The age that adulthood begins is foggy and unclassified. Does it start when a person becomes legally able to operate a vehicle? Does it begin when someone turns 18, emerging from the label of a minor? Or is it when a person hits the ripe age of 21? The answer is individualistic.

We, the youth, decide when to start acting like adults.

That is the problem. My generation, the Millennials, have embodied the fictional character of the boy who never grew up. It wasn’t until recently that I saw this connection between my peers and this character. I came across an article written by Fox News titled, “A nation of Peter Pans: We have created a country filled with perpetual children.” I didn’t read it because I wanted to formulate my own theory.

Even music artist Ruth B captured the essence of this phenomenon in her new song, "Lost Boy."

"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."

“Peter Pan Syndrome,” as they call it, stems from a childhood lacking discipline. Unfortunately, my generation was raised during the self-esteem movement in the 1990s. This time was the stem of the idea of giving every kid on the soccer team a trophy, hoping that boosting the self-esteem in children would lead to confident teens and adults.

While the thought was genuine, the Baby Boomers created something else: the child who believed that everything in life was easily attainable. In college, I see this played out so often, like when someone doesn’t get an A on a test or get into the program that they applied for. Today’s Peter Pans feel entitled, which leads to a spiral downhill fall.

I remember my grandparents and great grandparents talking about their summer jobs. Even my parents' generation, Baby Boomers, can reminisce about their first job bagging groceries, filing papers and cleaning offices. It was common for past generations to work at the age of 13, now you have to have a permit to work between the ages of 14 and 17.

Many of my friends work, but there are still numerous young people who still have never held a job. In fact, their first job will be the one that they secure after college. Sorry Baby Boomers, but once again Millennials have been aided (and hindered) in the process of never growing up by being allowed to stay on their parents’ payroll.

Next comes the growing statistic of men and women ages 18 to 34 who are “more likely to be living with their parents than living on their own or in any other living situation.” This quote is the sum result of the two points above. Throw together a belief in entitlement and a lack of work experience, and boom, you have yourself absolutely nothing.

So here are the Peter Pans of my generation, looking back nostalgically at their summers of sleep and leisure, and their college years of arguing with teachers and partying at night, all from their couch in their parents' house.

This scenario is a little dramatic but completely realistic. Millennials are smart, edgy and sophisticated, with the world at their fingertips (literally). We can do so much more than generate new statistics and be in a classification with a storybook character. Sure, growing up is scary and hard, but we are the future CEOs, presidents, congressmen, parents and teachers. It is time we start acting like it.