Age of Consent

Wednesday, October 11, 2006
An interesting question surfaced at lunch yesterday. A few of my co workers and I were talking about the Foley scandal and about how the Congressional page flirted back with the former Senator. Which led to the point being made that a grown man should not even consider flirting with a 16 year old kid because they are only 16 and not yet an adult. Then somebody raised the question, at what age are we truly adults?

This is a very interesting question because our society sends mixed messages about this. You can drive at 16, drink at 21, vote and fight in a war at 18. Then to further complicate matters, a child of 14 can stand trial as an adult but is still too young to have sex. I am going to give you my opinion about these rites of passage into adulthood and then allow you to tear me up with opposing comments.

How did this get so complicated? You can drive at 16 but cannot drink until 21? This sounds stupid to me; you should drink first and make your mistakes before you can get behind the wheel of a car. Then at 18 you can grab a rifle, kill other people and die for your Country but you’re still not old enough to drink a beer? Then in some States, with parental consent an adult can marry a 14 year old. How ridiculous is that?!! There is no way a 14 year old can understand what it means to make a lifetime commitment such as marriage.

While I realize every child develops at different speeds, we cannot pass laws for individuals so we must pass them for everybody. I am from the KISS (keep it simple stupid) school of thought so the age of adulthood should be set at 18. At that age you can drink, drive, screw, fight in a war, get married and vote. You cannot stand trial as an adult under the age of 18 under any circumstances. I am completely opposed to minors standing trial as adults no matter what the crime. Also, no adult over 18 can have sex with anyone under 18 without jail time (even with parental consent) PERIOD.

But if you are under 18 and you have consensual sex with someone under 18 no charges can be filed. This is going to piss off many fathers with underage daughters that want to punish that 16 year old boy for deflowering their daughter. Let’s face it, the girls like sex too. So the old stereotype that only the boys "want it" is bullshit. I was in high school once and the girls were often more aggressive than the boys but it always seemed to be the boy’s fault when a pregnancy occurred. It was always the boy that was threatened or served jail time. Maybe that has changed today but I doubt it.

Even though I am opposed to children standing trial as adults, I am in favor of criminal records sticking with them through their life. Bad people are bad people and while you can rehabilitate some, most will begin a criminal career which will not end when they turn eighteen. In order to protect the public from these predators, it is important to provide law enforcement and the criminal justice system the tools to recognize patterns so they can take appropriate actions. Therefore, criminal records should follow you from day one.

We should put a statute of limitations on the criminal records of minors. So if they stole a bike at the age of fourteen and now they are twenty four with no more criminal activity, that old charge can be expunged. We should not let one stupid mistake follow good people for the rest of their life.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you think the legal age should be from childhood to adulthood.

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4 Comments:

Blogger Law Fairy said...

People should be allowed to drink at 18 OR at 15 when they're with their parents. Drive at 17. Vote only upon completion of a test of basic political competency, which will consist of such questions as "Who was the first president of the United States?", "What is the Bill of Rights?", and "Who is the current Vice President?" I mean, if you can't answer basic questions like this you really have no business voting.

And, no, this doesn't make me elitist because I would have it in two or three languages. I have no problem with people being citizens even if English is their second language. But you still have to know basic politics -- and this really and truly is reasonable because if you don't understand the basics of our political system, then you can't really say that you're voting for what you want, because you don't really know what you're voting for. So there.

At the age of 65, everyone has a mandatory street driving test every three years. You have two chances. You flunk twice, your license is revoked unless and until you can pass again.

However, also at the age of 65 you get a government-mandated liquor discount, so that you can live out your twilight years in happiness.

The Empress Fairy has spoken.

5:57 PM  
Blogger Louisiana said...

wow, love this post..and where do i sign up for membership to KISS? you have pretty much said how i look at things too..and i'm not just saying that not to write because as you know i can ramble on and on and on, lol..but because it is true..

the girls are 'allowed' by parents to walk out of the house all slutty, err, i mean sexy looking and yet they are the angels and it's the boys who are to blame..they are allowed to act as growunps they are not..stay up way past reasonable hours, unsupervised parties and outings and money to do whatever-no or little parental interaction right until they get in trouble and then they are right there to save the day for their angels..excuse me while i throw up...

Not only do laws have to make sense and be changed both, in your country and mine but society has to have some type of interest in raising decent and good kids...Enough with the trashy, no morals, do as you please world we live in..It is no longer the 60's people, lol...

okay enough...the point is i agree..

3:43 AM  
Blogger Barbarian02003 said...

I agree with you. However, I had to become an adult at the age of 12. I should have been allowed special privledges like being able to drink at 13 and drive the hell away from home at 15.

When it comes to teenagers and crime it can get messy. Scientifically the brain at age 16 has not fully developed, yet 16 year olds are more than capable of stabbing someone to death in a fit of rage. Should that 16 year old get special treatment because he's 16? I don't think so. But, a 16 year old has a better chance of rehabilitation than a person who is 18, 19, or 20. So, should they only be punished for 2 years then re-evaluated? It gets sticky.

If a girl decides she wants to have sex she should be held to the same standards as a guy. If she gets pregnant or cries rape (when it wasn't) then she should get just as much punishment/blame as the boy. Age shouldn't matter. If she's old enough to say "yes," then she's old enough to face the music.

7:36 AM  
Blogger DarthImmortal said...

Empress Fairy,
People don’t even vote in this Country as it is but if you add a test to be able to vote, we would get even fewer people at the polls. So while I know where you are coming from and I respect what you are saying, I just don’t think it would help anybody. The only thing it would accomplish would be instead of 30% of the population turning out to vote, only 10% would turn out. Great comment.

Chana,
The primary trouble with kids is the educational system is in such shambles. If we can ever turn that around we might actually raise smarter kids. Thanks for your awesome comments.

Barbarian,
I am NOT saying the kids that commit crimes should get off with nothing. I am just saying they should NOT be tried as adults. We should try to rehabilitate first. We might actually save some of them if we have worthy programs. The little money we spend when they are younger on programs to rehabilitate might help them in the future and keep them from spending their entire lives in jails.

I think that is the second time you have left a comment telling me about your horrendous childhood. One of these days you should write something about what happened and get if off your chest. Thanks for the comment.

1:25 PM  

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