Not without impacting other political aspects. Remember we only lowered the voting age to 18 some 50 years ago to justify the ability to send more kids to a war we started. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
It still strikes me that some places consider someone fully able to freely consent to enrol in the army, to the risk of getting permanently maimed or mentally scarred, and consider them fit to make life or death split-second decisions for both themselves and everyone around them under terror In highly stressful situations.
But can’t be allowed to have a beer or a whisky, and isn’t able to freely consent to sleep with someone five or ten years older.
I wonder what the official legal justification for this dichotomy is, if there is any.
Edit: after looking it up, there doesn’t seem to be one.
You're not understanding my argument. Within the current way we do things, whatever age you pick is the age the transition period starts for a big fraction of people. Just picking a higher age doesn't work.
If anything, based on the median in the US right now, we should be introducing more self-determination earlier.
> Within the current way we do things, whatever age you pick is the age the transition period starts for a big fraction of people.
My point precisely. Many people only start experiencing life as adults once they’ve been declared adults. Which kind of makes sense.
Maybe something more progressive than a random date would be better. Some countries already do it for some things (both in rights, responsibilities, and legal consequences), many also have specific framework for people who simply can’t be held responsible for themselves (with, often, abuses).
I’m probably stating the obvious, but some things are complex and don’t have good universal solutions. Which is part of why we have judges and lawyers, not just laws.