The fact that people believe in teenhood or “adolescence” is pretty amazing. Some “experts” talk about adolescence ending at age 14, others say 25 or 30. Since the concept has zero scientific basis it’s impossible to prove any of them wrong (or right). Social media is full of people screaming that 19-year-olds are children, especially if they suspect one of having sex with the “wrong” person. If that were true we’d have a massive child labor problem. Right now we have about 8 million 14 to 18-year-old young adults who have been forced into a kind of unnatural artificially extended childhood. They work, drive cars, join the military, some even start families, but society insists on infantilizing them, and criminalizing their sex lives. Not to mention the segregation. Barred from bars and night clubs, they’re not allowed to socialize with anyone over 21. No society has ever done this before. It’s a big experiment and so far the results are horrible. Youth suicide is at record highs. Doubling down on this tragic mistake is the dumbest thing we could do right now.