What makes a person an adult?
What makes a person an adult? In the thread on FAT WARS Prometheus said: “Why do we draw the line on age, but not on measures of intelligence or responsibility?" Actually we do.
In several health-related decisions this debate comes up all the time. Across the U.S. there is a well-established concept of the Emancipated Minor. Basically, there are already certain legal situations under which a child may be treated as an adult. The most interesting to me as a Pediatrician, however, are situations relating to reproductive health and confidentiality in teens. I’ll stick with New York since that’s where I live.
First - and I still find this a little bit crazy - having a child automatically makes you an adult for all medical decisions about yourself and your child. Also you can generally get access to health care without parental consent in cases of sexually transmitted disease, family planning services, emergency, alcohol and mental health treatment, or if you are married.
Second, confidentiality for teens is a grey area that gets tested all the time. We can’t provide good advice if we don’t know what kids are doing, but we can’t exactly ignore dangerous behaviors either. Parents want to know what their kids are doing. The obvious solution is for the kids to talk to the parents and vice versa but it doesn’t always work out that way. With the exception of the services mentioned above, we are supposed to make an evaluation of a teen’s maturity and work from a sliding scale or responsibility. Any behaviors that pose an immediate danger to the teen’s health are not confidential.
What are other areas where we consider children to be adults? I know they are sometimes tried as adults for serious crimes. In some cases they can join the military. What are the standards we should use?
Here's a reference I found listing a state by state summary of Emancipation Laws and here's a fairly decent quick summary of what it takes to be an Emancipated Minor in New York State.
In several health-related decisions this debate comes up all the time. Across the U.S. there is a well-established concept of the Emancipated Minor. Basically, there are already certain legal situations under which a child may be treated as an adult. The most interesting to me as a Pediatrician, however, are situations relating to reproductive health and confidentiality in teens. I’ll stick with New York since that’s where I live.
First - and I still find this a little bit crazy - having a child automatically makes you an adult for all medical decisions about yourself and your child. Also you can generally get access to health care without parental consent in cases of sexually transmitted disease, family planning services, emergency, alcohol and mental health treatment, or if you are married.
Second, confidentiality for teens is a grey area that gets tested all the time. We can’t provide good advice if we don’t know what kids are doing, but we can’t exactly ignore dangerous behaviors either. Parents want to know what their kids are doing. The obvious solution is for the kids to talk to the parents and vice versa but it doesn’t always work out that way. With the exception of the services mentioned above, we are supposed to make an evaluation of a teen’s maturity and work from a sliding scale or responsibility. Any behaviors that pose an immediate danger to the teen’s health are not confidential.
What are other areas where we consider children to be adults? I know they are sometimes tried as adults for serious crimes. In some cases they can join the military. What are the standards we should use?
Here's a reference I found listing a state by state summary of Emancipation Laws and here's a fairly decent quick summary of what it takes to be an Emancipated Minor in New York State.
posted by Anonymous @ 3:58 PM
2 Comments:
Well as far as medically, especially regarding reproductive health, I for one am an advocate for more confidentiality. First of all, if you have a child, of course you’re automatically an adult. You made a decision to have this child, and to be a provider and caretaker, and therefore you should be treated with the same responsibility that you should be stepping up to. Whether or not you’re fit to be a parent is another issue, but I think there’s just as many people over the age of 18 who are way too immature to be a parent, and we are forced to let them make their own decisions.
Secondly, I knew a lot of girls in high school who were engaging in various risky sexual activities. They weren’t about to stop having sex, but they did finally go to Planned Parenthood, only because they knew their parents wouldn’t find out. If they knew the doctor was going to tell their parents what they prescribed, or what tests they gave their teenage daughter, they wouldn’t have gone in the first place. I’m not saying that’s admirable behavior, but that’s life.
As far as emancipated minors, I’ve met a few during my tenure in TV and film who emancipated themselves for economic reasons. If you’re under 18, you can only work a certain number of hours a day (hence why all high school kids are portrayed by 25 year olds). If a 17 year old is considered an adult, he or she is considered just as desirable as the older actors. This may seem incredibly irresponsible on the part of the parents, but if your kid is working enough by that age, they’re probably more adult and responsible than your average college kid. And frankly, I think we’ve all met 16 or 17 year olds who were better at decision-making than their parents. I mean, it wouldn’t be my choice for my kids, but I guess I’ve seen way too many kids who were over-coddled up until their early-to-mid 20’s to find the emancipation thing immediately awful.
Sorry if this whole post was a little scattered, by the way, it’s been a long week.
Kelly hit pretty closely to my thoughts on this matter, which are that - philosophically speaking - one becomes an adult when they are capable of truly being accountable for their actions. As that is impossible to legislate, and even tougher for a court to determine, the law has done the next best thing by reversing the decision. Set an arbitrary age for Adulthood, and claim that people past that age are suddenly accountable as a result. Still, this really is the best we can do. It's like (and in fact, is) the age of consent laws, any of which will be entirely arbitrary. But they still do their job of protecting those who aren't yet fit to make their own decisions on the matter, and as for those below the line who can, well they won't generally raise a fuss. Teens will make their own mistakes and decisions when they're ready to do so, but the legal rights of how their treated really do act more for their protection than anything else.
Oh, and confidentiality is crucial. A doctor can't treat a patient who can't be honest about their lifestyle, nor should they be required to make sure little Johnny or Jenny gets their proper beating when thewy gdet home. There's just no reason for notification.
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