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[FrankMcFuzz]

So, adult age has moved to 18+. I have a fort with an 18 year old child in my fort so I don't know the exact number.

Make children become a teenager or apprentice at 12. They can work, practice a craft, maybe start military training (Steam might not like child soldiers lol), and do everything except procreate, for obvious reasons.

Very few forts are going to last/be played for 18+ years. That means any child born, or child migrants, are gonna always be that red little nuisance.
As with anything DF, this suggestion might already be in the pipeline. Just thought I'd mention it anyway. Teens start training for work, so thought it was a good idea to offset the working age moved back.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Agree with this. Once the apprentice system is introduced hopefully we can see something.

Although I think the whole thing needs to be replaced (eventually) by something a bit more granular. Son of a blacksmith is conceivably building skills helping out dad from the age of 6 or 7, slacker noble lad won't get off his ass until 26 or so (if then...). Colony of 12 dwarves with no prospect of additional members are not gonna wait until a dwarves 18th birthday to put them to work, etc. That and, do all the races really mature at the same rate? At what age can you become a broker? A soldier? A messenger?

"Can't do anything but haul until 18" seems to be a somewhat extreme wrong side of the balance.

[FantasticDorf]

Ah, can't wait long enough to see the lord of the flies fortmode-start scenario when 7 apprentices are left on a embark by themselves. 

Chores already cover labor, but children AI has a certain identity issue that a 14 or 17 year old playing with wooden toys looks very immature because it was pretty much already made for 10-12 year olds. Being free of most *most* labors means they have a lot more time to form relationships and make childhood sweethearts/enemies and the like so even if apprentices can procreate, im sure it could be made to wait or done more rigidly by editing them to value marriage by betrothing them to each other until they're adults.

I don't personally have a issue with the idea of apprentices taking lovers but how it looks to steam or international censors should be took into account, same as having romantic relationships even if there's a gap of 1 - 3 years when one dwarf becomes a adult before a apprentice does could get very awkward unless they're defined as full young adults, or not at all.

[armeggedonCounselor]

I definitely agree with this one. A new stage between child and adulthood would help with the feeling that it takes too long for dwarfs to become adults, and would prevent the weirdness of seeing a 15-17 year old still playing with toys like a 5 or 6 year old would. Plus it gives us a way to make sure they're useful for something once they are adults.

Apprenticeship could be attached to the guilds, giving something back in exchange for all the effort put into making their fancy guildhalls.