Previous

Next

Ask a Question

Summary of Question:	Age Of Adulthood?
Category:	General Q's from Non-Sikhs
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 12/08/2004 8:00 AM MST

What age do you become an adult?

**********
reply
************
Sat Nam. To my knowledge, Sikhs don't have a particular age that a youth is considered an adult. That is defined by the larger culture.(Some Sikhs might consider that if one is Amritdhari (baptized), one is considered an adult, but that is questionable, considering that some parents have their babies baptized, and some children baptize at age 5 or 6. These are still children after they are baptized.)
Guru ang sang,
-DKK
(REPLY) Sat Nam. Additional comment: Yes, according to law in the United States, a person becomes an adult at the age of 18 (no matter what religion they follow). In the Jewish tradition, a boy or girl is considered an adult at the age of 13. In a broader sense, one might say that a person becomes an adult when they take on adult responsibilities. It is usually a gradual process, as one matures. When you consider the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, who gave their lives to uphold their faith at a very young age, they were nominally "children" -- yet they took conscious responsibility for their actions. SP