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Turning 18 is a milestone for any young adult, from gaining legal rights and responsibilities to feeling a newfound sense of freedom and maturity. While it's an exciting time in any person's life, it's important to understand exactly what factors change when you turn 18 in order to establish yourself as a respected and valuable member of your community. From purchasing fireworks to registering to vote, here's what you can legally do when you're 18:

What Can You Do At 18 Legally?

If you're nearing the age of 18, you have likely seen the meme circulating on social media that says "don't grow up, it's a trap." Maybe you rolled your eyes or became overcome with fear - but either way, adulthood is inevitable. And while most 18-year-olds in the United States still live with their parents, they are legally allowed to do many new things upon entering adulthood. It is important to keep in mind that the responsibilities and consequences of being 18 are much more severe than they were as a minor. You are legally responsible for all of your actions, assets, and decisions. Cheers to 18 years!

1. Vote.

The 26th amendment to the Constitution, enacted on July 1, 1971, established the legal voting age for Americans as 18. You can vote in all national and local elections once you are registered to vote.

2. Join the military.

As a legal adult, you can enlist or be drafted into a branch of the military.

3. Donate blood and become an organ donor.

To help save the lives of others, you can register to donate blood, as well as become an organ donor.

4. Work full time.

As a minor, you were only allowed to work a certain about of hours at your job because of child labor laws. But as a legal adult, you can work full-time and overtime.

5. Play the lottery.

From scratch-off tickets to the Powerball, anyone 18 and older can play the lottery.

6. Obtain special driving permits.

If you work for a company that has heavy equipment or provides transportation services that require special driving permits; you can now train for and acquire a special driving license.

7. Purchase and use tobacco products (in some states).

The legal age to buy tobacco products has recently changed from 18 to 21 in some states across the US, but the majority of states have kept it at 18 years old. States that have changed the age to 21 include Hawaii, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, Massachusetts, as well as 350 cities.

8. Drive late at night.

Most states have a legal curfew for minors when it comes to the time they are able to be out driving at night. If pulled over past a certain hour, a person under 18 would receive a traffic violation.

9. Consent to having sex with someone that is 18 or older.

The federal government has established 18 as the age of consent to legally engage in sexual activities with another person aged 18 or older. The age of consent may be younger or older according to your state's law.

10. Establish a checking and savings account and apply for loans.

Having a job may be a requirement for loan approvals.

11. Apply for credit cards and establish your creditworthiness by paying your bills on time.

Credit card companies are known to target the younger crowd. You can apply for your first credit card without a cosigner once you turn 18.

12. Get piercings or tattoos without parents permission.

Before eighteen, you have to have a parent accompany you when you go to get a tattoo or piercing.

13. Change your birth name.

If you aren't happy with the name your mom and dad gave you when you were born, you can now name yourself something different by filing a petition in the local civil court.

14. File a lawsuit.

Anyone who is 18 years or older and mentally competent can file a lawsuit.

15. Get married.

When you turn 18, you can get married without parental approval in 48 of the 50 states. Mississippi requires you to be 21, and Nebraska requires you to be 19 before you can get married without parental consent.

16. Adopt.

Legally, you can adopt both a puppy and a child when you turn 18. Your likelihood of getting approved for either, however, is another story.

17. Create your Will.

While it seems like a far stretch, it's a great idea to develop a Will earlier in life to ensure your assets are accounted for if anything were to happen to you.

18. Buy spray paint, fireworks, and adult videos.

For obvious reasons (graffiti, safety, etc.), there are certain items you cannot buy until you turn 18 years old.

19. Purchase a house and a vehicle.

Now that you can apply for a loan and work full-time, you can also purchase more expensive investments like land, a home, or a vehicle.

20. Move out of your parents' home.

Unless you apply for emancipation, you are legally supposed to be living at home with your parents until you are of age to move out.

Responsibilities of Turning 18

1. If you are a male, you are required to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18. According to the law, www.sss.gov/default.htm, you can be prosecuted if you do not register. If convicted, you can be fined up to $250,000 and/or spend up to five years in jail.

2. As a legal adult, you are now responsible for your actions. If you violate any law, you will be charged as an adult.

3. You can be selected for jury duty.

4. You are legally obligated to pay all debts you incur.

What's still restricted when you turn 18?

While turning 18 comes with many new opportunities, rights, and responsibilities, there are a few restrictions that have yet to be lifted, like purchasing and drinking alcohol (21 years old), purchasing tobacco products in some states (21 years old), going to a casino (21 years old), and renting a vehicle ( 20 to 25 years old).

