Youth is the time of life between
childhoodChildhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
and
adultAn adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
hood (
maturityMaturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one's age...
). Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.
Discussion
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It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised and wounded.
W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage (1915)
Youth are diamonds in the sun, diamonds are for ever.
Alphaville (band)|Alphaville, Forever Young (Alphaville song)|Forever Young (1984).
YOUTH: The too-brief span wherein the human chassis is factory-fresh, undented and free of corrosion; a pristine condition worshiped by menopausal women in sweatsuits and shrinking men with chestnut-brown toupees, while those who actually possess it are frequently too shallow or despondent to enjoy it.
Rick Bayan|Rick Bayan, The Cynic's Dictionary, 1994.
Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young... and I seem to have forgotten lately.
Dumbledore in Harry Potter|Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.
Dumbledore in Harry Potter|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
The greatest part of mankind employ their first years to make their last miserable.
Jean de La Bruyère, p. 623.
Use thy youth so that thou mayest have comfort to remember it when it hath forsaken thee, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof. Use it as the spring-time which soon departeth, and wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life.
Sir Walter Raleigh, p. 623.
Youth is the time of life between
childhoodChildhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
and
adultAn adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
hood (
maturityMaturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one's age...
). Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.
Usage
Around the world, the terms "youth", "adolescent", "teenager", "kid", and "young person" are interchanged, often meaning the same thing, occasionally differentiated. Youth generally refers to a time of life that is neither
childhoodChildhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
nor adulthood, but rather somewhere in-between. Youth also identifies a particular mindset of attitude, as in "He is very
youthful". The term youth is also related to being young.
- "This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease." - Robert Kennedy
Youth is an alternative word to the scientifically-oriented adolescent and the common terms of teen and teenager. Another common title for youth is young person or young people.
12 August is declared International Youth Day by The United Nations.
Age limits
The age in which a person is considered a "youth", and thus eligible for special treatment under the law and throughout society varies around the world.
- "Youth... those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years." - United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
- "...youth ... comprises persons between the age of 15 and 24. It is used by ... the World Bank" - World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
.
- The Commonwealth Youth Programme
The Commonwealth Youth Programme, also known as CYP, is an international development agency working with young people between the ages of 15 and 29. Part of the Commonwealth Secretariat, CYP is active in the Commonwealth's 54 member countries...
works with "young people (aged 15-29)."
- "A person... under 21 years of age." - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
- "People between the ages of 14 and 21." - Wilson School District
The Wilson School District is home to over 5700 students from several communities and 1099 faculty/staff members...
- "Youth; an individual from 13 through 19 years of age." - Alternative Homes for Youth, Inc
- "Youth is defined as any member of society between the ages of 15 and 34" - The Danish Youth Council
- "30 seats are being reserved in the [moroccan Parliamentary Elections], for young Moroccans (under 40)."
External links