Rosen cites a number of other things that we don’t let teenagers and younger kids do:driving, voting, drinking and smoking (at least in public), and enlisting in the military.There are various specific reasons for each of these bans, but at bottom, they all amount to the same thing: lack of judgmental maturity, specifically a virtue called prudence.
This is not to say that there are no prudent 10-year-olds. But the classical virtue of prudence involves a mature measure of reasoned self-discipline. Our intuitive sense that younger people, especially teenagers, are on average less able to impose discipline on their powerful desires is confirmed by neurological studies of the brains of teenagers and adults that were observed in the lab while the subjects made decisions.
Fair points are raised, but the younger generation has a way with technology. What would be better is if we can offer the next generation a better future since, at present, there is not alot to be hopeful about.