For more details on your rights and responsibilities as a legal adult, check out additional information on Privileges of Turning 18.

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Turning 18 is a milestone for any young adult, from gaining legal rights and responsibilities to feeling a newfound sense of freedom and maturity. While it's an exciting time in any person's life, it's important to understand exactly what factors change when you turn 18 in order to establish yourself as a respected and valuable member of your community.

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In the article the author talks about the things about becoming an 18 year old and showing the responsibilities of this and what comes with it .There are many different things you can do when 18 for an examle you can move out of your parents house ,adopt someone ,vote ,work full time ,drive late at night in some states because in your state you might not have a curfew .Doing these things come with alot of resposibility and consequences you are responsible for you and all the actions you do that revolve around on becoming 18 ."As a legal adult, you are now responsible for your." actions. If you violate any law, you will be charged as an adult.

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In the story about becoming 18 even though there is plenty of new things you can do there are things that you still cant do ,just because your 18 doesnt mean you have acsess to everything that someone else older might do ,for an example you still cant ¨ purchasing and drinking alcohol (21 years old), purchasing tobacco products in some states (21 years old), going to a casino (21 years old), and renting a vehicle (20 to 25 years old).¨

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In the story called ¨The in-between age¨ talks about the struggles and the lives of what happend when your in an in between age .It starts off as psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett interveiwing with asking them questions about what they want out of life.Each person does have a different answer but they all talk and say ¨The in-between age .¨I think this article is good and shows the struggles .It does link to Dear Martin  because he is at an ¨in-between age ¨."Arnett's research shows that emerging adults want a lot out of life--a job that's well-paid and personally meaningful and a lasting bond with a partner. Many might be headed for disappointment, he says, noting that most employers simply want someone who can get a job done and almost half of all marriages end in divorce.Arnett's research shows that emerging adults want a lot out of life--a job that's well-paid and personally meaningful and a lasting bond with a partner. Many might be headed for disappointment, he says, noting that most employers simply want someone who can get a job done and almost half of all marriages end in divorce.","Another marker of emerging adulthood is heterogeneity, says Arnett, in terms of the sheer multitude of paths young people can take and their widely varying levels of success."

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Starting in 1995, psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, PhD, interviewed 300 young people ages 18 to 29 in cities around the nation over five years, asking them questions about what they wanted out of life.

Despite stark differences in their social backgrounds and likely economic prospects, Arnett was struck by the similar answers he heard from his young respondents.

They shared a perception of "feeling in between"--knowing they were pulling clear of the struggles of adolescence and starting to feel responsible for themselves, but still closely tied to their parents and family.

They also reported pondering their personal identity, a theme that surprised Arnett, who thought most would have settled that question as adolescents.

Working from those interviews and examining broad demographic indicators, Arnett proposed a new period of life-span development he calls "emerging adulthood."

Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University currently teaching as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, coined the term in his book "Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From the Late Teens Though the Twenties" (Oxford University Press, 2004).

He describes emerging adulthood as the time from the end of adolescence to the young-adult responsibilities of a stable job, marriage and parenthood and has made it the subject of a new APA book, "Emerging Adults in America: Coming of Age in the 21st Century," co-edited with Jennifer Lynn Tanner, PhD.

The book claims the phenomenon has only arisen in the past few decades in the United States in response to social and economic changes, and it urges continuing scholarship examining the nature of life and paths of development for emerging adults.
Five features of emerging adults
As Arnett describes it, emerging adulthood can be defined as an:

Age of identity exploration. Young people are deciding who they are and what they want out of work, school and love.

Age of instability. The post-high school years are marked by repeated residence changes, as young people either go to college or live with friends or a romantic partner. For most, frequent moves end as families and careers are established in the 30s.

Age of self-focus. Freed of the parent- and society-directed routine of school, young people try to decide what they want to do, where they want to go and who they want to be with--before those choices get limited by the constraints of marriage, children and a career.

Age of feeling in between. Many emerging adults say they are taking responsibility for themselves, but still do not completely feel like an adult.

Age of possibilities. Optimism reigns. Most emerging adults believe they have good chances of living "better than their parents did," and even if their parents divorced, they believe they'll find a lifelong soul mate.

Arnett's research shows that emerging adults want a lot out of life--a job that's well-paid and personally meaningful and a lasting bond with a partner. Many might be headed for disappointment, he says, noting that most employers simply want someone who can get a job done and almost half of all marriages end in divorce.

