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I wasn't referencing anyone or anything other than my own experience of growing up and being that age at one time. As you can see from my post, I said that, personally, I think that 16 is closer to the mark of the onset of adulthood than 18. I wasn't speaking authoritatively or scientifically on this, and I don't think that anyone legitimately can. I don't believe that these things can be determined with any kind of scientific precision because psychology is not a hard enough science. Nor is "growing up" a precise enough concept to allow for a clear determination. Beyond 15 or so, I believe any line that is to be drawn between adolescence and adulthood is bound to be arbitrary.
Speaking for myself, there are many ways in which I, at age 33, still haven't grown up past 14 or 15. Maybe I don't have enough myelin, or something. However, generally speaking, 16 was about the time when I found myself able to grasp the principles and perspective that I would need to function as an adult, and to apply this to my life and my decisions. Regarding sexual consent, I am not alone in thinking this way. Most of the rest of the world, including most of first world, puts the age of consent at around 16.
No, I don't have any kids, male or female, but I don't buy your broad generalization about all teenage girls being cluelessly romantic and looking for love in all the wrong places. All teenagers are certainly in the early stages of coming to know themselves, but I don't believe that that makes them all clueless - and it certainly doesn't make them all romantic.
All of that being said, I still haven't made up my mind with regard to whether I think that that arbitrary line should be drawn at 16 or 18. I do believe that, by age 18, most people have already been adults for a few years. However, I can see how a 2 year extension on adolescence may be valuable in terms of providing a safe space for the kind of self discovery that, as I mentioned above, teenagers are only in the early stages of. However, I wouldn't push it any further than that.
