
I don't think it's something you should PICK, it's something that comes automatically and you can use it as you want and how you want and in whatever circumstance, mine was just an example lol.
Some start calling themselves WOMAN as soon as they get their PERIOD so... it's different for all of us

[ChrisMaster69]

Maturity and being an adult are completely different things.

I am still shocked at times that I am considered an adult lol.

A place I was a volunteer at, had a section that looked after young carers, these were teens that looked after parents or siblings pretty much full time in between doing school etc, it could be the mother was disabled or had a major condition that required support or simply she was a drug addict and the child had to look after them and their younger siblings.

I was 25 when I first started helping out and their maturity was so far ahead of mine. When we had to organise summer events etc, it was often simpler just to let them do it, as they always surprised us with how well they organised, planned and everything.

yeah being 18 is just a number on a card and not much else.

[SeryCoola]

20 here and still a fucking child :)) I don't know what defines an adult, but I guess, I will find the answer in the next 20 years maybe :))

I have seen people at 30 or even at 40 still being just older teenagers. I think you become an adult the moment YOU want to become one. The moment you will look down on people having fun and when you will expect people to call you Sir or Ma'am, then you will be an adult. Until then, live your life and have fun. You don't need to become an adult. The only thing you need to become is responsible. You might find yourself in the future dealing with a lot more things than you ever imagined, but once you're done with them you can be whatever you want.

[MalesGOD1]

Where I lived when I was 16 sixteen was what age the law defined as an adult only thing I could not do adults could is buy alcohol/tabacco, porn/ be in porn or have sex with anyone less than 5 years younger then me.
When I turned 16 I not only felt like an adult I took full advantage of it, I knew I was an adult in the legal sense. Didn't stop me from being an immature idiot though. When I was 18 I was a fully legal for 2 years already, anyone older than me and anyone younger than me still was within 60 months (5 years) could have sex with me.
My older brother told me about all the benefits of being a young cute good looking male and I didn't not abuse all of them.

[DaisyM23]

I can speak from experience 😂 i turned 18 a few weeks ago and I felt no different. However, when I thought about my future and life it definitely felt different for me because it was like I just left the safety net of childhood. I know 16/17 isn’t really a child but I was still a child if you get me? I didn’t have to really do anything and I knew what I was doing, now I’m 18, the more I think about the future, the more anxious it is because I am in adulthood now even though I don’t FEEL like an adult and there’s nothing really protecting or helping me and I know it’s all up to me now which they never really prepare you for...

[serious]

The answer is NO. Legally yes you will be termed as an adult but in the true sense you will only be seen and respected as an adult when you make others around you realize that you are a person who is capable of handing tough situations, a person who is capable of taking really tough decisions, a person who is capable of completely blocking and leaving out all emotions, sentiments out while taking a decision. A person who can do difficult things with ease only when others understand that you are a mentally person capable of actually doing these things when needed then you will actually feel like an adult and will be be called as an adult.

In fact there are lot of people who are in their late 20's and even early 30's who cannot do the things that I have mentioned above but legally they are adults. Yes.

I hope you understood my answer.

[MCheetah]

I'm 34 and still barely feel like an adult. I think responsibility is what makes one feel like an adult. I am a teacher, so I'm responsible for kids and adults alike, trying to learn English. But besides that, no. I feel 23-24, to be honest, and even that isn't too adult, to me.

[TommyMountainFigure]

You KEEP doing this to me. You steal my answers before I have a chance to see the question :)) How do you do it?

[Leavesbound]

You are not alone and your pole results bear this out. I didn't even feel like an adult on my 21st birthday. I did feel kind of grown up when I had my first real job. I felt kind of grown up the day I graduated high school and I felt kind of grown up when I got my first apartment. But not really a full fledged adult. Internally I didn't think of myself as a man until I hit 30 and even then I was an immature 30.

[hannahjo022]

To me I feel like once you're 18 and graduated from high school you are an adult. You can move out on your own, go to college be on your own, and make your own decisions. I'm 30 years old, still look young, and still have that young carefree mind of a teenager. So it depends on how you actually feel in your own mind. Would not worry about feeling an adult feel how you want to feel with yourself.

[FinalFantasyBro]

Besides doing adult responsibilities and having to learn how to take care of myself I honestly don't feel like your typical adult well minus feeling stressed out and getting anxiety. But I actually had those when I were a child.
I might now be considered a legal adult but I rather still sometime act like a child and do fun activities, while yes I will have adults looking at me weird but why would I care how others especially considering I ain't going to see them again think about me. I sometimes draw with or without my little sister and I still watch little kid shows and movies, Nickelodeon is even creating their own Super Smash Bros. Are you really thinking that I ain't going to be excited to buy it.

[Kaamraj]

The age of 18, or 21 for adulthood is a legal term, whereby on your day you turn that age you can drink legally, purchase liquor, get married, and go to real jail, not juvenile. However, biologically nothing significant happens. You get puberty in your early teens, then you hit a plateau in your mid 30s physically where mainly your metabolism slows down, then depending how you maintain yourself physically and mentally the body deteriotes from there.

[CCammiee14]

Depends on where you are in life I suppose. Many 18 year olds are still living with family or unemployed which can definitely make you not feel like an adult. I personally feel the same way I did when I was 16. It doesn't help that I physically still look 16, not that looking young is a bad thing.

[I-C3_ME]

No i had some growing to do but I'm almost fully independent (all expect financial for the moment) but I'm 20 now and in my country I'm actually pretty early when it comes to "almost being ready to live on my own" (because most people study longer, but i learn more from expirience so gonna get a job in abit). But i don't really call myself a "man" stills sounds abit to much or something, I don't know

[Starrisunset]

Not at all. I still felt like a kid for a pretty long time after that. I considered myself an adult when I started paying bills... so early 20s for me.

[EmmaMary]

Truthfully I do believe that I actually understood, and felt the meaning of being a woman when I gave birth for the first time.

[Apple1996]

I felt like a adult slightly before that when I was 17 and found out I was pregnant with my son. Having a child really makes the adult feeling kick in

[Sincerly_KittyCat]

I still feel like a child, unfortunately, how not around teens and children.

[Sincerly_KittyCat]

But*(not how)

[Anonymous]

Throughout my life I have felt for the most part the same. Child or adult, doesn't really feel much different to me since I grew up in relatively harsh conditions. I do however prefer the adult life by far. Nothing beats autonomy and making your own money to spend at your hearts content without any greedy and abusive jerks insulting you and your choices.

Born to be like an adult from the get go is what I call it.

[ArrowheadSW]

No... I was starting college and I knew I had a long ways to go. I think maybe I was starting to feel more like an adult around 21... Good question. Turning 18 doesn't automatically make a person an adult.