There is no age of consent

[Uzair]

The problem with trying to set a specific age for any kind of activity is that everything is on a case by case basis. This includes sex, drinking, driving, abortion, military service, you name it.

There are many 16 year olds who are capable of giving consent. And then there are 16 year olds who absolutely cannot. The transition from childhood to adulthood is not absolute. Some people mature faster than others, some people don't ever mature at all. There is no line where one day you're a child and the very next day you're an adult.

If an 18 year old has sex with a 14 year old. in many cases it's rape. In some cases it's not. Some 14 year olds CAN give consent and know exactly what they're doing, while some can't and don't. Even more ironic is that I'd argue that there can even be cases where if a 14 year old has sex with an 18 year old, it's the EIGHTEEN year old who isn't mature enough to give consent.

I don't know what the solution to this problem is legally. I guess the law has to pick SOME age, but that doesn't really work in the real world. I think things just need to be decided on a case by case basis somehow. How to do that is another question entirely.

[HockeyMom]

1. If a 17 and 364 days years old

isn't mature, 24 hours will not magically make them so.

[Travis_0004]

2. I think a clear line is the easiest and best way

We may not all agree on where it should be, but its the fairest way to do it.

We can't just do it on a case by case basis then say go ahead and do it, then we will let a jury decide if you are guilty or not.

[MrSlayer]

3. Interesting how all of a sudden there's justification.

A week ago there would have been an adamant consensus that it's always wrong for an adult to have sex with a young minor
.
Now I see people bending over backwards to justify statutory rape.

It's odd.

[Nevernose]

6. I've not been part of that consensus, nor have I bent over backwards

As the OP pointed out, different situations with different people make for different opinions. If an 18 year old sought out a 14 year old over the Internet for the purposes of sex, for instance, then IMO it should probably be statutory rape.

But I could pose it a different way: a high school senior and a high school freshman should probably not be charged with statutory rape. The two of them might be in my first period class sitting next to each other come Tuesday morning.

I'm not a very black and white thinker, though.

[MrSlayer]

9. I wasn't referring to you personally.

I was talking about the attitude of the site in general. Obviously, there will always be contrarian views to anything.

I just find this shift curious.

[nomorenomore08]

7. I think the point is more that she's been treated more harshly than an 18-year-old boy would've been

in most cases. Key word being most - some hetero relationships with comparable age gaps are indeed prosecuted. But the fact that she's been charged with multiple felony counts, and expelled from school, combined with the conservative nature of the community, makes it easy to suspect that her sexuality is a factor here.

I'm not saying freshman-senior type relationships are a good thing. But I don't really think they should be treated as a criminal matter either. There are other ways to deal with a situation like this, than simply sending a barely-18-year-old to jail.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. +1

[MrSlayer]

17. I don't agree.

If the parents of the 14 year old girl repeatedly told the 18 year old boy to stay away and he wouldn't, there would be similar actions. Particularly if he snuck the girl out of her house overnight to have sex with her.

[nomorenomore08]

18. Then we'll have to agree to disagree. Because after a certain point it's mostly a matter of opinion.

I still think the chances of an 18-year-old boy being treated similarly, while far from nonexistent, aren't terribly high.

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. There would not have been. Please don't speak for me.

If it were two kids in high school male or female... I would have supported it. Sorry.

[MrSlayer]

11. I said general consensus not unanimous agreement.

Must I respond to every individual that would not agree?

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. Yes you must. It's a good exercise when one makes statements like this.

You get to see where we all actually stand.

I have a 14-year-old son. He's bound to make some pretty dumb decisions coming up here in the future.

[MrSlayer]

13. Perhaps I'll make a poll.

Seems like a good way to gauge the sentiment.

[msanthrope]

15. Read a Roman Polanski apologia thread on here sometime...nothing new about it. nt

[WinkyDink]

4. If we can have a voting age line, we can have one for an activity that might produce a child.

I realize NAMBLA might disagree.

[Honeycombe8]

5. The people have elected people to lay down the laws. Yes, there is an age of consent.

It does vary from state to state.

Much better to have it clear in the law, than for different people to have different opinions. If not the law, who decides if a young person is capable of deciding? The person who wants to have sex with the young person? They've already decided.

But no matter what age it is, 14 is generally considered too young to make lifelong decisions, which sex and the repurcussions from it is. One reason for this is..even though a young person can and does consent, it is very easy for an older person to manipulate and convince a young person to agree to sex and many other things. Therefore, the law sets forth a protection for the juvenile.

One thing is certain: there is no harm in that 14 year old waiting another 2 years to have sex, go to R movies, get married, take out a loan in his own name, all the things that adults do (that get adults in trouble!).

Sex is a complicated, difficult thing for adults to deal with, much less kids. The 18 year old who wants to have sex with the 14 year old? They need to find someone a couple of years older....or wait.

[JVS]

14. "that doesn't really work in the real world."

Nonsense. It works just fine. Most people know the age of consent laws and obey them. Just because some rule has to be made and the line is arbitrary does not mean that it is unreasonable. We all drive on the right hand side of the road. That's an arbitrary rule. It could just as well be the left side of the road. There is nothing morally wrong about driving on the left hand side of the road. But it is essential that we pick one or the other, because if we have people doing both they will get hurt.

[The Straight Story]

16. Well, how about this:

An 18 yr can vote and we think of them as responsible enough to make decisions - which means that 18 yr old is also adult enough to know the law and what the consequences are for breaking it.

It is not easy being an adult, you have tough choices to make. Sure, you may be 'older' than you are in many ways at 14 but we still see that as too young to move out on your own, vote, join the army, etc.

If you care about someone, and love them, and want more than sex with them you act like the adult you now are and make the right choices even if they kind of suck for you.

You get a lot of privileges when you turn 18 - but you also get responsibilities that go along with them.

[Zoeisright]

19. Wrong.

WE need a legal age of consent to set laws in this country. Grow the fuck up.