Why Is It So Difficult to Draw a Legal Boundary

question 31

Multiple Choice

Why is it so difficult to draw a legal boundary between when someone should be treated like a child and when someone is ready to be treated like an adult?

• A) Development can be rapid and varies widely between individuals.
• B) It is difficult to predict when individuals will go through puberty.
• C) These laws have been in place for hundreds of years and they are difficult to change.
• D) Most adolescents look older than they feel.

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Definitions:

Posterior Pituitary

An extension of the brain located at the base of the skull responsible for the secretion of hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin.

Metanephros

Most caudally located of the three excretory organs appearing during embryonic development; becomes the permanent kidney of mammals. In mammalian embryos, it is formed caudal to the mesonephros and develops later as the mesonephros undergoes regression.

Pronephros

In the embryos of higher vertebrates, a series of tubules emptying into the celomic cavity. It is a temporary structure in the human embryo, followed by the mesonephros and still later by the metanephros, which gives rise to the kidney.

Mesonephros

A temporary kidney structure found during the embryonic development of mammals, later replaced by the permanent kidneys.