The Lowering of the Age of Majority and Its Effects on Education

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  • 18歳「成人」と教育の課題
  • 18サイ 「 セイジン 」 ト キョウイク ノ カダイ

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Abstract

<p> The voting age in Japan was lowered to 18 from 20 after the House of Councillors election held in July 2016. Debates regarding the age of majority will take place in the National Diet of Japan in 2017. By the 2020s, every Japanese 18-year-old will have the rights and duties of an adult. The age of majority is one of the important issues in matters relating to education, because education is the social function of bringing up children to adulthood. However, research on the definition and age of adulthood is scarce.</p><p> This paper first clarifies the concept of adulthood from the points of view of psychology, pedagogy, and folkloristics. A 15-year-old was widely recognized as an adult in medieval Japan. During the Meiji period, the conscription age was set at 20. In 1896, civil law defined the age of majority as 20 years. The Labour Standards Law and Child Welfare Law, enacted after the Second World War, defined the age of adulthood as 18. As of now, there are two different standards as to the age of adulthood: 18 years and 20 years of age.</p><p> Further, there are two difficulties when we attempt to define the age of adulthood. First, the period of transition from childhood to adulthood has become prolonged. Girls and boys become physically mature in their early teens. However, in modern Japan social recognition of adulthood occurs in the late 20s or even the early 30s. Second, because of the phenomenon of the ‘moratorium’, it is almost impossible to define “reaching adulthood” from the points of view of psychology and pedagogy.</p><p> Next, I investigate the cases of Britain and Japan with regard to the lowering of the age of majority. In Europe and U.S.A., this debate commenced in the late 1960s, when young people protested various political issues in their countries. By the early 1970s, Western societies had accepted 18 as the age of adulthood. Japan started the debate around the year 2000, when 90% of countries had accepted 18 as the age of adulthood.</p><p> Thirdly, I propose a curriculum for citizenship education in view of the lowering of the voting age. Citizenship education in Japan has been offered mainly as part of the subject of social studies. Citizenship education so far has focused on knowledge of democracy, failing to provide skills or form attitudes. Citizenship education in the new era should promote the participation of students through participatory learning. The ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)- Development Education Curriculum (2010) and ‘Citizenship Education Handbook’ (2016) are examples of participatory citizenship education. Two cases in citizenship education in the field of youthwork will be introduced: the Mini-Munich in Germany and the YMCA Global Citizenship Program in Japan.</p><p> Finally, I discuss the effects of the lowering of the age of majority on secondary education. Since 20 has been considered the age of adulthood, high schools are currently not prepared for teaching the curriculum of citizenship education; the oldest high school students are 18. Therefore, not only reorganizing the curriculum of high schools, but changing attitudes on the part of teachers will be required.</p>

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