What should the age of consent be?

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BornInMarch

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The age of consent is how old someone needs to be to legally have sex. Globally, this can range from people needing to be 12 to have legal sex (Angola) to people needing to be married to have legal sex (Saudi Arabia). In most countries it is between 16 and 18.

In your opinion, what should the age of consent objectively be?
 
BornInMarch said:
The age of consent is how old someone needs to be to legally have sex. Globally, this can range from people needing to be 12 to have legal sex (Angola) to people needing to be married to have legal sex (Saudi Arabia). In most countries it is between 16 and 18.

In your opinion, what should the age of consent objectively be?
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The age of consent should be the age at which a person is considered an adult. In the U.S., that is 18. When the child can legally vote, own property and have all other adult entitlements/burdens, that is when s/he should be able to legally consent. If a 15 is too irresponsible/immature to vote in elections, how is that child responsible and mature enough to have sex and deal with all of its ramifications?
 
Regina7 said:
The age of consent should be the age at which a person is considered an adult. In the U.S., that is 18. When the child can legally vote, own property and have all other adult entitlements/burdens, that is when s/he should be able to legally consent. If a 15 is too irresponsible/immature to vote in elections, how is that child responsible and mature enough to have sex and deal with all of its ramifications?
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Yet the Code of Canon Law of the Church allows girls to marry at 14 years old - which means that they are allowed to have sexual relations at that age.

Can. 1083 §1. A man before he has completed his sixteenth year of age and a woman before she has completed her fourteenth year of age cannot enter into a valid marriage.

Until very recently the age of sexual consent within the Vatican City State was 12 years old. This was changed presumably because of the many sex scandals within the Church.

The legal age in Italy (and quite a few other European countries) is 14 years old.
 
At least the age of 25. , while on a tour in Germany,
we had a tour of Marksburg Castle, they had a fine display on certain forms of apparel made from metal , which if worn by all the populace , would stop so many forms of promiscuous behaviour , plus keep the Population at a more sustainable level,
I don’t think my thoughts will get much traction…:eek:
 
Regina7 said:
The age of consent should be the age at which a person is considered an adult. In the U.S., that is 18. When the child can legally vote, own property and have all other adult entitlements/burdens, that is when s/he should be able to legally consent. If a 15 is too irresponsible/immature to vote in elections, how is that child responsible and mature enough to have sex and deal with all of its ramifications?
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I agree in the UK the age of consent is 16 but the voting age is 18 which seems illogical to me.
 
The age of consent here in India legally is 18 for women and 21 for Men. Though it is by convention in some of the tribes or some particular communities that don’t bother about any law, though they are also subject to penalties, without minding their cause, marry their children in childhood like below 12 years, which are rare. It is in my opinion that it should be even more than 21 and below 24 if matters not worse the situation.
 
Regina7 said:
The age of consent should be the age at which a person is considered an adult. In the U.S., that is 18. When the child can legally vote, own property and have all other adult entitlements/burdens, that is when s/he should be able to legally consent. If a 15 is too irresponsible/immature to vote in elections, how is that child responsible and mature enough to have sex and deal with all of its ramifications?
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They can’t drink until 21, isn’t that the case in the US?

There seem to be a number of thresholds for “legal ages”:
  • the age you can drive a car;
  • the age you can ride a motorcycle;
  • the age you can fly a plane;
  • the age you can vote;
  • the age you can be drafted;
  • the age you can drink;
  • the age you can be tried as an adult in court;
  • and the age of consent.
Maybe others that do not come to ind immediately.

Should they all be aligned to the same age?
 
John_Lazarus said:
They can’t drink until 21, isn’t that the case in the US?
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That is correct.
John_Lazarus said:
There seem to be a number of thresholds for “legal ages”:
  • the age you can drive a car;
  • the age you can ride a motorcycle;
  • the age you can fly a plane;
  • the age you can vote;
  • the age you can be drafted;
  • the age you can drink;
  • the age you can be tried as an adult in court;
  • and the age of consent.
Maybe others that do not come to ind immediately.

