Are teenagers immature?

[Owfin]

I would say I am fairly mature for my age because I broke out of my introvert shell and ventured to learn about having two sided conversations.

 

[Pride]

We are all immature imbeciles that don't know anything on a cosmic scale. We live for what, 70-90 Earth years? How ridiculous and arrogant to claim "maturity" in the face of existence itself.

The difference between you and the 16-year-old is ridiculously small.

 

[Synthetix]

It's not the years of your life that matter so much as the life in your years.

 

[Solitaire U.]

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: HELL Yes.

When someone tells that they are young, do you automatically think less of them and their opinion?

Yes, not because I value their opinion less, but rather because I find the hidden agendas associated with advertising something as ultimately inconsequential as one's age to be offensive and disrespectful.

Don't care how old you are. In certain contexts it's fine to tell your age, just don't expect trumpeting the fact to earn you any additional slack. Being young doesn't grant you a get out of jail free card. There is no 'par' in forums like this...that's the beauty of virtual reality. Just be yourself and you're worthy of respect. The demographic details are unimportant.

 

[Fghw]

I hate to say im mature for my age because the mere utterance makes me seem all the more immature. Honestly, I find my level of contempt for authority frightening. Rebellious and otherwise teenage phenomena that I would have once deemed immature are becoming all the more reasonable.

 

[pjoa09]

11 months later.

 

[mu is mu]

When someone tells that they are young, do you automatically think less of them and their opinion?

The rightness or wrongness of a statement by itself is what determines whether I respect it or not, regardless of some physical characteristic (e.g., age) or abstract quality of the person who utters it.

Additionally, "immaturity" can be a flexible social construction. Why are teenagers considered immature for their oftentimes reckless driving, careless spending, poor study habits, etc., when many supposedly mature adults are in credit card debt, are obese, or "tailgate" other vehicles on a regular basis? Don't all these acts stem from a lack of impulse control and wisdom? So I don't find it logical or fair to prejudge younger people just because a random group of impulsive, inconsistent adults portrays teenagers as immature. This simplistic, gratifying self-delusion irks me.

 

[Trebuchet]

Maturity isn't everything, particularly on this forum.

Yes, teenagers are immature, compared to how they will be later. But I've known some very immature people in their 60's, and some very adult 8-year-olds. So it depends on the person. Maturity provides the experience to handle a greater variety of situations, but it doesn't make you smarter.

The younger teens here certainly lack the perspective of the older posters, but generally do just as well with presenting and understanding arguments, and I don't respond differently to posters based on their age.

I never dismiss input from a 13-year-old on this forum, based on age alone. Actually, thinking about it, I don't dismiss anyone's input, ever, based on their age alone, including in person. I've lost arguments to 6-year-olds, admittedly often on the subject of dinosaurs. If someone has something useful and insightful to say, they should be heard and respected.