Should Age of Consent Law be Uniform in the US?

[Dhara]

and if so, what age should it be?

Currently, it varies primarily between 16 and 18 in most states with some states having exceptions for "close in age". Even the "close in age" varies.

For example, Colorado's consent age is 17, however, a 16 year old may have sex with an adult less than 10 years older.

Discuss. This is on my mind partly due to Hastert's conviction for molesting five high school students.

While I think it would make things clearer- I think the states are more nimble when it comes to addressing the issue.

You've got a point there.

 

[Super_Lantern]

Threads like this make me want to never be a parent

 

[bendog]

When you're from a dumb state where people marry their cousins the age of consent can be lower, because people reach their smartness peak early on.

 

[saveliberty]

There are certainly defiant children who disobey parents or just plain take risks. Raising kids right to begin with can stop a lot of this foolishness. As an example, many kids do not leave home well past 18.

 

[Dhara]

Threads like this make me want to never be a parent

It's an awesome responsibility for sure.

 

[Super_Lantern]

Threads like this make me want to never be a parent

It's an awesome responsibility for sure.

I want them to wait for marriage (like their father, me, and I'm not married yet so still waiting

) at least until they're old enough to make a responsible decision about wanting premarital sex or wanting to wait. If they get into teenage sex, I definitely would prefer it to be with teenagers around their age

Why am I even talking about this? I can't answer the question posed in the OP

 

[Dhara]

Should the laws be changed and more consistent with other consent laws, like enlisting in the military, voting, and tobacco and alcohol?

 

[Super_Lantern]

My beautiful teenage daughters having sex

My sons having teenage sex? Like I care

Why is there such a double-standard on this. I see it in myself and I'm so sorry

 

[Super_Lantern]

Should the laws be changed and more consistent with other consent laws, like enlisting in the military, voting, and tobacco and alcohol?

I feel changing it is a slippery slope. What should we change it to? Some think 18 is extreme, obviously, because AOC is 17 and 16 in other places. But should we make 16 the flat-rate across the board? Why is 17 okay in one country/state, and wrong in another? Why do we need to have a rule on this? Is the difficulty in finding a fits-all-sizes rule evidence that this isn't really something that needs a law?

I dunno.......

 

[Dhara]

My beautiful teenage daughters having sex

My sons having teenage sex? Like I care

Why is their such a double-standard on this. I see it in myself and I'm sorry

At least you see it in yourself. What about kids having sex with someone of the same gender? Does that change the equation for you?

 

[Dhara]

Should the laws be changed and more consistent with other consent laws, like enlisting in the military, voting, and tobacco and alcohol?

I feel changing it is a slippery slope. What should we change it to? Some think 18 is extreme, obviously, because AOC is 17 and 16 in other places. But should we make 16 the flat-rate across the board? Why is 17 okay in one country/state, and wrong in another? Why do we need to have a rule on this? Is the difficulty in finding a fits-all-sizes rule evidence that this isn't really something that needs a law?

I dunno.......

Good question. We ought to look at the history of age of consent law and see if that helps.

 

[Super_Lantern]

My beautiful teenage daughters having sex

My sons having teenage sex? Like I care

Why is their such a double-standard on this. I see it in myself and I'm sorry

At least you see it in yourself. What about kids having sex with someone of the same gender? Does that change the equation for you?

I see it. I know it's a double-standard. I'm sorry. I don't know why the thought of my daughters getting into teenage sex gets me flustered, defensive, and protective, while if I were to think of my sons (I don't have kids, this is all hypothetical) is like "Meh, whatever".

And yeah, if it were my teenage daughters with another teenage girl I would care less than if it involved another guy. I want my daughters to have sexually fulfilling lives. preferably built on love, over lust. I just feel defensive about them doing that at such a young age

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I'm wanting a thoughtful discussion on the topic. Now, that I am a parent, I wish it were uniformly age 18. Since we know the pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until after age 25, consider the burden of maturity we place on young people.

Yeah, even when I was younger, I would not date women under the age of 25. That was a solid rule with me. Under 25, girls are extremely confused. They have no idea what they want and are not to be trusted.

I agree. When I was under 25 I'd begun to be sexually active and I certainly didn't have much sense about it. It was confusing.

I got married at 19 and my son was born the following year.

