SpongeBob is an Adult
I'm so sick and tired of people trying to say that SpongeBob is a child or that he was 13 when he was hired at the Krusty Krab. I swear does anyone actually watch the show? Look no further than Season 3, Episode 3: The Bully.
Mrs. Puff would NOT be his teacher if he was a child. He is a grown ass man who can't pass the driver's test. That's not THAT uncommon.
The argument I often see online is his (fictional) driver's license stating his date of birth as 7/14/1986. There are two problems with this. One: This is a dream sequence. (A rebuttal to this is that his license was shown again in season 2, but cartoons reuse assets all the time) Two: We don't know when the show actually takes place. Many shows don't take place in the same year as real life. Example: The Jetsons.
Season 1, episode 12: Employee of the Month. 43 months have passed, at least, with the 44th month being this episode. Three and a half years have passed AT MINIMUM since he was hired. This is still in season 1, mind you. March 8, 2000 was when the episode aired. 10 months, 1 week after the Episode 1 airdate of May 1, 1999. These episodes do not go along with real time.
When people say he's a kid, they are not being literal. Figurative language has been around forever. They mean he has the heart and energy of a child while living his adult life. When Mr. Krabs calls him a kid, he is being dismissive and derisive. Krabs is an old man, to him, SpongeBob IS a kid, because he's so much older than him.
Squidward calls him a kid because he's just an asshole sometimes. It's like when someone dismisses someone else along the lines of "Shut up, you're like 12" even if the person is in their 30s.
Another problem I have with people insisting SpongeBob is a child is that he's very autistic-coded if not flat out autistic. To say he is a child is infantilizing autistic people who act the same way. My partner is this way, she is nearing 50 but she acts like a 10 year old. To say she's not an adult would be insulting at best and ableism at worst.
Need more proof? Season 1, episode 12: The Chaperone. SpongeBob mentions that he couldn't find a date to his junior prom. That means he finished his junior year of high school. At the very minimum, SpongeBob could be 17, but Pearl is 16 in that episode so that is VERY unlikely.
If I need to add more to this post, I will, but chances are the ones who need to read it never will.
