Reaching the Age of Emotional Maturity

Whilst growing up, we come in contact with numerous people of different orientations, attitudes, actions, and very important ideas. And we wonder why they act how they act or why they say some things they say? Or wow? Due to my upbringing, I would say that right from the moment I got to understand right from wrong I always acted responsibly and people would always question my maturity. At some point it just got old and I thought why do so many people question my actions? Well, you see the concept between age and maturity cleared all of that up.

Most adults, most at times culturally influenced, view teenagers as either too young or irresponsible. I mean literarily speaking, we are adolescents still in our developmental state until we reach our mid 20’s. But what is maturity? How can maturity be measured? These questions are often neglected in today's society. Although the word is a common piece of people language, it is used and spoken with little knowledge. Maturity is completely dependent on the kind of experiences a person has in his life, which is not related to his age. Age is just a number yet interpreted as a measure of maturity. Age is not maturity just as maturity does not age.

I usually hear this uncommon phrase 'teenagers are so immature.' But why are teenagers considered immature? In our society, it is believed that the older you get, the more mature you are. I for one would agree to disagree with that. A 35-year-old male who has never worked a day in his life and still living with his parents and a 13-year-old girl taking care of her younger siblings on her own is very comparable. The man has no obvious experience in taking care of anyone or himself which puts the girl as being more mature in ways he is not. Also, maturity is not a title or a sticker given to or being pasted on a person when they reach a certain age. Our mindset could play a heavy role in our level of maturity. Experiences, like losing someone close to you or coming from a broken home, which affects us teenagers can cause us to grow up too fast thereby becoming more responsible and mature.

I believe that the day we start making decisions for ourselves whether it be at ages 10, 25 or even 50, we're maturing. Humans experience maturity when they let past and present experiences form them into being better people. Teenagers start maturing, the moment they decide to take control. Society isn't the dictator and for the love of God neither is the underdeveloped teenage mind. It's time we question society's idea, that a certain number determines our maturity levels and our ability. We as teenagers should be judged people based on how we act and who we are, not our labels or measure of years passed. Maturity is not determined by age but it is an attitude built by experience. I would like to end by saying that “we live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity”, so I can only explore my maturity level and that of others through experience.