Being 18

Eh? We do not change at all. There may be gradual changes and the spontaneous ones are impossible.

I've been 18 for almost 2 weeks now and I am yet to go out on the town, or be taken to the uni bar. Other than drinking a beer with The Blokes at my cousin's wedding on the weekend, nothing has changed at all.

Welcome to age limbo enjoy your stay

I turned 19 a few months ago. I don't think I've changed much in the past five years, with the possible exception of appearance.

18 isn't legal age here, so haven't done that.

Over where I live, it's taught that one's life is supposed to change after turning 18.

DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. YOU'RE EIGHTEEN NOW, YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT.

Come to think of it, it's kind of weird that everything in my life has totally changed so far this year and I don't feel like anything's different.

I'm 20 in a few days and the years between 17-19 flew by and weren't a big deal. Pretty much nothing changed apart from a few things that were covered in blogs during that time.

21 is the next big one for me apparently. I still have no idea why that is such a celebrated year.

It's not some set in stone thing that you'll go through some sort of transition when you turn 18. I think it means because at 18 and the years following it you will start to mature beyond your teenage years and generally people will be doing something different, getting a job, going to university/college and moving on from school. You might feel different in one or two years time. I remember feeling similar when I hit 18 but I felt different as soon as I moved to university.

I shall attend the university turning 16, so I am, certainly, not the one to share your feeling.

Well you can legally fuck now, so get your skates on sonny.

Is that so in your countries? In mine it is legal to be a top at any age, but to be a bottom - only after 18. Wtf.

Erm, no that's not true.

Breaking news: Gishy is a cradle snatcher.

I keep forgetting each individual state has a different age of consent and 18 is the most common age

My state's (that I lived in for the first 18 years of my life) age of consent was 16 so everything throws me off forever I really wish there was a uniform way to dictate something like that without all the controversy and finger pointing

Fun Fact: In Japan, 13 years old is legal.

13.

It's 13 in Spain too.

In parts of Latin America (Mexico in specific) It's as low as 12, or "whenever the person hits puberty" which from what I've noticed can happen as low as 8 years old.

As sickening as that is, at least in Spain they take the small additional measure of saying that using 'deceit' to have sex with someone under 16 is illegal. The extremely wide scope that such a phrase allows can pretty much see anyone sleeping with someone under 16 at least stand trial.

I just can't understand it, no 12-13 year old knows what they want. Hell even at 16 I was terrified the first time a girl asked me into bed. Age of consent is one of those things that I feel strongly about, there's maybe a few months before 16 where you could maybe suggest it's a hazy line and that, providing it was consensual and the other party wasn't more than a couple of years older, it might be considered okay.

Then there's fucking kids.

Honestly I sometimes think the AoC in America being 18 is a good thing. Not that it does a damn bit of good really, I know American girls who lost their V at 14.

I just said the age of consent where I lived was 16

The age of consent was never really a big thing for me especially growing up in the "city of sin" and all, the schools assumed we would be out and fucking before we even started middle school and spit all the safe sex practices in our faces the best they could. I knew people who were messing with things like that since I was 6. Is it necessarily right? No. Not by any means. It varies from person to person, but under a certain age/point there is no genuine understanding of this shit and what to expect out of it. On an individual basis I believe this can vary anywhere from 12-17, though I've met people in their late 20s that still didn't understand and 8 year olds with a better understanding of it than my friend's 59 year old father.

I've known people who just ended up leading a very sexual existence and knew right off the bat that they wanted to. I've known what I've personally wanted and enjoyed since I was 14, but have no desire to chase after it much less engage because in the grand scheme of things, I don't care about sex. Some people will live their entire life and never know what they want.

I think a general guideline for who is and isn't capable of consenting is necessary, but picking an age for every single person covering a large section of the planet to follow can lead to a lot of stress, finger pointing, and overall very... bizarre situations where it's unclear who was in the wrong, if anyone. I think one of the best laws to include along side of age of consent is the fact that if someone is under the legal adult age in the area and you're an authority figure to them it's still illegal to get involved sexually with them.

I mean in general, well actually it's not even in general, hell about half seem to be 16. Okay, the ones that have 18, I think is a good idea...maybe...I don't know you can argue for and against. At the end of the day if two people want to fuck they're probably going to fuck.

I always thought the (n/2)+7 (rounded up) rule was good up to 21 as a rough guideline, n being your age. So for me as 18 it'd be 16, which is actually the age of consent in the UK. When I turn 19 in a couple weeks it'd be 17.

Any way, this is almost obligatory at this point:

That's generally the conclusion I end up at.

The rule I'd gotten used to ended up being n +/- 5 and no one under 15 if anything ends up going down, though I'm sure that opinion will change the older I get. That's another one that ends up being based on the individual, though.

Dat video.

I've always thought 18 for age of consent in places was pretty dumb. I think 16 is just right. For the UK that is. I'd be pretty pissed if I was old enough to leave school but not legally able to have sex. I guess things are pretty different in America.

Not that anybody ever gives a shit. If you feel you're ready for it from a young age you should be able to partake in it as long as you're with someone who is also legal. Not that the sex will be the best of your life because chances are you won't know what you're doing until you get older but still.

18 being legal to drink in the UK is fine, but 21 in the States sucks balls, I'm 19 and my next year of Uni I have to spend in NY running a hotel, and I have to stay sober for the whole time :/

^

It's situations like that that make me question 21 being the drinking age.

You're old enough to move away from home and go to university but you can't legally drink? what?

In America you can fucking die in the army before you're allowed to take a swig of beer.

Age restrictions should be across the board, 16 to smoke, drink, fuck, vote and serve, imo.

Its funny how the driving age is lower in America that their drinking age. There are probably more young driver accidents than there are accidents from drinking.

Apparently this was an extremely controversial thing at some point and if you serve in the army no matter what age you are you're legally allowed to drink. However, if you no longer have to serve and you're still under 21 you'll get turned down if you ever try to purchase a drink.

There are some states that somewhat regulate it, allowing people under 21 to drink ONLY if they're supervised by their own parent/guardian. Which is weird.

I don't get it either.

Less happened to me when I was 18 than any other year.

One of the big things in Australia lowering their drinking age from 21 to 18 was the idea of dying for your country but not being able to drink, and came about during the Vietnam war.

Playing Devil's Advocate here: why is letting a kid drink before they can drive a good thing? Sounds like a terrible cocktail for disaste

Terrible cocktail... Was that on purpose?

Personally, I think 18 would be a good age for the all the adult stuff.