At what age would you say children become adults? Sixteen? Eighteen? Twenty-one?
Answers among parents likely vary widely. Psychologist, author, and expert in adolescent and family relationships, Dr. Ken Wilgus, says adulthood isn’t a moment in time as much as a process of growth he calls “Progressive Emancipation.”
He encourages parents to think of their teenagers as adults in training. Teens, he says, are not big children; they are young adults. Around age 13, childhood comes to its natural end, but that doesn’t mean that your job as a parent is over.