Poll: Legally an adult

[ACman]

Hi,
I am german, and as you may know out of your stereotype index, we as people love to drink beer (ok the Polish drink more, but we Germans are insteadbest in Coffee and Tea). For example you are allowed to drink light alcoholics (<20%) with 16 years( Despite eveyone starts earlier, not a joke, I know what I am talking about, you drink without awarness of your parents, get sick and drink more aware, ok my friends did so, I am punk and straight edge but that´s off topic). Also you can achieve your license for driving with 17 years, but only for Germany and your parents sitting next to you. And you have to be 14 to have sex(but max distance between age is 2 years older) . Dun´t know any limits after 18 birthday.

Sie sprect English serh gut meinem herr!

 

[Baradiel]

18 in the UK is when we can drink alcohol. 17 is when you can learn to drive, but on the Isle of Man you can learn at 16.

21 just seems ridiculously late for alcohol. I know it's hardly vital to survival, and at best is just a luxury most people would be better off without, but I'm just glad its 18 for it here. Fresher's Week would not be the same without it...

 

[BENZOOKA]

18 in Finland for voting, driver's license, buying beer, tobacco & such. I think you're legally pretty much hold accountable for everything you do past 15 years, but not quite anyways. So basically you reach the milestone for everything when you're 18. Except stronger alcoholic beverages: 22 % is the maximum limit for 18-19 olds, at 20 you can buy the stronger beverages. Legally you can drink under parents eye's at younger ages as well, I think, but basically most young people begin drinking (outside home) at 13-15. 16 is the age when you can fuck legally. And at 15 you can get a license for a moped/scooter/tractor/and such (like the most awful things ever to be met on roads: moped fucking cars), at 16 for light motorcycles.

I'm 23 so I don't really have anything to look forward to in that sense.

And I think everyone should be held (almost-if-not-fully) accountable after being about 12 year olds. I remember wondering, at that time, how I already knew perfectly well what was legal & right, but still couldn't be punished for doing something wrong. At least 15-year-olds should be fully accountable. At that age you should now, perfectly well.

 

[PieceOfEden]

In S.A its 17 for learners and 18 for a drivers license. Though, oddly you can have sex at 16

 

[Robert Ewing]

I think here in Britain we have it slightly wrong with what we consider adults. Here we start adulthood at 16, but only become an official adult at 18. Think of the years 16 and 17 as... practice.

But I think that's the wrong way to go about it, I think 18 - 20 should be practice, and you should become an official adult at the age of 20, or 21.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Sweden here. 18 for everything but buying alcohol at the state-owned off-license - which is the only place you can buy alcohol heavier than beer and cider - for that you have to be 20. I never really cared about the restrictions; I even ignored the unofficial tradition of going to the off-license on your 20th birthday to buy a random bottle of something.

Off license? Va pratar du om? Systembolaget översatt blir ju system company?

 

[Brandon237]

After you are eighteen you are pretty much an adult here. Not much else to it.

 

[Sir_Auron_the_Badass]

It is a bit odd that basically everything becomes legal to us in America at 18 except alcohol (not that I drink, because I find the smell nauseating, let alone what tasting it would do). What I recently found out is that even though we reach "adulthood" in legal terms and are allowed to do a lot more, we can't get into strip clubs that serve alcohol until we're 21. That just doesn't make much sense to me, as those that don't serve drinks allow +18 year-olds, but it's the simple factor of alcohol that bump most club's admittance up to the drinking age? That would be the near equivalent (notice I said near, as I know the nudity aspect is taken into account) of not allowing minors into many public locations because they serve alcohol as well.

 

[Astoria]

In Australia, 18 is the legal age for everything, except sex, which is 16, and we're allowed learner permits at 16, but have to have a licensed driver with us. We get our P plates at 18 and a full license at 21.

I have to admit that I personally think the legal drinking age should be raised to 21. Research shows that drinking, especially binge drinking, while the brain is still developing (it stops around the age of 24) can do permanent damage to short and long term memory. Also, a lot of fatal car accidents seem to involve P platers. Taking alcohol out of the equation might save some lives.

The thing is people will still drink at 16 regardless of the drinking age. All changing the law will achieve is more underage drinking. I know some people who started drinking at 12. And crashes involving P platers are mostly due to inexperience and over estimating their abilities, like how well they drive with alcohol. You can't fix stupidity sadly.

18 in Australia, though companies will start charging you adult prices long before then...

Don't you just love that. Oh you're over 12? That means we consider you an adult but no you're not allowed to drink or do any other grown up stuff because you're still a kid.

 

[trollnystan]

Sweden here. 18 for everything but buying alcohol at the state-owned off-license - which is the only place you can buy alcohol heavier than beer and cider - for that you have to be 20. I never really cared about the restrictions; I even ignored the unofficial tradition of going to the off-license on your 20th birthday to buy a random bottle of something.

Off license? Va pratar du om? Systembolaget översatt blir ju system company?

