Yeah … What the hey … *shrug* … What's a little statutory rape among friends … ??? … sexually transmitted diseases … ??? *shrug* … … unintended pregnancy/abortions … ??? eh ...
"Romeo and Juliet" ... both ended up … DEAD … "A rose by any other name … " rots and stinks when it dies ... - - - Updated - - - Parties at which "age of consent" was not an issue ...
I guess that means you don't think that people should be criminally responsible until the age of 25 either? Or be able to vote until the age of 25? I do know from personal experience that religious people mature later so I guess religion is where you get this notion from... Nevertheless... The Bible would disagree with you and put it at 12.
The USA has weird laws that enormously over-dramatize sex. A 17 year old isn't too young to consent to sex. We know that because they DO consent to it all the time. Someone should do an empirical study to find out the real age where human beings (if we studied them objectively) seek out and consent to sex without external coercion. That should be the age.
The problem with that is the fact that individual people are different. We have "average" ages where we consider human beings to be mature enough to make certain decisions such as driving or being considered an "adult" at 18 or being mature enough to drink at 21 etc. But when it comes to something like sex the lines get blurred because there is a lot of danger involved if we set that bar too low. We could do an objective study as you said of 100 random people and come to the conclusion that 90 of them are mature enough to make their own decisions at a certain age. Then we can set the age limit at that particular age. But then what about the 10 who the study deemed were not mature enough to make such a decision? They still fall into the same group because we have drawn a line in the sand. That opens up a can of worms, these individuals could now be legally victimized because even though, for example, the majority of 16 year olds are mature enough to make such a decision but we've already established that not ALL of them are. So what about them? People grow and mature at different rates. There are some 15 year old kids with college degrees out there and there are some 15 year old kids who literally cannot read. That same thing extends all the way to infants. I've been completely amazed and intrigued listening to my friends 5 year old son sit down with me and literally explain to me how space and time are connected and the way gravity works. I have also sat down and tried to talk to another friends 5 year old son who still could barely pronounce words and couldn't form a complete sentence yet. Fact is individual people are different. There are some 16, 15, and even 14 year old kids who are literally more intelligent than most grown adults and know exactly what a predator is doing. But there are also plenty of teenagers who easily fall victim to a grown adult manipulating their more simple brains into doing something like having sex. We can't draw a definite line in the sand, if we do then we would be doing a huge disservice to a lot of young people who really aren't as mature as some of their counterparts.
why does there need to be a standard. 2 seniors dating in high school. 1 is 18 the other 17. The 18 yr old could get a sex offender record.
When I was 17 I dated a 15 yr old. Turned 18 before she turned 16, I was in same boat. If the parents ever get POd at the 18 yr old, yes a sex offense record could happen.
For some it is 12. For others, never. Humans are unique beings. There is no 1 size fits all. But for laws, they have to be constructed in such a way.
Guess what. Teens have had parties for ever. Not all include alcohol and drugs either. But some do. - - - Updated - - - That is only in Texas. In educated parts of the world, the brain is fully developed sooner. - - - Updated - - - That will be true for every line drawn in the sand. It can never cover 100% of the population.
5 yrs is much. That lets 11 be consent worth. I think 14 should be the absolute earliest, and a 3 yr buffer, but only never before 14. IE, 16/14, 17/14, 18/15 etc. Until all are 18 or older, then no buffers.
` Today's girls are getting fertile as young as 9. There are some, 10 year old's giving birth. I'm not talking just Black and Latino, I'm talking Caucasian.
` I wrote a paper on this topic in college. In my research, I looked into the concept of "childhood" as a stand alone cultural belief. It never existed before the Industrial revolution.
Growth hormones in food does wonderous things. - - - Updated - - - Before that, children were suppose to start chores on the farm as soon as they could carry something. Then with the industrial revolution, work left the farms/homes and businesses were exploiting the children that homes never really could.
` Of course. We went from an agrarian to industrial society. Cities grew. Child labor laws, etc, etc. My point is, the concept is just a little more than 100 years old and is not universally practiced. For example, If you are a child in the ME, you have to grow up fast....and that's another point.
IMO, people who whine about age of consent do so because they lack real knowledge of how the world is and was. They only know the little world they live in, and sometimes that is a challenge for them.
