nonage

nonage

\ NON-ij; NOH-nij \  , noun;

1.The time of life before a person becomes legally of age.

2.A period of youth or immaturity.

In the United States a child legally exits a period of nonage at the age of eighteen, although there is not much of a celebration or rite of passage during this period. You might go buy a lottery ticket and a pack of cigarettes and move on with your life. Other cultures, however, slightly differ. The Massai Warriors' (of Kenya) rite of passage consists of hunting a fully grown, male lion with nothing but a spear. The Aborigines of Australia send their boys into the Australian Outback for six months without any aid. 

On my 18th birthday I stood outside of a gas station and tried to get someone to buy me beer. God I love living in a civilized country.