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Original poster

Do you view 17 year olds as adults?

29 replies

Lottie05 · 01/08/2022 18:33

For some reason the thought of being considered an adult terrifies me. I do work a part time job and help a lot around the house. I try not to act like a little child but I still do feel like one. I’m really scared. I wish I could go back a couple of years. I feel like I haven’t grown up as much as my friends.

OP posts:
theclangersarecoming · 01/08/2022 18:36

No! A 17 year old is between child and adult, but I wouldn’t think of a 17 y o as equivalent to an adult. On the way there though — depending on the 17 y o —!

littlefaith · 01/08/2022 18:37

No, I wouldn't consider a 17yo an adult. Obviously there are exceptions - a teenager with a house, child, job etc. for example might be very mature, but by far most 17 year olds have a great amount of growing up to do 🙂

Hotandbothereds · 01/08/2022 18:37

No, a 17 year old isn’t an adult imo.

Mally100 · 01/08/2022 18:39

No. A 17yo is still a child to me. I'm from a country where children are children for much longer.

LarryUnderwood · 01/08/2022 18:40

No. I'm 44, today at work we had a 23 year old new starter and tp be honest even he seems like a very grown up child (in a good way, not an immature way). At 17 you are fine to still feel like you need help and support.

Justmuddlingalong · 01/08/2022 18:44

When I was 17, yes I considered that to be grown up. Now I'm a middle aged woman, no.

ISaySteadyOn · 01/08/2022 18:51

No, 17 is still very young. Other posters can correct me, but I believe the adult brain isn't fully formed until 25. Anyway, if my daughters and son are like you at 17, I will be very pleased. You sound lovely 🙂.

littlebeebop · 01/08/2022 18:54

I'm 31 and I still don't feel like an adult most days!

I'd say not, don't pressure yourself into growing up too quickly and becoming an adult!

vodkaredbullgirl · 01/08/2022 18:55

2nd post today on the subject

SleepingStandingUp · 01/08/2022 18:55

I mean some 17 year olds live alone or with their child / partner, run a house and a budget etc so it would be condescending to go on about how they're just children.
However at 17 I was in school, I lived at home, I lost my virginity that year, got a part time job and helped around the house but I had no real responsibility. I think it's the responsibility that moves people to adulthood. At 18 I was in school, I lived at home, got a part time job and helped around the house but I had no real responsibility. I don't think I became an adult until I left school

SnowdropsInSpring · 01/08/2022 19:01

No way. They're like big children who think they’re grown ups (obviously there are exceptions). Mid 20s is more grown up.

Antarcticant · 01/08/2022 19:01

I think of 16 and 17 year olds as 'young adults'. They have some adult rights in law.

Most people don't instantly feel 'grown up' when they turn 18. You often see threads on here where people marvel at some very grown up thing they've done, and admit they are in their 30s!

I'm nearly 50. A sense of being adult comes gradually as you do more and more adult things - paying bills, sorting out insurance, devising household routines, settling into work or study, and for some, becoming parents. When all those things have become boring business-as-usual things that you've done for ages, that's when your sense of adulthood settles on you.

Pebblebeach15 · 01/08/2022 19:03

No. I am a secondary school teacher and the sixth formers obviously have a range of maturity levels but are also all to varying degrees childlike and looking for care and guidance to help them navigate the world .

BlueWhat · 01/08/2022 19:03

I'm in my 50's, OP with 4 kids and I still don't feel like an adult.

I'm a single parent and when the kids look at me when something happens, I feel like looking around too, for the adult to fix it!

Sorry no help!! :)

maddiemookins16mum · 01/08/2022 19:10

17 to me is older teen/young adult.

GrandSlamFinalee · 01/08/2022 19:12

Unless they were living independently and supporting themselves no, I wouldn’t view a 17yo as an adult.

I was very much an exception in that I moved abroad at 16 and immediately became independent of my parents so I did consider myself an adult. Emotionally, I was a ‘young person’ until a few years later though. I think it’s the same for everyone in that respect though.

MoonBat · 01/08/2022 19:14

I have a 17 year old and no, he's not an adult. I also didn't feel like an adult at 17, though I moved 300 miles away from home!

emsmum79 · 01/08/2022 19:17

I feel like I haven’t grown up as much as my friends

I think most people feel like this as most of us are good at putting on a front like we are capable and know what we're doing.

You are doing the right things. Just take your time and enjoy being a teenager.

whiteroseredrose · 01/08/2022 19:17

No. DD is 19 and still doesn't feel like an adult. DS is nearly 23 so is almost there.

Allmarbleslost · 01/08/2022 19:18

No. I work in a secondary school and the sixth formers definitely aren't adults

toooldtocarewhoknows · 01/08/2022 19:21

No, adulting begins at 18 but doesn't fully mature until 24 when the brain finishes developing.

Most young people need some support in life until mid 20's.

itsgettingweird · 01/08/2022 19:25

My son is 17 and turns 18 in a few weeks.

I don't see him as an adult as such as in fully fledged adult and turning 18 won't change that.

He's a young adult who is still learning and finding his place in the world.

QueenofLouisiana · 01/08/2022 19:26

No! Looking at my 17 year old, who is sitting on the floor and munching on pizza with an air pod hanging out of his ear. He has a part time job, is learning basic household skills and how to cope with independence. Is he an adult? Not at all.

cakeorwine · 01/08/2022 19:28

DS confidently tells me that the Government trusts him to be independent and to be able to control his own life from next year.

I look at him and think there should be an 'adulting' test first before that happens Grin

CashmereMutt · 01/08/2022 19:29

No my 19 year olds are definitely not adults - they have a long way to go - some days they recognise that - some days they get very stroppy when it’s pointed out.