What should the "Age of Consent" be (Afghanistan, healthcare, statistics)
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And it's that viewpoint that's largely responsible for everything from teen pregnancies to rape- that it's nothing but an instinct that nobody can/should be expected to control.
Human beings are generally expected to be a bit above lower forms of animals.
Very good ^^^
I think the laws are fine the way they are, every state decides this on their own as it is a state matter:
The laws are interesting. I have less concern with 2 individuals under 18, with an age difference of less than 2 years having a sexual relationship. Anyone having sex under age 16, needs a chaperone present!
At my house, both as a child and as a parent, 18 was the understood age and it was upheld. The consequences involved with a sexual relationship, both emotional and physical make it an "adult" activity.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion...age-of-consent
I know the porn industry desperately wants to see the age dropped and also the pedophile community, so is the real issue 2 underage teens engaging in sexual activity or normalizing pedophilia? It reminds me of the abortion issue and saying "What about the 12 year old who is an incest victim?" Well, yeah, but that is less than 1% and is not the real issue. So, is age of sexual consent about two underage teens having sex or a disguised attempt to normalize pedophilia from behind the scenes?
Frankly, age of sexual consent? When you can afford treatment for STDS and diapers!
And, Romeo and Juliet? Seriously! Well, back when people lived to be about 29 or so................ Also, their intent was marriage..............
I did answer this to this topic back in 2015, since that time, I have learned about the lobby to normalize pedophilia and that makes a world of difference. Everyone should educate themselves on this topic if they have or care about children.
Last edited by AnywhereElse; 05-11-2017 at 07:04 AM..
Fast and Furious Paul Walker started red shirting a 16 year old who later on gave birth to his daughter.
I believe 16 years old should be the age of consent. By this age, puberty has already transpired. The issue is the emotional and mental state of the individual. If the parents don't have the sex talk then the individual might be naive to understand the intentions of the older individual. Whether the intentions are perverse or good nature. The issue here is lack of parenting. if the parents are involved and are not shy about having sex and relationship talks with the young individual then that individual has a greater chance of making the right choice.
In Junior High, i remember 13 year olds having relationships with 19+ boys. The 13 year olds weren't even that developed body-wise.
It's a weird cycle. Young girls want to date older guys, the young guys have no or little options then they become the older guys that young girls date. The circle of life.
I haven't read through every post here but this is one of those issues that is uniquely American. In most countries, the age of consent is lower and/or, enforced much more sanely and lightly. In most countries, biological sexual maturity, (just as in every other species), culturally and/or legally, denotes adulthood. In America, the inventor of "teenager-hood" after WW2, we began extending childhood beyond sexual maturity to now absurd lengths. America is the only country I have ever lived in or been in where over 21 year olds are still often called "kids, boy, girl", etc. We are so inexplicably odd in that regard. States will not allow even a soldier/sailor with 3-4 years of service and maturity, to so much as drink a beer and yet we willingly give 10,000 lbs of metal that will do 110 mph, to any 16 year old who can pass the easy tests required. Crazy!
I am a genealogy buff and one of the most obvious things about marriages in my family history going back centuries, was the much younger ages at which most everyone married. Typically, 20-25 year old men, (Because they had to acquire the means of support for marriage.), to 15-19 year old girls (Because most where probably already married by 20-25.). Of course, the other striking difference was that there was not one single recorded divorce and remarriage-ever, until my parents divorced when I was a child in the late 1960's. They all stayed married and had large families.
There has been some reform in American law but we still live in a system where an 18 year old boy, still in high school, who has sex with a 16 year old girl, still in high school, can result in the boy's arrest and imprisonment and being saddled with a lifetime of sexual offender status. Even beyond age-of-consent laws, recently a high school boy did what countless high school boys have done, and streaked naked across his school's football field during a game, when friends dared him. He was arrested with police threatening that he could be given sex-offender status if convicted, so when he got home, he wrote an apology to his parents and then committed suicide by hanging himself in his closet. When are we Americans going to stop this puritanical insanity!?!
The problem with age of consent is that it treats people as if they're levels in a video game. A 17 year old is not magically different when they turn 18. The age of consent isn't selected for any particular reason. Ultimately, the maturity needed in finding a good sexual partner won't be found because you're a certain age, but because your life experiences have taught you well.
With that said, I don't think the age of consent needs to be changed. What should happen is that gray area needs to be recognized. A 19 year old who porks a 16 year old isn't a freak. I'm gonna be honest, most people I know now who I also knew in high school look very much the same as they did when they were 16. I'm in my mid [to late...] 20s and I look about the same. A can grow a beard now. That's really the only difference. But if I look the same and a grown woman finds me attractive, then would this mean she's somehow a pedophile becasue she finds someone who could be 16 attractive? No. Because at 16, I was "done." Normal adults are attracted to normal adults. An adult is someone who is done with puberty, which doesn't actually happen at a uniform age.
To narrow my point a bit, stop making 19 years old register as sex offenders because they had sex with a friends sister. He's not dangerous. Let's leave the public register for people who actually are and stop ruining people's lives because the law doesn't treat people like people.