Du skojar väl? "System company" är det bara om man översätter bokstavligt - och ingen skulle fatta. "Off license" förstår de flesta dock.

Spoiler: Translation (so I don't get reported or something)

You're kidding right? It would only be "system company" if you translated it literally - and no one would get it. Most people understand "Off license" though.

 

[Pat8u]

In Australia, 18 is the legal age for everything, except sex, which is 16, and we're allowed learner permits at 16, but have to have a licensed driver with us. We get our P plates at 18 and a full license at 21.

I have to admit that I personally think the legal drinking age should be raised to 21. Research shows that drinking, especially binge drinking, while the brain is still developing (it stops around the age of 24) can do permanent damage to short and long term memory. Also, a lot of fatal car accidents seem to involve P platers. Taking alcohol out of the equation might save some lives.

actually its p plates at 17 years since my 17 year old brother has p plates
ot: Im below 18 which is legal adulthood in australia

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Du skojar väl? "System company" är det bara om man översätter bokstavligt - och ingen skulle fatta. "Off license" förstår de flesta dock.

Spoiler: Translation (so I don't get reported or something)

You're kidding right? It would only be "system company" if you translated it literally - and no one would get it. Most people understand "Off license" though.

Vadå ''av licens'', man behöver ju ingen licens för att köpa på sys.

You don't need a license to buy alcohol in sweden, i don't understand.

 

[trollnystan]

Du skojar väl? "System company" är det bara om man översätter bokstavligt - och ingen skulle fatta. "Off license" förstår de flesta dock.

Spoiler: Translation (so I don't get reported or something)

You're kidding right? It would only be "system company" if you translated it literally - and no one would get it. Most people understand "Off license" though.

Vadå ''av licens'', man behöver ju ingen licens för att köpa på sys.

You don't need a license to buy alcohol in sweden, i don't understand.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/off-licence
http://tyda.se/search?form=1&w=off+licence+shop&w_lang=&x=0&y=0#

[search engine of your choice] is your friend! =D

The license refers to the SHOP having one to sell alcohol, not you having one to buy some - although I suppose having to show ID might count.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/off-licence
http://tyda.se/search?form=1&w=off+licence+shop&w_lang=&x=0&y=0#

[search engine of your choice] is your friend! =D

The license refers to the SHOP having one to sell alcohol, not you having one to buy some - although I suppose having to show ID might count.

Well that's a fing weird term to use, of course the shop in some county would have a license to sell things, why would you mention that.

 

[trollnystan]

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/off-licence
http://tyda.se/search?form=1&w=off+licence+shop&w_lang=&x=0&y=0#

[search engine of your choice] is your friend! =D

The license refers to the SHOP having one to sell alcohol, not you having one to buy some - although I suppose having to show ID might count.

Well that's a fing weird term to use, of course the shop in some county would have a license to sell things, why would you mention that.

Ok, starting to suspect you are wilfully misunderstanding. So I'm going to start ignoring you now. Cheers!

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Ok, starting to suspect you are wilfully misunderstanding. So I'm going to start ignoring you now. Cheers!

What the fuck?

I was criticizing the expression for being non descriptive and just weird
I understand it fine, and then you behave like that

 

[aba1]

I thought 21 was the age in America?

21 ia the legal drinking age in the States. Come to Canada, its 18 most places. Except Ontario, which sucks since I live there and I have to be 19.

it's only one year and it's not like anybody really enforces it all that seriously anyways.

 

[trollnystan]

Ok, starting to suspect you are wilfully misunderstanding. So I'm going to start ignoring you now. Cheers!

What the fuck?

I was criticizing the expression for being non descriptive and just weird
I understand it fine, and then you behave like that

Ok I'll try this one last time, though I'm suspecting you're trolling me. (Sorry, just saying how I feel about this exchange. Oh and nice catch in changing your post to something less provoking.)

Och jag kör det på svenska också. Om du kollar så skrev jag "state-owned off license" så att folk som inte kommer från Skandinavien skulle ha ett hum om vad jag pratar om. Jag kunde ha skrivit "Systembolaget" men hur många utanför Skandinavien vet vad det är?

Seriöst så vet jag inte vad det är du tycker är så svårt att förstå. Vad är det du vill få förklarat för dig egentligen? Jag hittade inte på "off license" själv; det är term som britterna använder. "I'm going down to the off license for some wine," är samma som, "Jag ska till systemet och köpa vin." Om du har ett problem med termen ta det upp med britterna är du snäll =P

Spoiler: Translation so that I don't get reported

And I'll do it in Swedish too. If you check you'll see I wrote "state-owned off license" so that people not from Scandinavia would have some inkling about what I was talking about. I could have written "Systembolaget" but how many people outside Scandinavia know what that is?

Seriously, I don't know what it is you find so hard to understand. What is it you want explained to you exactly? I did not make "off license" up; it's a term the British use. "I'm going down to the off license for some wine," is the same as, "Jag ska till systemet och köpa vin." If you have a problem with the term then take it up with the Brits please =P