Eternal childhood | Power Line

The headline from KTLA-5 TV,

California bill could keep some teens in the back seat until 16.

The article doesn’t quite back up the headline, but it conveys the gist of the thing. America’s most progressive state wants to further delay the onset of adolescence by pushing back the date when a child can sit in the front passenger seat, like a big boy.

KTLA quotes the state Assemblywoman sponsoring the bill, which has now advanced out of committee,

“God forbid something happens; we want our children to be safe,” Wilson told the committee.

There are an infinite number of measures that government could take that would lead to incremental safety improvements, and eventually to a life never lived. The five-step test included in the bill could, in theory, keep shorter teens in the back seat until they qualify to sit behind the steering wheel.

The same lawmakers that introduce bills like this (AB 435) are the same ones that want to give those at age 16 the right to vote. But in every other aspect, they move society in the other direction.

Childhood is being delayed into adolescence, and adolescence into young adulthood. We’ve reached the point where people are nearing the front end of what used to be considered middle-aged and they are still back at the starting line.

But, we call it “progress.”