Shannon Rea’s job as a part-time bartender in Brooklyn gives her a close-up look at the risky behavior of people in their 20s.
Some end a night of drinking with hookups. Some take rides from the slightly inebriated. Others try to drive when they shouldn’t. (She sobers them up, takes their keys and finds them rides.)
“I think the early 20s are the new teenage years,” says Rea, 26, a college student studying to be a history teacher. “There are no parents telling them, ‘You can’t do this.’ It’s pretty much a free-for-all.”
The 20s always have been prime time for risky behavior, from binge drinking and unprotected sex to dabbling in drugs and driving too fast. But new brain research suggests young adults may have less control over these impulses: Neurological areas that regulate impulse and emotions are not fully developed until about the mid-20s, findings show.
[i]”I think the early 20s are the new teenage years,” says Rea, 26, a college student studying to be a history teacher. “There are no parents telling them, ‘You can’t do this.’ It’s pretty much a free-for-all.”
[/i]
Yep. We’ve been extending adolescence for decades, since the development of the middle class, in fact. Now more and more people are acting like children in older years.
“Frankly, I’ve never seen the sense in acting responsible. After all, being responsible means taking responsibility — and who wants to take responsibility for anything?” (–Seinfeld)
“What’s the use of being grown up if you can’t act like a child sometimes?” (–Doctor Who #4)
Now we have another group with a built-in genetic excuse for their behavior. Twenty-somethings’ brains aren’t fully developed yet so they shouldn’t be held accountable for their sins. Sounds familiar.
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas
#2 dpeirce, You have got it so well. Some people grow up before 20 some before 30. Some people never seem to make it at all. It seems there are always those who blame everyone else, organizations, churches, etc., etc. but somehow overlook that the blame rests on them frequently and unless they take a hold of their lives and look to our Lord for help, no one can do it for them.