Do you think a 15 year-old girl should be able to get married?

Do you think a 15 year-old girl should be able to get married if the father gives his consent and a judge approves the marriage?

My grandmother told me all her friends got married off when they were only 16. She also told me that in the old days a girl had to be 21 years old before she could get married without the consent of her father.

 

My grandmother was 14 when she got married and my grandfather was 21. This was in 1960. My grandmother had her first kid at 15.

 

No, its disgusting and sounds like paedophilia. MOD EDIT - Off Topic

 

I'd say yes, because some people mature, physically and/or psychologically, at a much faster pace than others. And with all the females who have children out of wedlock, going on welfare at taxpayer expense and then turning out Fatherless little monsters on society, marriage at any age would be a welcome oasis in such a barren wasteland.

 

Each state caters to its own society. Many years back 15 was not too young in the rural societies of the south. Loretta Lynn was married at 14.

When I was growing up in Kansas---a person could be seen as an adult at 16 with parent permission or guardian permission. And with that you could get married.

Personally---I don't like it. 14, 15...even 16 and 17 are still growing and developing children in my eyes.

 

`
It was only after the Industrial revolution and the federal child labor laws were passed, did the entire social concept of what we call, "childhood" start. When we passed from agrarian to an industrial society, so did the mores of society.

Up until the 1880's, Age Of Consent was 10 to 12, usually as defined by local statues. Prior to that however, humanity has managed to survive about 6,000 years, without such laws.


`

 

No I do not think a 15 year old should be allowed to sign a marital contract, with or without parental or judicial blessing. I don't know of a good legal test for legal maturity and the routine competency measures we might provide in case of developmental delay, cognitive impairment or mental illness do not satisfy. We are stuck with an age of majority, as bad, overly simplistic and vague a measure as it is.

 

I think one of the biggest reasons society no longer views it as acceptable for those under the age of 18 to get married is that so much else has changed.

First, it's not exactly PC anymore for the father to have the say. There are the feminists who scream sexism, but also in the old days the government had much less of a role in the family, so it was basically all up to the parents. Then there is gay marriage. Everything has to be equal now, we can't discriminate, and many people are not comfortable with the idea of a 16 year old girl with a 22 year old woman.

The biggest factor, though, has to do with sexual norms. It used to be that sex outside of marriage was not seen as an acceptable thing to do, whereas now it is much more normal and out in the open. Society back then believed it was better for a 16 year old to be married than to wind up getting pregnant without a husband. In today's time it's seen as "not that big of a deal" because she can just go get an abortion. Society's views today are a little conflicted, being able to have sex is seen almost as a human right, but most people are not all that comfortable with the idea of a teenage girl having sex.

 

If I remember correctly, it's already legal in a few states, but it requires parental and/or court approval.

 

I believe a person should reach the age of maturity to be married. That is the law in many states and is set at 18 for most of them. The age of maturity must be reached in those states before you can enter into a legal contract.

 

My problem with this is why don't we develop one? Children take tests of all kinds periodically as they are growing up. Once past Piaget's main stages, (which I think end at 7) why shouldn't we give people tests for overall mental maturity and then give them rights/obligations in accordance? We may be wasting the talents of all our early bloomers. Think if Mozart couldn't have signed contracts. Indeed, look at how warped a prodigy like Michael Jackson became, how much of that was because his father misused his talents before he became of age?

 

Yes, but people still have sex and want to form relationships before this. Maybe it's better that they be married, just a thought I'm throwing out there.
It used to be in many states one had to be 21 to enter into a contract, unless your father cosigned for you (basically taking responsibility if you refused to fulfill your side of the contract).

The "age of maturity" ? That's getting pushed further and further out. A 16 year old just can't go out and get a job to provide for his family anymore. Now people have to go through all this school, and often formal job training programs on top of that. 21 year-olds today are in the same position 17 year-olds were in 60 years ago.

 

It is actually the Age of Majority. My brain transposed it. I find it troubling that a 16 yr old has to be the bread winner of a family. Something is wrong with that picture (IMHO)

 

If find it troubling that a 20 yr old is not able to be the bread winner of a family now, with the way things are.
Most 18 yr olds can't even provide for themselves, or at least can't afford to provide for themselves with the jobs that are available and the expensive cost of housing.

 

You are so confusing, you a Liberal or a Conservative or something in between? You speak like a Cons sometimes and at others, like here, you sound like a Liberal.

 

I find that refreshing. He does not need to fit into a mold and its better if more people feel comfortable not being put in one.

 

I am nearing 70, my grandmother told me she was married at 16. Yes 21 and 16 used to be the magic ages. 21 to drink, 21 to vote, etc. 21 was considered the age of an adult. But 16 was drivers license time and one could drop out of school at 16. I think it was Nixon who lowered the drinking age to 18, for the troops and under him the constitutional amendment lowered the voting age to 18.

today I think 15 is too young to be married even with a fathers consent. But I also think young folks are a lot more sexually active than when I was young. But then if the girl, father and judge all concur, what does age, 15 or 16 have to do with it. I think maybe than a flat out no which I was going to give, how about a depends on the individual.

 

I was asking a simple question of them. I am an Inde that leans both ways so have no issue with it I am just asking them to define themselves. Pssst, I believe he is a she, been to their page yet?

 

You've been misinformed. The minimum age for a person to legally enter a marriage contract varies from state to state and some states require younger people to have the consent of a parent -- not necessarily a "father".

 

I could never imagine my grand daughter, who this year will turn 14, getting married, and worse, as is common in the ME, to a sex depraved, much older man.The mere thought of such an eventuality would sicken me.

 

The big issue here would be whether the girl consents to the marriage, and is not being coerced in any way. If the man was much older than her, I'd be very suspicious.

How old do you think Mary was when she gave birth to baby Jesus?

 

Where does the Bible say Mary had Jesus when she was only 13 or 14?

 

A 15 year old should either be in school or working in a factory or quarry.

 

At the time, Judea was a Roman province. Under Roman law, all brides had to be at least 12 years old, so it's pretty safe to say that she was 12 or 13 when she became pregnant. That means that she was about 14 when she gave birth.

 

Nope. I think that's ridiculously young.

- - - Updated - - -

Why are people talking about Mary as if she were real? Jesus was fiction, and his parents likely were as well. They were all based on celestial phenomena, Jesus being the sun and his folks being the constellations Virgo and Bootes.