"If happiness is the difference between what you expect out of life and what you actually get, a lot of emerging adults are setting themselves up for unhappiness because they expect so much," he says.
Larger trends at work
Arnett says emerging adulthood is tied to larger historical social trends in American society, noting that 50 years ago, the median age for marriage was 22 for men and 20 for women.

Now, the median age for marriage has climbed past 28 for men and edged above 24 for women.

One reason young people marry later is that a much larger percentage of young people attend some form of college, creating a longer transition time between adolescence and adulthood, Arnett says.

Before 1944 and the passage of the GI Bill of Rights for returning World War II veterans, only a small percentage of high school graduates went to college, an educational experience mainly reserved for men. Now, a majority of young people get some college experience in one form or another, whether it's a four-year residential school or a community college.

Moreover, women now make up a majority of college undergraduates, and many want to build a career before they marry and have children, Arnett says. The development of the birth control pill helped drive the change, Arnett says. Decades ago, young people got married rather then face the risks of pregnancy outside marriage. Now, sexual relationships outside of marriage are accepted as natural by many people.
Some prosper; some struggle
Another marker of emerging adulthood is heterogeneity, says Arnett, in terms of the sheer multitude of paths young people can take and their widely varying levels of success.

Given some emerging adults' struggles, Arnett sees the need for greatly expanded societal efforts to help them navigate the transition into careers and family. He believes such efforts would pay off, given the self-awareness people develop in their 20s and their willingness to change.

"If you provide them with resources, they're much more likely to say, 'How can I improve my life?'" Arnett says.

He hopes the book and other efforts, such as the future development of a society for studying emerging adulthood, will build a community of scholars devoted to studying the period of development. Arnett and fellow scholars currently discuss ideas through the Emerging Adulthood Special Interest Group, established through the Society for Research on Adolescence.

The group organized two academic conferences exploring aspects of emerging adulthood and a third is planned for February 2007 in Tucson, Arizona.

The question of why some emerging adults do well, why some struggle and what can be done to help more make a successful transition is taken up by several book contributors.

Tanner, co-editor of the APA book and an assistant research professor in the School of Social Work at Simmons College, argues that the heterogeneity Arnett cites can be explained by the foundation laid in childhood and adolescence.

As she describes it, how well an adolescent makes the transition through young adulthood into adulthood and becomes a fully independent person depends in large part on the right balance of the adolescent pushing for independence and parents and society giving the correct amount of support--not pushing too hard or holding back too much, she says.

Many emerging adults who face problems becoming independent have faced past challenges meeting developmental tasks for one reason or another, she says.

"There are enormous costs to young people who are not equipped to 'plug in' to adult roles and responsibilities," Tanner says.

Jean S. Phinney, PhD, a psychology professor at California State University, Los Angeles, writes on emerging adulthood's different features in ethnic-minority groups. Both for cultural and economic reasons, many young people from ethnic-minority groups tend to take on adult responsibilities earlier, contributing to the family income and taking care of siblings, sometimes at the cost of slowing down their own schooling, Phinney says.

During emerging adulthood, ethnic minorities have to deal with the larger culture and figure out their own identity in the context of the larger society. For children of immigrants, that can be especially challenging, she says.

"I think it can be harder for minorities who come from a culture where the expectations of what you should do are very strong," she says.

Another book contributor, Stephen F. Hamilton, PhD, a professor of human development at Cornell University, focuses on young people who can't afford college or who don't move into vocational programs. Many in that group languish in the low-paid jobs of the secondary labor market, bouncing from one low-skilled, dead-end job to another, Hamilton says.

"They end up doing this work their whole lives," he says.

Hamilton thinks there's a missing institution in American life--one devoted to helping young people join the primary labor market of decently paid jobs with benefits and a chance for advancement.

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A new book makes the case for a phase of development between adolescence and adulthood.

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In the NPR recording ¨Brian maturity extends well beyond the teen years ¨the speaker Sandra Aamodt ,a neuroscientist beleives that maturity in adults happens after the age of 18 closer to the age of 25 .
¨So the changes that happen between 18 and 25 are a continuation of the process that starts between puberty ,and 18 year olds are about half way through that process .Their prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed .Thats the part of the brain that helps you to inhibit impulses and to plan and organize your behavior to reach a goal ¨(Aomodt )
¨For instance ,a 20 year old is 50 percent more likely to do something risky if two friends are watching than if hes alone ¨(Aomodt)
I agree with this article because I feel like this does support the different ways your brain will mature .
Yes this article links the novel Dear Martin because while Justyce was young he still made poor choices because his brain isnt fully developed .