Just Interest or A Participant?

I really enjoyed the class discussion on teenagers and subculture experience. Thanks to Laura and Missy for the great leading questions.
Judging from these articles and also from what we have experienced and known of, teenagers around the age of 12 to 18 are most likely to join subcultures. During this time of the life, one is eager to find out his/her identity and interests. Unlike children, teenagers just develop the sense of independence, they are willing to try out new and exciting things; they want to explore and expand their eyesights. Therefore, they are also the in the group that can be under influence easily (good or bad). Due to the divergent nature of subcultures, teens are likely to discover the excitement and difference of a subculture group, and start to be absorbed in it.
When teens gradually settled their interest, or say formed their identity, they start to see clearly what they really want and where their passion truely lies on, they either devote into the subculture group or drop out of it. People do not really "grow out of it" because they are adult and they have to take social responsibilities. As many of the examples shown by us that there are a lot of adults who are still passionate about what they are into when they were kids, growing age is not the clear cut line of in or out of a subculture. Age does matter, since it let people consider what they should do logically; but it really depends on individual situation whether people stay in the subculture group they were into.
Lindsey addressed an excellent point that I strongly feel as well that we need to make it clear--what is really being a part of a subculture and how is it different from just like part of it, or interested in it? Shouldn't one incorporate the subculture entirely into one's life style to be considered a part of the subculture? Or how can we define if the adult is still in this subculture?