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18 as the age of consent is really an outlier in the developed world. 15-16 is more the norm. Most developed countries have to an increasing degree disassociated sex and legal adulthood. As consensual sex is seen more and more as something of less consequence than adult activities, like driving, drinking, smoking, voting, military service etc, etc.
All of which have far more serious consequences.
I think in medieval times, people were considered "adults" at about 14 or 15 and even got married that early. People matured earlier in the old days.
Nowadays people are maturing later than ever.. anyone see the possibility of the legal age for sex being raised beyond 18 as society deems one isn't a mature adult yet at 18?
Strongly doubt it. In fact I hope they go the other direction and finally get consistent with a lowed AOC at around 15 or 16. Most states in the US are already at 16, but it still varies widely. Also, if you cross state lines then it becomes a federal matter and that law does strictly make the AOC 18...even if both states have lower AOCs. Yup, that's how nutty the laws are in this country when it comes to preventing consensual sex.
The simplest solution IMO is to lower the age of adulthood to 15 or 16 and calling it a day. Let them drink, smoke, vote, get laid, the whole 9 yards. It'll never happen, but I think it's perfectly realistic that by that age a firm understanding of the difference between right and wrong is well established and understood.
You are mature enough to decide you are going to go to war and possibly end up losing your limbs or your life and have the lives of your fellow soldiers in your hands..........yet you are too immature to decide whether or not you can have sex?
OMG!
But then your arguing that the age in which one joins to military is primarily determined by the 'responsibility' of its participants, whereas its more to do with a limited scope of physical fitness. Whereas consent is about the need to keep students in education, a social good not a matter of responsibility per se.
If anything it'll get a bit lower like it is in Europe where the age of consent is generally 14 or 15. Already in the US the most common age of consent in the US is 16 (about 30 states). Only 12 states have 18 as the age of consent.
Actually, girls (at least) are maturing at a significantly younger age compared to even 100 years ago. Obesity seems to be part of the cause, as a certain body fat percentage must be attained before menarche (the beginning of menstruation). Other people attribute it to exposure to chemicals and even a sexualized media.
Interestingly, the age of "sexual debut" has held steady or even increased in the U.S. The percentage of sexually active 12th graders, for example, reached an all-time peak either in the late 1970's or early 1990's, and has decreased since then. I would attribute this to participation in officially-sponsored after-school activities and the "abstinence" movement. Of course, the average age of marriage now hovers at around 27, and few people wait that long, but one thing the abstinence movement and "chastity pledges" could possibly be credited with is slightly increasing the average age of first sexual intercourse and perhaps raising it substantively for their participants.
...but one thing the abstinence movement and "chastity pledges" could possibly be credited with is slightly increasing the average age of first sexual intercourse and perhaps raising it substantively for their participants.
Um, no. Researchers discovered that girls who did those virginity pledges lost their virginity sooner than those girls that didn't make such pledges and had equal or higher STD rates due to lower usage of condoms. However, they did have lower numbers of partners in the 6 years they were studied.
personally i think if your old enough to go off to war your old enough to have sex...
i also think if your old enough to go put your life on the line for your contry you should be old enough to drink too...
but im from the uk origionally where a drinking age of 21 would cause riots!
instead of trying to raise ages due to mental immaturity, i think a proper array of education...(none of this sex is bad and thats that were done with the conversation) easier acess for younger folks to get protection for themselves (its such a shamefull subject i know many ADULTS who are still embarrased to go to their grocery or pharmacy and pick up a box of condoms for goodness sake...) i dont agree with teens havign sex, i personally dont feel most of them are emotionally mature enough (im talking 12-15) to fully understand not only the risks but to take the nessicary precautions to be safe, and there certainly not mature enough for the possible dangers...BUT i also feel that some teens are going to do it no matter what...
id rather those teens have acess to birth control than end up pregnant, or with some std.
i think it seriously needs to be a less taboo subject for parents to talk to their kids about.
i was raised in a very open home, my parents were always very open about sex, drugs and drinking, and why they felt we shouldnt do those things...they took us to places to see what drugs can do, took us to teen pregancy centers to talk to teen moms about what it was realy like to have a baby at 14...
uk school systems seem to have a much more open sexual edcuation dept in which again they have young moms come in and talk to the students, they teach you how to put a condom on (a banana) for girls they talk to you about the imporatnce of seeing a gynocologist ect, these educations programs are started as young as 9 in some schools as many girls are reaching maturity earlier (and its not just overweight girls)
and in direct responce of the program (while myself and my sister are just 2 people and for all sucesses there are downs too...) but i waited untill i was 19, and when the time came i was emotionally prepared, mature enough to go to my dr and get myself on birthcontrol, quite comfortable buying condoms, ect.
my sister was 16 and she came to my mother and asked if she could go on birthcontrol...because whiel she wasnt sexually active yet it was something she was thinking about and she wanted to be safe...
same goes for drinking...ive never drank to get drunk, i have one bottle of beer or something similar and i dont need anything else...i was always taught that i need to be in control of me...
i think alot of the immaturity about sex comes from seeing it all over the place yet having noone to talk to seriously about it.
Last edited by foxywench; 10-30-2010 at 08:28 AM..
I think it comes down to the fact having sex earlier in the 'olden days' was acceptable because people didn't live as long. Now, people live so much longer, that we want to push it back. However, imo girls and boys are maturing sexually faster because of a 'sex culture' but mentally emerging into adulthood slower. Psychology even has a new catagory for this. Emerging adult; I think it's to age 26 or so.
If you're on mom and dad's health insurance until you are 26, maybe the age of consent and voting should call you "children" to that age, too. I have no problem with raising, lowering or keeping it the same as long as the separation age between children and adults is consistent on everything.
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