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Xerihae · 09-26-2007, 06:52 AM

The situation you describe is illegal in many parts of the US. Does that make us Britons a nation that supports child molestation in the eyes of Americans? Who is right? Who can even consider themselves able to make that decision for everyone?

Interestingly, it seems the cultural "drift" of the UK to be more in-line with the US has affected this as well. In 2003 it became illegal over here for anyone over the age of 18 to have sex with anyone under the age of 18, effectively raising the age of consent if you're over 18 years old. There was some mutterings about protecting 16/17-year-olds from teachers or care workers, but this largly passed unnoticed to the general UK public. I only found out about it a month ago.

The whole issue is a mess anyway. For instance, in most countries it's considered wrong for a 30-year-old man to have sex with a 13-year-old girl (something I personally agree with) but what happens if it's two 13-year-olds? They're just experimenting. Assuming they've been taught the dangers and are taking steps to avoid them, and both consent to it, why is it wrong? Over here (I believe) the boy gets in trouble with the law and not the girl for some strange reason. While I agree that younger children need to be protected from exploitation by older adults, I don't think punishing a couple of 13-year-olds for experimenting is the right way to do it. As my mom used to say, they're going to have sex when they feel like it whether you try and stop them or not. We should be doing our best to educate them of the dangers, not yelling DON'T DO THAT and trying to forbid them from it. Forbidden fruit = all the sweeter.

09-26-2007, 06:52 AM	#71
Xerihae Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Name: Chris Location: Wolverhampton, UK Posts: 358	Re: Sex & Violence The situation you describe is illegal in many parts of the US. Does that make us Britons a nation that supports child molestation in the eyes of Americans? Who is right? Who can even consider themselves able to make that decision for everyone? Interestingly, it seems the cultural "drift" of the UK to be more in-line with the US has affected this as well. In 2003 it became illegal over here for anyone over the age of 18 to have sex with anyone under the age of 18, effectively raising the age of consent if you're over 18 years old. There was some mutterings about protecting 16/17-year-olds from teachers or care workers, but this largly passed unnoticed to the general UK public. I only found out about it a month ago. The whole issue is a mess anyway. For instance, in most countries it's considered wrong for a 30-year-old man to have sex with a 13-year-old girl (something I personally agree with) but what happens if it's two 13-year-olds? They're just experimenting. Assuming they've been taught the dangers and are taking steps to avoid them, and both consent to it, why is it wrong? Over here (I believe) the boy gets in trouble with the law and not the girl for some strange reason. While I agree that younger children need to be protected from exploitation by older adults, I don't think punishing a couple of 13-year-olds for experimenting is the right way to do it. As my mom used to say, they're going to have sex when they feel like it whether you try and stop them or not. We should be doing our best to educate them of the dangers, not yelling DON'T DO THAT and trying to forbid them from it. Forbidden fruit = all the sweeter.