the cut-off age for "little kids"

[kuwaizair]

so here is a nice topic, because of some circumstances I am wondering what is the cut-off for "being a little kid"
what amuses me is one can be 12 years old, can makeout, wear loads of makeup and 'adult panties', and date, and somehow they, when in the right place consider themself like a defencless, innocent "little kid", you know like an eight year old, we all know its wrong to scare eight year olds so its wrong to scare 13 yr olds. (and by scare I mean show them a camera and then they cry in terror like you are going to decapitate them with a chain saw)

also on this note, what age does one be incontroll, aware and responsable for their actions? I'm told that a 13 yr old who shouts sexual messages at you dosen't know any better ("lawl" the're as sentient as a dog then?) or prehaps some think its cute or should be ignored. I know is terrbly wrong for a 26 year old man to shout those things to a 13 yr old, but I don't want to eat other's damn tripe over "daww just ignore it/daww he's young, dosen't know better". so is there a cut-off date for tastless or maybe even threats?
why is it ok for a "little kid" to say things but not me?

I'm sure we all have loads of first hand experances, hypotheitcals and the degredation of todays youth. Back when I was a little kid I played with plastic dinosaurs, not boys, but today little kids play with boys/girls and they are still pure little things, who run around and ask you if you wear thongs and condoms to school.

do you think more grains of salt should be taken to these topics or no? is it really wrong to make a heard of middle schoolers scream in terror with a small camcorder(in 4 years scarry hauted houses will contain phrases like "i'm putting your potty training pictures on myspace").

what do you guys think? have any stories to share? anyone offended that I don't think any "special angels' you know sholnd't be coddled like a starving orphan, just because they are stupid, rude rats?(but she's only 15!!!!!!)

*shrug*
we need some intersting topics anway.
in short, again, "does being a little kid equate age, intellegence or activities, is a little kid no longer little at 10 or when they start dating, so is a dating 10 year old a little kid?"
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few runes short of a set of 27

[Shad]

If the cutoff's when you start dating then I'm a "little kid" pushing 23. >_>

I've generally noticed that people start to really become aware of their level of maturity around the age of 14 or 15. I'd say 13 or younger, you're still a kid, not quite upgraded to a teenager. Obviously it varies from individual to individual, but 10-12 is definitely too young, especially in present day society. The examples you sited pretty well support me there. Were 'maturity' defined by the age where you start doing drugs and drinking and being sexually promiscuous, I hope my future kids stay immature little brats for eternity. Maturity is a mental state of awareness, not necessarily apparent in your direct actions.

The difference between a 12 year old and 15 year old running around making dick and fart jokes is the 12 year old does it to be cool and fit in and see astonished looks on adults' faces, without any recognition that he's being 'immature', while the 15 year old fully recognizes how immature it is and, should he choose to do it anyway, has probably at least made that conscious conclusion that 'this is immature, but I'm amused enough by it to do it anyway'.

[Ikano]

I think the term "little kid" is more of a thing of relativity depending on who uses it.

Like for my 70-ish year old grandmother...she still calls my mother "little" in a sense and even though biologically that may be correct (her being the younger sister of one older brother)...to me it still sounds like she's being called a "kid" ...in a sense....

If you ask what I personally think about it though....generally I tend to measure/label someone as being a kid if they seem to display a certain lack of either maturity or intelligence. Age nonwithstanding. That of course is also subject to ones personal judgement as I seem to notice that around where I live the younger generations seem to get more immature...at least in my eyes...yet apparently it seems fine to their parents (otherwise how could this behavior go unnoticed and unpunished by them?)

But putting that point aside...I also think another sign of being a "kid" is not reaching puberty. I mean...face it. Traditionally you aren't considered an adult unless you can biologically have kids of your own and as distorted as it is for some, puberty is when you reach that point.
However, this is just that, a traditional view and due to the fact that the age that one hits puberty seems to vary (especially I hear that more and more young people seem to be hitting it at a younger age nowadays due in part by some chemical environmental factors or something or other :? *doesn't remember the exact explanation* ) This is often forgotten or ignored...specially in terms of a general starting point.
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[Elc]

Technically, you stop being a "little kid" once you enter puberty but you are still considered a child until you reach the age of majority, which differs depending on what the state views as the age of majority.

[HarmonianHiccup]

I think all of this really varies from culture to culture. In some cultures the notion of "childhood" is even outside of the common understanding (see Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood).
The notion of what defines a little kid is changing and shrinking, and it's making the lines between acceptable and unacceptable behavior for age and position waver alarmingly.
There is the legal definition, a behavioral definition and a mental/understanding definition.

Someone who is of the age that most people may consider to be that of a child may behave in an "adult" (usually defined as either sexually active/suggestive or overly responsible) manner, while possessing the mental process and understanding of a child, or vice versa. It's very odd.

Now, if you were to ask my relatives at who's old enough to sit at the adult table, it's the married cousins, no matter their age. Never mind the 24 year old degree holding woman who's forced to the children's table because she hasn't yet encumbered herself with a husband. They see me as a child because I am single, and in their eyes I am no different than my vapid, empty-headed 17 year old cousins who can talk of nothing Orlando Bloom and make-up. :roll: One can see that this particular definition needs tweaking. (To be fair they figured out eventually that it made me really upset and rectified the situation, but the fact that it even happened really hurts.)

Anyway, I think I wandered a little off the topic...
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[kuwaizair]

[Yohn]

I'm not sure as I guess it really depends on the child. My younger sister doesn't pull that "defenseless little kid" card at all. She's 12 years old and is pretty much an exact carbon copy of me as far as general personality goes, hobbies, etc. (the one's she's legal for, anyway). However, my other sister (17) has some classmates who are whiny, cranky spoiled children who I don't manage to slow down for when I pick up my siblings from school. Guess it depends on how their parents raised them. :|
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"And as the lion slaughters man, I am the wolf and you're the lamb." ~Blind Guardian

[retrospect.]

Anyone born in the 90s. Seriously.
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