There is a positive correlation between maturity and age but that does not necessarily translate to it being dependant on biological factors only. It can also consist of an individual’s intellect, emotions, and relationality. With this being said we essentially stunt an individual’s maturity by restricting free speech and free thought in universities and colleges. The age from which we enter college is typically the “period of storm and stress” since we attempt to find an identity and develop upon it which is shown through “empirical evidence that important develop- mental changes within the brain occur throughout adolescence and into young adulthood” (Iselin, Anne-Marie R., et at, 455).
Restrictions on students speech can stagnate the growth in what maturity consists of since during that time we develop self-identification. College students crave for emotional support, relationality, intellect, encouragement and support from their supervisors, people they look up upon, peers, and parents. If they are successful in encouraging the students then they will develop a sense of self or identity otherwise they can suffer from identity confusion which will lead to a decline in their maturity development.
During adolescence, as shown in the eight stages of development in psychology, they grow towards developing their own individual relationality based upon who they surround ourselves with and whether it is controlled or set upon the student. The single independent person builds up their own personal identification around that time in order to lead up into adulthood in which they would take a firmer standing within a society by gaining the role that they will eventually occupy as an adult and “During this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.” (Erikson, “Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development”). With that being said in order to find who they are they must typically socialize and place themselves among the right groups. The best way for them to find themselves so they can connect with others is essentially through free thought and free speech.
They would be able to identify themselves in whichever manner they pick and surround themselves amongst whichever peers they have a relational relationship with that will positively impact them. By restricting speech and thought it essentially causes the individual to have a difficult time connecting with others or finding which clique they belong leaving them with a sense of uncertainty and according to Erikson “Those who don’t receive positive reinforcement end up with more insecurity and remain confused about themselves and their future” (Walden University, “Master of Science in Education Insight: Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development.”). If they were to remain lost they essentially cannot advance themselves and become mature since they feel no sense of real relation between them and whom they talk to. To develop this further the reason behind them finding no real relation is because their thoughts will be derived from someone who is narrow-minded since they have no insights of others ideas leaving them narrow-minded too.
If they have no insights of other individual’s thoughts they will feel isolated with their own thoughts that they cannot express freely in order to have real connections between them and those who surround them. Universities exist in order to help students become educated and practically advance themselves to prepare them for their adulthood. It is an area where ideas can challenge each other making it a vital tool for expanding our knowledge but this “cannot happen properly when students or faculty members fear punishment for expressing views that might be unpopular with the public at large or disfavored by university administrators” (FIRE, “Campus Rights”). The First Amendment which states that Congress cannot “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech” and the Fourteenth Amendment extending it to public university campuses allows for students to clearly express themselves and articulate their ideas without being in fear of legal sanction (LII Staff, “First Amendment”).
Even with the First Amendment in place, students fear that they will receive punishments for merely expressing their views upon social settings when in reality it is a place where freedom of speech should be mostly expressed. People go to college in order to expand their knowledge and become the future problem solvers not have “speech codes dictating what may or may not be said, [and] “free speech zones” [that confine] college free speech to tiny areas of campus” (FIRE, “Campus Rights”). The interaction between student to student allows them to challenge and push for enlarging their knowledge to grow intellectually mature. One of the best ways to expand a person’s knowledge would be through speech and how a person expresses themselves. If they are afraid that what they think is wrong it will only stagnate their growth in becoming intellectually mature since they will be restricted to not only minimal word choices to avoid becoming offensive but, they will not be able to have interactions where they will express or hear opinions to allow them to expand their understanding on other individuals and themselves so they can react properly and say the right things with the correct vocabulary word choice since “General characteristics of the curves of growth for most intellectual abilities [such as maturity] resemble the growth curve for vocabulary” (Wechsler, 48).
As seen in the article “Maturity in Adolescent and Young Adult Offenders The Role of Cognitive Control” it states that “There is an opportunity during adolescence to move into positive adult roles, while at the same time there are potential vulnerabilities that may cause developmental trajectories to take adverse paths [for] adolescents to develop either prosocially or antisocially” (Iselin, Anne-Marie R., et al, 455). This article is essentially talking about how there are certain factors that develop people to become mature. Certain things can hinder development or create antisocial people who devoid sociable instincts which might leave them emotionally distraught. If they grow up antisocial it will lead to having adults that prefer jobs that do not require interactions amongst them and others. They will feel no synergy between people leaving them no space for emotional maturity. In order to grow up emotionally, you must be understanding of the feelings of others. By limit speech leaving college students in fear of expression then that would stunt space for growth in the social department. For emotional maturity to develop they must learn to handle a situation without escalating it or to search for another individual to blame about their own issues and behaviors. They would fix their own problems and be accountable for their own actions that took place.
By expressing how they feel about something publicly they would develop a sense of independence instead of relying on others to handle the problem they use their own obligations to express their own emotions allowing them to learn how to handle a situation. Expression gives them the ability for interaction between those who might have the same issues and chance for improvement since they would converse and explain how they handled that situation. Having multiple viewpoints can allow for different perspectives and expansion on an emotional aspect between students. Maturity is based on a behavioral factor. What that means is that how you are acting correlates to your level of maturity. Ruth E. Eckert said that maturity is in “relation to chronological age and social adjustment” (478). A majority of college students start at the age of 18 where they are considered adults.
