That the age of consent should be raised to eighteen

[SEsofty]

Currently the law requires children to be in some form of education until they are eighteen. The law prohibits under eighteens buying alcohol because they are not mature enough to handle it.

And yet at sixteen can legally become a parent. Not developed enough to drink and yet can make the most life changing decision.

The vast majority of sexual encounters don’t result in a pregnancy but it is always a possibility.

In order to be logically internally coherent about when as a society we think that children become adults surely the age of consent should be raised. So Aibu to think that the age of consent should be raised to eighteen

it would just mean more teenagers are breaking the law .

I’m not naive enough to think that people don’t break the law, drink under eighteen etc. But I think that it would have two consequences.

Have a coherent age at which society says someone is an adult.

Send a signal. Eg lots of people drive at eighty on a motorway but not in a thirty zone.

As great as that would be, it's just going to make teenagers more crafty about where they have sex. It will also make it more difficult for them to gain access to contraception which will in turn just raise the number of underage pregnancies

RebelRogue Those remarks are not typical. They are outliers. That is why they get into the media.

Tomorrowwillbeachicken In my magistrates' court recently we had a young woman before us (for other reasons) of 19; she had a child of two and a bf of 17. Do the arithmetic then tell us which of them should be in the dock for it.

As for you Firesuit I think we are siblings in the soul. Both born under the Sign of the Taker of the Piss!

A raised age won't stop kids having sex amongst themselves. What it will do is increase seruptitious sex behind cars, in parks etc which means careless sex with no protection. It will also give rise to a huge increase in police prosecutions against adults who have been told by a youngster that they were older than they claimed to be. Is that what we want?
UK does v badly v other European countries on teen pregnancy which have a lower age of consent and more communicative approach.....not suggesting we lower the current consent, but to increase it would be heading the wrong way I feel.

Nobody listens to that law anyway if both of the people in question are the same age. The law doesn't put them off and if they want to do it then they'll do it. Raising the age to 18 (though in theory makes sense), would not actually convince people to wait until 18 because there's no threat of any prosecution if they're both the same age

I totally disagree. Teens under 16 are always going to have sex, puberty is your body getting ready for sex and reproduction and those hormonal urges are difficult to curb.

Aside from this, sex as a teen can be wonderful, explorative, exciting and I will not be encouraging my daughters to abstain (and my eldest is 11, so we aren't talking ten years away here).

As with almost everything, open conversation and education is the key. If the conversation starts early, they are less likely to be embarrassed by it and (hopefully!) will then be comfortable talking to their partner about contraception, expectations etc. We can also remind them that there is a whole world of sex out there that doesn't include PIV, in my opinion, teens do rush into that a bit and it isn't a recipe for great sex.

It is 2018, there is no need to anyone to have a baby that they are not ready for, STD testing is readily available and free and, in my opinion, the best way to counter the wonky view of sex that some kids get from porn is to bloody well remind them that porn is 'sex as entertainment' and is not made to feel good for the participants.

They are outliers

If only. Society still judges girl and women for being victims. It judges children. It judges even more when a man's "reputation and career is ruined". It puts the onus on women and girls to change their behaviour,to control themselves, to change what they wear,what they do ,what they say.

OP, it isn’t against the law for U18s to drink. They can even drink wine and beer with a meal in a pub if with an over-18 year old.

They can ‘legally ‘ become a parent before 26, too.

The law and supporting constructive lifestyles are not the same thing.

The law you propose would merely criminalise many young people.

Support and education would go a lot further.

Before 16, not 26!

It is 2018, there is no need to anyone to have a baby that they are not ready for

The problem with teens is they believe they are ready. They see babies as cute. They see babies as a way to keep their boyfriend, or have someone to live unconditionally.

What they don't see is the hard work and exhaustion linked to having children especially when their friends are just beginning to go out and have fun, start work and enjoy the nightlife.

There are plenty of teen moms who are brilliant with their children - and the still would be a few years older.

Teens need to be taught the reality of raising children if you want to educate them properly. Not to mention the faniancual loss they make being out of the work place.

No. Not possible to police that without a whole lot of young people ending up with criminal records and ending up on the sex offenders register - and lives ruined.

Educate kids about how to have sex instead.

Pregnant teenagers aren’t as common now, are they, which can only be a good thing.

We should be adopting Hollands view on underage pregnancy. Not sure how they do it but part of it must be stigma - something we don't have here anymore (sadly). We are too busy trying to be 'inclusive' but I don't think a child of 16 or under having a baby is a good thing.

I think there is a stigma about it, which is why it’s gone down.

And yet at sixteen can legally become a parent. Not developed enough to drink and yet can make the most life changing decision

What has the law got to do with it? What is the punishment for illegally getting pregnant?

This is a ridiculous notion.

I don't think increasing the age of consent would be beneficial. Teens are always going to do it regardless.

They can get married at 16, which is weirder.

In my experience the girls who get pregnant young (under 16 young) are often vulnerable themselves and often aren’t the brightest.

One thing that has probably taken term pg rates down is that contraception is freely available, free, and confidentially to U16s.

The laws that stop grown adults abusing children and young teens need to be different to those that enable teens to look after themselves. Supporting good decision making around sexual relationships and sexual health is much more effective for young people than criminalising them.

Good luck with that. All it will achieve is to make the number of young people having sex illegally go through the roof. And I speak as someone who was 24 before I did it.

Believe me, it won't work.

I didn't have sex until I was 18 but many of my friends did before 16 and one at 13.
No law will stop kids having sex if they want to. Boys of 18 could be prosectued for having sex with their 17 year old girlfriend? That would be ridiculous.

Tbh I worry more about the increasing rate of stds than I do teen pregnancy.

Contraception was freely available in the 90s too though.

Different attitude in the 90s, though.