 

[Dhara]

. Professor of history Margaret Wade Labarge

“It needs to be remembered that many Medieval widows were not old, Important heiresses were often married between the ages of 5 and 10 and might find themselves widowed while still in their teens.” [1]

2. Professor Richard Wortley and Professor Stephen Smallbone, both of whom state that prior to the 1900s girls married very young,

“In Medieval and early modern European societies, the age of marriage remained low, with documented cases of brides as young as seven years, although marriages were typically not consummated until the girl reached puberty (Bullough 2004). Shakespeare’s Juliet was just 13, and there is no hint in the play that this was considered to be exceptional. The situation was similar on the other side of the Atlantic; Bullough reports the case in 1689 of a nine-year-old bride in Virginia. At the start of thenineteenth century in England, it was legal to have sex with a 10 year-old girl.” [2]

3. In the book, ‘Sex and Society’,

“Until the late 20th century U.S. age of consent laws specifically names males as perpetrators and females as victims. Following English law, in which the age was set at 12 in 1275 and lowered to 10 in 1576, ages of consent in the American colonies were generally set at 10 or 12. The laws protected female virginity, which at the time was considered a valuable commodity until marriage. The theft of a girl’s chastity was seen as a property crime against her father and future husband. If two people were married and had sex, no matter what their age, no crime was committed because a woman was her husband’s property. In practice, too, the consent laws only protected white females, as many non-white females were enslaved or otherwise discriminated against by the legal system.” [3]
Age of Consent in European & American History

 

[Super_Lantern]

What was the AOC in the revolutionary war era of the country?

edit: good info in this thread

 

[g5000]

I'm wanting a thoughtful discussion on the topic. Now, that I am a parent, I wish it were uniformly age 18. Since we know the pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until after age 25, consider the burden of maturity we place on young people.

Yeah, even when I was younger, I would not date women under the age of 25. That was a solid rule with me. Under 25, girls are extremely confused. They have no idea what they want and are not to be trusted.

I agree. When I was under 25 I'd begun to be sexually active and I certainly didn't have much sense about it. It was confusing.

I got married at 19 and my son was born the following year.

Getting married at 19 was fine when life expectancy was 35.

 

[beagle9]

Hmmm, I know a friend whose daughter moved out at 17, and she did so by the law saying that she could, now when she had sex after that who knows right ? I just know that when the law says that they can leave home at 17 in which I don't agree with, and worse you can't do anything about it, then what does it matter after that anyway ? At 17 they haven't finished high school yet, but the law say they can leave home ? Kidding me right ? Everything should be 18 or older before a teen can leave home, and they have to have finished high school by 18. When the law sanctions them to be able to leave your home at 17, then you are helpless to tell them what to do after that, and the law is wrong for not requiring the age to be 18. That's all I know of the situation, and it's sad that the law condones a teen to leave their home at 17 before even finishing high school.

 

[Dhara]

I'm wanting a thoughtful discussion on the topic. Now, that I am a parent, I wish it were uniformly age 18. Since we know the pre-frontal cortex doesn't mature until after age 25, consider the burden of maturity we place on young people.

Yeah, even when I was younger, I would not date women under the age of 25. That was a solid rule with me. Under 25, girls are extremely confused. They have no idea what they want and are not to be trusted.

I agree. When I was under 25 I'd begun to be sexually active and I certainly didn't have much sense about it. It was confusing.

I got married at 19 and my son was born the following year.

Good for you.

 

[SwimExpert]

and if so, what age should it be?

Currently, it varies primarily between 16 and 18 in most states with some states having exceptions for "close in age". Even the "close in age" varies.

For example, Colorado's consent age is 17, however, a 16 year old may have sex with an adult less than 10 years older.

Discuss. This is on my mind partly due to Hastert's conviction for molesting five high school students.

Yeah, because if there's one thing possible in this world, it's convincing teenagers that they don't want to do things they really do want to do.

 

[HappyJoy]

I believe it to be mostly a state issue. However if a state had an Age of consent law too low...like 12 or ugh....10 then the federal government needs to step in and say...that's very rapey. Thankfully I don't believe any states are quite that 'rural'. Just a worst case scenario.

As far as what is the right age...who knows. i think it's more about age difference than age itself and I'm thinking anyone under 18 that age difference shouldn't be more than 2 years.