Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
16 and 17 year olds are not children. I was in my first year of university at age 17. I think a lot of posters here are forgetting what it was like to be that age, and the kind of things kids at that age do. At 16 and 17, I was totally capable of making my own decision when it came to sex and understanding the consequences. It wasn't even a gray area.
Was a police officer suppossed to come around my dorm room and make sure I wasn't having sex with people I couldn't consent with? The current age of consent of 16 is totally acceptable.
Anyone stating that 16 and 17 year olds aren't capable of making these decisions is living in some kind of puritan fantasy. I wouldn't sleep with someone that young, as I find it reprehensible for moral reasons, however, there's a differnce between acts that are morally unacceptable and those that are criminal.
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12 year olds go to university too sometimes. Intelligence does not mean you are an adult.
This is about power dynamics and coercion. A 15 year old does not have a proper grasp of the consequences of their actions. They are easily manipulated and coerced. That's why they can't vote for example.
I think we live in a culture that idolizes and objectifies bodies to the point that people think sex with teenagers is legitimate because they feel like they are naturally compelled to do it. That's bull ####. Sexual complusion is a maladaptive coping mechanism to a society that enforces gender roles and limits self-expression. Sex is about two autonomous and equal individuals sharing intimacy. This idea that men can't keep it in the pants around children should be insulting to all of us.