Published: October 26, 2007 12:42 am            

Does wisdom come with age?

As the father of two teenage sons, I often wonder at the cognitive processes (or lack of) which take place inside the confines of what I sometimes assume are heads made of solid concrete. Impulsive decisions, extreme risk-taking and a belief in one’s invincibility exemplify the typical teen.

For years, various laws and policies have been put into place which embody the belief that wisdom comes with age. In Mississippi, for example, one has to be 21 years of age to be a State Representative, 25 to be a State Senator or Secretary of State, 26 to be a circuit or chancery court judge, and 30 to be governor or sit on the State Supreme Court. The U.S. Constitution also recognizes that maturity comes with years. One has to be at least 25 to be a U.S. Representative, 30 to be a U.S. Senator and 35 to run for President (although there is absolutely no requirement you have to act your age while in any of those offices).

Other laws require a minimum age of 21 to legally gamble or purchase and/or use alcohol, tobacco or handgun ammunition. Citing statistics which show younger drivers lack the ability to adequately assess risk, many states have instituted graduated driver’s license programs. Insurance companies, citing the same statistics, set their rates accordingly, with males getting a break around the age of 25. Most rental car companies require prospective customers to be a minimum of 21, with some setting the minimum age at 25.

All of this conventional wisdom is supported by a National Institutes of Health study which found that a section of the human brain called the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex is one of the last brain regions to mature. This region, which is responsible for controlling impulses and weighing risks and consequences, does not fully develop until the mid-20’s. In the words of an article from the January 12, 2007, edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, “The teenage brain, in essence, is a turbocharged car with a set of brakes still under construction.”

Given the medical research, the conventional wisdom, the plethora of state and federal age restrictions, and the statistics cited by businesses such as insurance companies, one is then compelled to ask if it is conscionable to continue send men and women aged 18 to 21 into war. After all, if the brains of these young men and women aren’t fully developed until their mid-20s and thus aren’t capable of properly assessing the risks of drinking, smoking, gambling or driving a car, does it not stand to reason they may not be able to properly assess the risks inherent to combat?

Because of their proclivity for thrills and their inability to foresee the possible consequences for their actions and decisions, it’s shamefully easy to encourage young people to fight in a war such as the one in Iraq. A cynic might even argue a President who wanted such a war and a Congress which refuses to stop it are actually counting on those immature dorsal lateral prefrontal cortexes to keep it going. After all, as Senator McGovern said, it’s the “old men” who keep “dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”



Bo Alawine, a Meridian native and Clarkdale Attendance Center graduate who now lives in Ocean Springs, is a computer programmer/systems engineer for a defense contractor.

        

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