To "kid" or not to "kid"...

I often find stories like this amusing. The media are quick enough to consider someone a "kid" when it suits their purposes. Kids killed because of alcohol. Our kids killed in Iraq. Kids killed in shooting. All the while ignoring the fact that these "kids" are 18 and able to make a very many of their own decisions. The flip side is a real "kid" of 12 or 13 or 15 is expected to be old enough and mature enough to make a decision about having an abortion on her own.