30 states have the age at 16, I think that is probably about right. Younger teens like 13-14 do not really have the maturity to be making any kind of major life decision. Once you get into high school age your maturity level generally improves a bit. So I think 15-16 is probably about the right time to allow sexual choices to be made.
I haven't read through every post here but this is one of those issues that is uniquely American. In most countries, the age of consent is lower and/or, enforced much more sanely and lightly. In most countries, biological sexual maturity, (just as in every other species), culturally and/or legally, denotes adulthood. In America, the inventor of "teenager-hood" after WW2, we began extending childhood beyond sexual maturity to now absurd lengths. America is the only country I have ever lived in or been in where over 21 year olds are still often called "kids, boy, girl", etc. We are so inexplicably odd in that regard. States will not allow even a soldier/sailor with 3-4 years of service and maturity, to so much as drink a beer and yet we willingly give 10,000 lbs of metal that will do 110 mph, to any 16 year old who can pass the easy tests required. Crazy!
I am a genealogy buff and one of the most obvious things about marriages in my family history going back centuries, was the much younger ages at which most everyone married. Typically, 20-25 year old men, (Because they had to acquire the means of support for marriage.), to 15-19 year old girls (Because most where probably already married by 20-25.). Of course, the other striking difference was that there was not one single recorded divorce and remarriage-ever, until my parents divorced when I was a child in the late 1960's. They all stayed married and had large families.
There has been some reform in American law but we still live in a system where an 18 year old boy, still in high school, who has sex with a 16 year old girl, still in high school, can result in the boy's arrest and imprisonment and being saddled with a lifetime of sexual offender status. Even beyond age-of-consent laws, recently a high school boy did what countless high school boys have done, and streaked naked across his school's football field during a game, when friends dared him. He was arrested with police threatening that he could be given sex-offender status if convicted, so when he got home, he wrote an apology to his parents and then committed suicide by hanging himself in his closet. When are we Americans going to stop this puritanical insanity!?!
Related to my comment about the kid arrested for streaking, it has tragically, happened again...
The whole sexual offender for life bit is so overdone. And this is a prime example. The problem is that there are few countries where crime and punishment are as much of an obsession as here in the U.S.
It seems like a double standard to me for 40-year-olds to be able to have sex with people who can't vote. I'm curious as to how those who believe the age of consent should be lower than 18 feel about lowering the voting age. And yes, I do believe in Romeo and Juliet laws (close-in-age exceptions).
As a male and a former teenager I feel this is a loaded question..
Honestly I think the AOC for males and females should be different..
My reasons are pretty simple, teenage males seem to think with one organ..
When I hear on the news of an adult female having a sexual relation with a teenage boy there is absolutely nothing in my mind that screams wow that boy is going to be messed up for life..
That boy knew exactly what he was getting into, hoped for it even. He probably even stocked up on condoms.
Females tend to be more emotionally involved, therefore easier to manipulate by an older person, to be preyed upon..
We just seen this in national news with the runaway girl and the teacher..
This is my view on it, please don't put me on blast for giving my input..
When I was in 8th grade I carried on a two month long sexual relationship with my school bus driver..
I was a rather mature kid, almost 6 feet tall in no way a little meek boy.. (perhaps her attraction)
I knew exactly where it may lead when I went to her house, I was a bit nervous but all the same I knew what I was most likely getting into.. I certainly am not scarred for life due to the experience.. There was no emotional attachment formed, I went there to have sex, maybe a few snacks and left to go home, rinse and repeat for the entire summer..
The only reason it stopped was because she moved away..
I have something of the opposite gendered opinion.
I am the mother of two teenage boys, and I was a very promiscuous teenager. I had lots of light flings, there was no risk of serious life entanglements. My Mom got me on hormonal birth control, which when used properly (and I did) is very effective for most. And I was doing STI screenings every 3-6 months.
My teenage boys, have no options to prevent pregnancy, that are under their absolute control, except for condoms. And condoms are not as effective.
Did I get emotionally involved sometimes, when maybe I didn't need to? Occasionally. But it was far, FAR more common for boys to fall in "puppy love" with me. I was an aggressive hunter of virgin boys in my high school. I started this at age 14. I am not emotionally scarred from any of that playing around.
I AM emotionally scarred from my 18 year long faithful marriage to an abusive man who was 29 when he found my idiot 18 year old self, and impregnated me by 19. I need therapy from that relationship. The boys in high school? Psh, that was nothing. Bit of fun. My ex husband though, really messed me up in the head.
18 is such an arbitrary age. It's silly. The real age, if there is one, where things change is 25 or so. Until then, your brain is simply not finished developing. The parts that really understand longterm consequences aren't done cooking yet. Do I think that people should wait for sex until 25? NO of course not. But I do think that if possible to wait until things like making babies, getting married, and that people should perhaps be barred from doing porn before age 25, to prevent exploitation of people when they are young and stupid from doing something with potential lifelong consequences...YES.
I would rather see a 50 year old have a brief and meaningless fling with a 15 year old, with birth control and regular STI testing... Than a 27 year old marrying and/or reproducing with an 18 year old. It's the whole thing of "this does not easily go away." You have to deal with it forever, or for decades. THAT is what I think that people under 25 need to be protected from.
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