The Freudian Illusion of Adolescence
Throughout antiquity, three life stages have been identified and studied. These life stages have been defined by childhood, youth, and old age. The study of philosophy and the natural world has verified these stages of human development for millennia. Within the last 150 years, the creation of so called “adolescence” has drastically changed western societal norms and human development. This recent change has interrupted the transition from childhood to adulthood, creating a fundamental crisis of identity. Purporting so called “adolescence” will not prepare children for adulthood, but only maintain the behavioral status quo considered acceptable by “adolescents”.
By embracing so called “adolescence” one cannot embrace or learn the responsibilities of adulthood because adulthood is philosophically and categorically different. Behaviors that are acceptable for “adolescents” are not acceptable for adults. Therefore, “adolescence” is not a training ground for adulthood, but a life stage of experimentation and boundary-testing. This causes much frustration in the home, as the number of rules increase while they should be decreasing. Unfortunately, many times the law must get involved as the boundary is tested beyond the home.
The legal definitions of adulthood have been created for our protection, not as a standard age by which we can hope to raise children. Western law was not created as a substitute for good parenting, but as a safeguard from the effects of bad parenting. Embracing the responsibilities of adulthood is not illegal, but failing to by the age of 18 may be.
Proof of the above lies within the common practice of entering a pub and becoming intoxicated on one’s 18th birthday. This practice is evidence that the western concept of coming-of-age is not actually about embracing responsibility and adulthood, but pushing the boundaries of the law. Certainly it is not illegal to get drunk on one’s 18th birthday, but the activities that follow often include police officers.
Because the teenage years are formative, this is all the more reason to embrace adult responsibilities and attitudes. The habits learned in these years will last a lifetime of adulthood. If one learns to shirk responsibility and become ego-centric during the teenage years, it is more than highly probable that they will remain this way for their entire lives. The neuroplasticity of youth is a double-edge sword, as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
The concept of “adolescence” can only provide a reference point for “normative” behaviors. It will never prepare anyone for adulthood, because the expectations of adolescents and adults are vastly different. One cannot learn the responsibilities of adulthood by being locked into a category that fails to expect the behaviors of an adult. It is only by embracing adulthood, not adolescence, that one can learn appropriate responsibilities and enter emotional and relational maturity.
Joshua Ben Nun 