01-14-2006, 05:53 AM
I think that Andromeda picked out a very valid point. EVERYONE matures at a different rate and saying that one age is better than another for EVERYONE is kind of crazy. I know that when I was 14 that I thought I was ready but I'm glad that I waited a few years before becoming sexually active.
Unfortunately, laws have to apply to all people so you have to look at the lowest common denominator when writing them and they have to be simple enough so that people aren't confused by them. In ancient times people didn't live nearly as long as they do now so women were expected to start child bearing as soon as they were physically able... this means motherhood at 12 was fairly common. I guess that is still true in some remote areas of the world still.
In modern societies, people are expected to learn more and be prepared to accomplish more in their life so early child bearing is seen in a negative light here which is one of the main reasons we make these laws. We also keep people from participating in "adult" decision making till the age of 18 (voting age) which further makes any age below that look even younger to the majority of us who have lived past that age.
Personally, I like the idea of an age of consent at the age of 16 with some sort of provision for younger kids to fool around without the fear of going to jail or being labelled a statutory rapist. Mostly, I want to find a way to make it ok for younger kids to fool around while protecting them from older predators. The hardest part is defining "younger" and "older". I think most people would agree with me that a 40 year old man picking up a 16 year old girl is just icky and should be avoided.
Unfortunately, laws have to apply to all people so you have to look at the lowest common denominator when writing them and they have to be simple enough so that people aren't confused by them. In ancient times people didn't live nearly as long as they do now so women were expected to start child bearing as soon as they were physically able... this means motherhood at 12 was fairly common. I guess that is still true in some remote areas of the world still.
In modern societies, people are expected to learn more and be prepared to accomplish more in their life so early child bearing is seen in a negative light here which is one of the main reasons we make these laws. We also keep people from participating in "adult" decision making till the age of 18 (voting age) which further makes any age below that look even younger to the majority of us who have lived past that age.
Personally, I like the idea of an age of consent at the age of 16 with some sort of provision for younger kids to fool around without the fear of going to jail or being labelled a statutory rapist. Mostly, I want to find a way to make it ok for younger kids to fool around while protecting them from older predators. The hardest part is defining "younger" and "older". I think most people would agree with me that a 40 year old man picking up a 16 year old girl is just icky and should be avoided.
Gullible isn't in the dictionary.