> Looking back, I was pretty much not where I should have been at age 18 either.
I offer no conclusion and intend no oblique subtext, but is it not equally valid to suggest that, historically, we have expected too much of eighteen year olds? Particularly since we now know human brains don't usually "set" until the mid to late twenties.
Both sets of my grandparents were adults by 16. One set were starving Dust Bowl refugees who their parents could afford to feed (think modern day Somalia). The other had terrible foster and actual parents they had to escape.
When times are easy and in the absence of challenges, people people rarely mature as quickly or develop grit.
Regardless of reasons, there appears to be a huge deficit of "growing up" in a large fraction of modern 18 year olds.
Looking back, I was pretty much not where I should have been at age 18 either.