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

YABU. 16 year olds can work and potentially live alone (although it’s difficult but I did it). If they are legally allowed to work and earn money, they should legally be able to have sex.

Don’t be naive in thinking raising the age will also raise the age people lose their virginity because it really wouldn’t. Many people have sex before 16 now with little repercussions. We just need better sex education.

Lethaldrizzle Tue 29-May-18 10:26:07
"I wasn't a raging sex addict at that age"

Neither was my niece. But by the age of 17 she was in a steady relationship with the boy she later went on to marry and is still happily married to 15 years later. They've had a lovely life, taken time to get on in their careers and travel a bit before they finally had their first child, over 10 years into their relationship. To me, that seems like empowerment: having the confidence and the knowledge to plan things in the best way for themselves as a couple.

I was a virgin at 18 and that was absolutely fine. But I don't see why my experience should have overruled or determined hers. Surely the important thing was to ensure that we both had the confidence to do what was best for us?

I agree. I started at 15. It didn't seem any different to 16.

I doubt I would have, had it been 18.

pointythings that sounds amazing. Is the sex education home based or school based or both? Are there special sex Ed classes or is it routinely incorpaoated into standard lessons like science?

It won't make any difference, so what's the point?

I would lower it to 14.

I suspect we will stick at 16 for now.

I would lower it to 14

Why? There are young men preying on teens girls who are too immature to deal with their advances. Now teens in teen relationships are fair game, it this law give girls some protection should they be taken advantage of

I would be happy to stick at 16. It represents a real defining moment in the British adolescent experience, it's an age where young people are expected to take more responsibility for themselves in other areas, and where they are traditionally given more freedom.

Makes good sense to me.

14 was an age where I still wanted to be in charge of a good many of their decisions; 16 was an age where I felt they ought to be steered towards making more of their own decisions in preparation for their coming of age.

nolonger sex education is school based and starts when children are about 5, in a very age-appropriate way. It's part of the general curriculum, and teachers are taught to deliver it alongside their usual work. At primary, this means all teachers are part of this. In secondary it's mostly delivered as part of the science curriculum.

There is a home-based component too in the sense that Dutch culture is very different when it comes to talking about sex at home. The Dutch are very open about it and tend to be a lot less uptight than the British. That's a cultural mindset you can't readily change, unfortunately.

But it does mean for example that the age of first intercourse is a lot higher in Holland than it is in the UK - sex isn't forbidden fruit, it isn't something you do when you're drunk on a Friday night. Sex education in Holland places a strong emphasis on mutual consent and on relationships - not in a sense of 'not until you're married', but more 'not without commitment'. It's a much healthier approach.

"16 is the age British teens move up to Sixth Form or into apprenticeships"

Depends on the family surely? If you stay at school for sixth form it's no different to going up any year.

"Re cultural variation,..."

What I meant was that people's age of first having sex is not just down to hormones, otherwise it would be at puberty or a certain fixed number of years after puberty and the average wouldn't vary across groups and cultures. It's a social and cultural thing, as well as biological, which is why it can change.

YABU, I met my now DH at 16. We were perfectly mature and informed enough to make that decision at that age.

I really feel that well-intentioned moves to protect our DC like this just extend their childhood a bit too far. Kids do have to grow up at some point, we can't protect them forever, just prepare them by giving them information and support.