18 Year Olds in the UK and the US

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Sam70
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18 Year Olds in the UK and the US

Post by Sam70 »

In both the UK and in the US the age of 18 is the age of majority. In theory, one would conclude that turning age 18 is the same in both nations.

Apparently not. In the UK 18 year olds are considered adults and as such can buy booze where in the United States the age to buy booze is 21.

That may be the only legal difference. I don't know. Perhaps others will post if they are aware that there are other differences.

I don't know if the law concerning being age 18 is the same in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Many laws in the US vary from state to state as the US Constitution specifies that all laws etc. that are not mentioned in the US Constitution are "hereby given to the states."

Def123 has pointed out in some of his posts how the rules are in year 13 in the UK. Year 13 is for 18 year old and older. He posted about during the noon break going to the pubs and having a pint then returning for afternoon classes.

In the US the equivalent is senior year in high school. In every high school that I am aware, 18 year olds are not considered any different than students who are not yet 18.

The only difference is that those not 18 need parents' signature for all kinds of things. Those 18 now sign for those high school documents themselves. Senior year in high school is still a closed campus even if a student is age 19!

This thread is about lads who are now 18 so the focus needs to remain with 18 year olds to age 21.

Until 40 or so years ago, the age of majority was age 21 here in the US. I suspect that here in the US culturally and in family situations lads are not really treated as adults until age 21.

Of course legally 18 year olds are considered adults. If they break a law and get caught, legally the parents are not responsible. If they go to prison they are housed with all the prisoners over age 18 meaning they are housed with men old enough to be their parents, and some even great grandparents.

It appears that here in the US there is a double standard on several different levels.

What do you guys think? This is not a legal discussion, but rather a cultural discussion so all here have opinions about how 18 year olds fit culturally in there own nation.

The discussion here is to compare how 18 year olds are culturally different in the UK and in the US.
Fred
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Re: 18 Year Olds in the UK and the US

Post by Fred »

In the US, the "age of majority" depends on the context and the state. At least until recently, girls could marry at 13 in some states. At one point, buying alcohol required being 21, but the point was made that if they could be drafted into the armed services at 18 they should be able to buy a beer. It still varies by state. It troubles me that in some places, if an 18-year-old boy has a 15-year-old girlfriend he can be listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Sam70
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Re: 18 Year Olds in the UK and the US

Post by Sam70 »

Fred wrote: 16 Jan 2022, 10:13 e. It troubles me that in some places, if an 18-year-old boy has a 15-year-old girlfriend he can be listed as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
I agree Fred. It can really get stupid in some states. According to the law in at least one state. A boy and girl can legally have sex as both of them are 17. Then it is birthday time for one of them.

To avoid the one turning 18 being classified as a sex offender, the couple must avoid any sex until the other one also turned 18. It is illegal for a 17 year old to have sex with an 18 year old.

There was a case where a girl past age 18 got pregnant. She was dating a underage boy. The prosecuting attorney was waiting to press charges against the girl as the boy was so close to being legal.

The issue was concerning just two weeks or less. If it had been determine that the conception happened just two days before the boy turned legal, they were going to press charges and the girl would be classified as a sex offender.

The girl and boy were married within weeks after the conception. That didn't matter.

With all the problems we have in this world, this is what the government wants to spend both time and money?
cutsleeve
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Re: 18 Year Olds in the UK and the US

Post by cutsleeve »

here in high school even when you are 18 the school officials can search your car without a warrant or even probable cause even if it is parked off of school property. that happened to one wrestler in the area where they searched his off-campus car and found steroids in it and kicked him out of school even though the search would have been illegal and anything found thrown out if it was done by the police. you get expelled from school for things you do outside of school hours off of campus. and even when out of state or even in another country over summer vacation. you have no rights when you are in school below 18 or even when 18 you still have no rights. you can do things that are totally legal at 18 in another state or country and still be expelled from school for it as it is against school rules. the other side is that from around 14 up you are considered an adult in the eyes of the law if you commit just about any crime more than most miner things. it is automatic that you are charged and prosecuted and convicted as an adult and there is nothing your lawyer can do to keep it in juvenile court. it is a pro forma procedure to automatically transfer you to adult court from 14 up. from 12 up in some states. the law considers you an adult for just about any crime you can commit. your charged and prosecuted and sentenced as an adult. the only difference is you are in a juvenile prison until 18 then you are transferred to adult prison where for some charges then you serve the rest of your life in prison for something you have done when you was 14, 12 in some states. I read in x y magazine that the average age for joining the sex offender registry is 14. a couple of teens are doing stuff. parents are listening on the other side of the door then when they can tell they are doing stuff they burst in and take pictures and file charges on the other 14 year old then he is prosecuted and sentenced in adult court or can be a she. not that long ago ex post facto laws got passed for sex offenses. where something a person has done decades ago when it was nothing more than a fine and no jail suddenly the penalty is changed to sex offender status and they have to inform their neighbors and work where ever they go. ex post facto laws are illegal under the constitution yet they got upheld in every court as no one wanted to be seen as soft on sex so the precedent was set. then they come after the gun owners taking away their guns for minor stuff that was misdemeanors decades ago. now they are getting ready to set up ex post facto laws for other things too. there was a saying in nazi Germany first they came for the jews no one said anything. next they came for the cripples no one said anything. they went down the list, then at the end they came for me and there was no one left to say anything. the same thing is happening here. now we are seeing voting rights being taken away by removing ballot drop boxes. first one per county with massive traffic jams preventing anyone from getting there. doing away with early voting. cutting the number of voting sites and the number of voting places so there are massive traffic jams for miles around voting sites to prevent people from voting. being gay was wide open and well-accepted a century ago. then the great depression hit and we were hunted and killed for being gay in the united states other times fired from our jobs and thrown out of our apartments. in Germany it was wide open for gays and really liberal and progressive a century ago. then Hitler rose to power and we were first removed from our jobs and homes. then we were rounded up and sent to the death camps to be sentenced to hard labor for being gay, then we were put into the ovens for being gay in Germany. right ring swing here will see a lot of horrors happening to us gays. i read a news story on my phone saying large gangs are roaming the gay beaches in Australia hunting and killing gays. we already get thrown off the roof of buildings for being gay in the middle east and other Muslim countries. before stonewall gay bars were busted all the time and everyone rounded up and names put in the newspaper. if you went to a gay bar they put you on a list even if the bar was not busted as they took down license plate numbers. now we are seeing in the American south license plate numbers being taken down of anyone that parks near a gay bar and the names and addresses read on the radio by a preacher so we can be hunted and discriminated against. the right is taking away more rights and they will come for us like they did in the past. us gays are likely to see more ex post facto laws and we will be put in prison or worst for being gay.
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