Average Age of Independence
Yesterday I mentioned that 1200 young people are aging out of care in TN each year and that Monroe Harding works hard to make them ready for this transition. Don’t read ahead, take a minute to guess - what is the average age of independence in the United States? I know if you see a number your eyes will skip right to it, so take a second to actually guess. Do you think its 18, maybe its 16. How about 21 or 22. 23 and 24 are right after college and you’ve had time to get a job, right? Well in reality, the average age of independence in the US is 26. Does that sound about right to you? Don’t you know some 30 year olds that are just finally making it on their own? And, of course, some 22 year olds who can do it all? That’s how we get an average.
What can we expect of an 18 year old?
There should still be high expectations of 18 year olds. Many are out there fighting for our freedom, many are raising families, going to school, living alone. We should expect them to respect their elders, talk politely (especially in public), be courteous, accept that others are different than them. We should expect them to still be learning, but they should still be learning. For all the 18 year olds out there, remember that you don’t know everything, be willing to learn. And for all the 40 year olds out there, really the same is true. But also remember to give others a little room for failure and be sure to be there for them when they do fail.
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