Cultural Differences in age.

      There are several differences in cultural between German and American. Some of these differences are shown in the age requirements laws that both countries have in place. The laws in the US are much more stricture then in Germany.

      In Germany kids are allowed to start working at age 13 if they have their parents permission. This is different then in the US because they don't really work at 13 but they do have jobs such as babysitting, mowing lawns, or other odd jobs like these. I believe this helps the German kids mature faster because they actually have to do work like adults do instead of little odd jobs.
      At the age of 14 in Germany, if you are accompanied by a parent you are allowed to drink wine in a restaurant. Then at the age of 16 you are able to drink a beer or wine if with a parent at a restaurant and finally at the age 18 it is okay to drink any alcohol without your parents permission. That is all very different then the US. In the US you are not allowed to have any alcohol before the age of 21 no matter if parents give you permission. I think the Germans can get away with younger ages with drinking because there culture forces there youth to mature a lot faster then the US's culture does.
     Other things that you are allowed to do in Germany with you parents permission is at the age of 16 you are able to get married as long as your spouse if over 18 and you are also able to move out of the house. These are way different then in the US, in the US you are both not allowed to move out or get married until you are 18. It doesn't matter if your parents say so or not, it is illegal to do both if you are under age. The only think actually that Americans are allowed to do younger then the Germans is drive/ get your license. The age in the US is 16 and the age in Germany is 17. I think one of the reasons for this is in Germany there is no real need to actually have your license because everything is easier to get to by foot, they have a way better public transportation system, and the roads aren't has wide as the US's roads so it is better for kids to wait. Also, both the Germans and the Americans are able to use and buy tobacco products at 18. This might seem weird that the Germans get to drink at the age or even before if they have permission as the age of tobacco use but if you think about it tobacco wasn't as important to German as it was to the US in the countries growth.
     The US has a lot stricter age requirements for the youth then the Germans do. I think that is because of the Germans having younger age requirements on things, it makes it more likely for their youth to mature faster so when they are actually 18 they are really adults and have years of experience becoming older. Where as the American youth aren't truly adults when they turn 18 because they still have to wait to be 21 to drink and also the gain all of their privileges around the same time as being 18 so they don't really have the experience of the Germans because the Germans already had those privileges sooner.