"You can die for your country, but you can't buy a beer at a bar." This classic example of incoherence in laws surrounding adult milestones has been the subject of many a rant from teens who consider themselves ready to join the ranks of the legally mature. (Probably a few drunken rants, even.) But the age cutoffs for alcohol and military service —both functionally set at the federal level—are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the utterly confusing mess of state laws governing teens and young adults.
A new study from Bellwether pulls together age cutoffs in the 50 states for 36 different "adulting" variables, from work to guns to sex to school. The results are a fascinating window into the incoherence of American laws—and offer a look at our changing attitudes about maturity and individual responsibility.
