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Age of consent? (2 Viewers)

Is the age of consent appropriate?


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David Spade

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sex = a pretty highly increased chance of falling pregnant

children are not mentally capable of understanding the implications of having sex
 

pman

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Hey, Just my opinion, I'm no legal eagle! I look at the science and the maths and these say you can have sex when your able to reproduce, put in safeguards if you like (e.g, 2 yr max age gap below 16) but obey nature
 

David Spade

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science says that kids are not mentally developed enough to cope with sex
hence
the law
 
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Well throw in soemthing along the lines of "with parental permission under the age of 14"
You'd have to have pretty sick parents to do that. There are people at and above the age of consent that aren't emotionally/mentally ready for sex, mentally handicapped or otherwise. What makes you think someone under 14 would be?

Also, just because you *can* do something doesn't mean you *should*, or that the law should be changed as such. 9 year olds are also technically capably of consuming alcohol. Does that mean we should allow them to?
 
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Fish Tank

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I reckon have everything (drinking, sex, driving etc) at the one age. I can only remember one thing at a time :p
 

Serius

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Heh i dont know. A specific "age" of consent is pretty innacurate, but right now, its to hard to accurately gauge wether someone is old enough for sex based on maturity. At the same time, i see no problem with like, a 13 and 14yr old getting busy, but i would be disgusted by a 40yr old taking advantage of that 13 yr old.

Perhaps if we had age ranges, and then if something is outside of that range, a maturity test is done before it goes to court. If theres a large enough maturity gap between the two, maybe someone gets charged.

Right now, i think the system is good enough for our purposes. Maybe if technolodgy advances, or our culture changes enough we do it in a more logical way, like based on mental maturity. Things like more easily available [possibly mandatory?] contraception would take away alot of the consequences of sex and make it less of a maturity based decision or more of a fun and pleasurable thing to do.

16 is definitely old enough, i would even suggest if we have to use an age cutoff that it could go as low as 15.
 

pman

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Heh i dont know. A specific "age" of consent is pretty innacurate, but right now, its to hard to accurately gauge wether someone is old enough for sex based on maturity. At the same time, i see no problem with like, a 13 and 14yr old getting busy, but i would be disgusted by a 40yr old taking advantage of that 13 yr old.

Perhaps if we had age ranges, and then if something is outside of that range, a maturity test is done before it goes to court. If theres a large enough maturity gap between the two, maybe someone gets charged.

Right now, i think the system is good enough for our purposes. Maybe if technolodgy advances, or our culture changes enough we do it in a more logical way, like based on mental maturity. Things like more easily available [possibly mandatory?] contraception would take away alot of the consequences of sex and make it less of a maturity based decision or more of a fun and pleasurable thing to do.

16 is definitely old enough, i would even suggest if we have to use an age cutoff that it could go as low as 15.
This is a fully developed and explained model of what i was trying to get at!
 

Freedom_

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Man in his primitive form has already set the right time to engage in sexual intercourse. That time is when the female and male bodies have reached puberty. Any other solution can only be considered arbitrary.

Reading through this thread, I see that some people believe that there should be a certain age gap to avoid 40 year olds having sexual relations with a 14 year old. Yes, many consider this to be morally wrong but if the girl has consented to having sexual relations with a 40 year old who are you to judge?
 

dieburndie

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Man in his primitive form has already set the right time to engage in sexual intercourse. That time is when the female and male bodies have reached puberty. Any other solution can only be considered arbitrary.

Reading through this thread, I see that some people believe that there should be a certain age gap to avoid 40 year olds having sexual relations with a 14 year old. Yes, many consider this to be morally wrong but if the girl has consented to having sexual relations with a 40 year old who are you to judge?
Does this still hold true for you if we extend your example to say, an 11 year old?

Why do you believe that puberty coincides with the stage of cognitive development and maturity necessary to understand the repercussions of sexual activity? Do you consider fertile pre-teens to be autonomous enough to make all other significant life choices for themselves as well?

An older adult having sex with a child of that age is an act almost certainly subject to (very) asymmetric information, deception and/or manipulation, and some degree of harm to the child occurring. It is therefore coercive, and should be judged as such.
 

matthew.mclean

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There needs to be some change in the law, what it is though, I don't know.

As it currently stands though, two seventeen year olds may legally have sex, but if they were to take a photo of themselves having sex, and in turn view it, they would be breaking the law, for one must be 18 to view pornography.
 

S.H.O.D.A.N.

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Age of consent should be 15.

Also, put it in perspective - 16 isn't some universal age. Many countries (namely Europe, Asia and Latin America) have been working with lower age of consent for centuries (in fact, so has Australia, America, and Britain - age of consent is a recent law if I'm not mistaken).

 
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Nebuchanezzar

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I like that map because there's like...no correlation between age of consent and geography.
 

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