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Is the Term Youth Just a Social Construction?

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Submitted By charlotte992
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‘The term youth is just a social construction’ – Evaluate the arguments for and against this claim.
To begin with, youths are considered as people between the ages of 15 and 25. The definition of social construction is ‘something that is created by society. It exists because most people agree to behave as if it follows certain conventional rules’ a worldwide example of this would be the use of money and bank notes, which are only worth anything because society has agreed to treat them as valuable thus, it is a social construction. The same could be the said for youths, which are only portrayed in a certain way because society has agreed to treat them as vulnerable.
To begin with, there are many ways we construct children and youth, not only today, but in the past. The only difference between then and now is that presently our youth are being moulded into a growing problem. Not only are youths becoming more money driven, they are becoming more sexual at an earlier age, and also more criminally driven as compared to some findings in the past
I did some personal research to support my argument against this claim, and my grandmother informed me that up until 1969, the voting age was 21 and you needed permission to get married if you were under 21 however, after 1969 anyone who became 18 was legally classed as an adult so what is the point of calling someone a youth (15-25) if they have the same rights as a fully fledged adult at 18? If you are legally an adult, why are you classed as a youth until the age of 25?
In the Oxford dictionary, the definition of youth is –
‘The period between childhood and adult age'

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