Should they all be aligned to the same age?
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Voting rights and drafting age are consistent in the U.S. (18 across the board.) Voting used to be 21, but it was dropped to 18 partially because of the Vietnam War–it was one of the things people were screaming about, was that they were drafting 18 to 20 year olds (my own dad included, he was 20 when he got drafted), who couldn’t vote. (That inspired the song lyric, “You’re old enough to kill, but not for voting.”)

Some of the others can vary from state to state. Age of consent in Colorado is 17. However, the state immediately east of mine (Kansas) is 16. The state immediately west (Utah) is 18.

Driving a car apparently varies from state to state as well. I had thought it was 16 across the board, but in Colorado, you need to be 17 in order to drive in a car by yourself–from 16 to 17, you need to have an adult in the car with you. I found this out when one of my friends mentioned that she was going to buy herself a new car and hand over her current car to her now-16-year-old daughter when said daughter turns 17 and can drive in a car by herself.

Drinking is by and large, 21, however, there’s some…‘exceptions’, for lack of a better word. My home state of Missouri (which has some of the most liberal liquor laws of the U.S.), for example, makes it legal for parents to give their children alcohol, so long as the child does not become intoxicated. So at Christmas and Thanksgiving, it was permissible for me to have a glass of wine with dinner. (Special occasion.) Ironically, I joined the Army at 18 and was shipped overseas at 18, so pretty much except for the 8 months was in South Carolina and Georgia, I’ve been able to legally drink my entire life. 😃 And in truth, I don’t drink very much, I just haven’t much tolerance for it.
 
John_Lazarus said:
They can’t drink until 21, isn’t that the case in the US?

There seem to be a number of thresholds for “legal ages”:
  • the age you can drive a car;
  • the age you can ride a motorcycle;
  • the age you can fly a plane;
  • the age you can vote;
  • the age you can be drafted;
  • the age you can drink;
  • the age you can be tried as an adult in court;
  • and the age of consent.
Maybe others that do not come to ind immediately.

Should they all be aligned to the same age?
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I think so. It makes no sense why, in America, a 16 year old can drive (though mom and dad are legally responsible for any monetary issues). 21 is when you can drink, but you can enlist in the army at 18. I think they should all be the same age.
 
Used to be many states had drinking ages under 21, some 20, some 19 and even an 18 or two somewhere. Then the feds got involved via highway funding which came with the requirement to reset the drinking age to 21 if the states wanted that funding. And that’s how the drinking age became quite uniform across the country.
 
There should be no age of consent for alcohol and smoking. 16 should be the minimum for getting married and joining the military. 18 or 21 are just arbitrary numbers.
 
TexasCatholic13 said:
There should be no age of consent for alcohol and smoking. 16 should be the minimum for getting married and joining the military. 18 or 21 are just arbitrary numbers.
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The term “age of consent” legally refers only to sexual relations. It has nothing to do with alcohol or smoking.

18 is not an arbitrary number. It is the legally defined age when someone can be held accountable for a contract.
 
Sunbreak said:
The term “age of consent” legally refers only to sexual relations. It has nothing to do with alcohol or smoking.

18 is not an arbitrary number. It is the legally defined age when someone can be held accountable for a contract.
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yes, but 18 being the legal age for anything is still arbitrary. there’s really no reason to view 18 as the age we become adults, so it is completely arbitrary. It’s just the age that was settled on for one reason or another. Personally, I don’t like any restrictions or rights based on age as they should be based on maturity, experience, ability, etc. Unfortunately that’s just impractical so I understand the line needs to be drawn somewhere, so as the father of a little girl, I propose the age consent to be 40.
 
Zzyzx_Road said:
Used to be many states had drinking ages under 21, some 20, some 19 and even an 18 or two somewhere. Then the feds got involved via highway funding which came with the requirement to reset the drinking age to 21 if the states wanted that funding. And that’s how the drinking age became quite uniform across the country.
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Im surprised the big alcohol companies didnt fight that tooth and nail! but I guess they figure underage kids have always managed to get alcohol anyway and that will never change.

Plus, I believe kids can buy and drink 3/2 beer and other fruity mix type drinks that contain under a certain percentage of alcohol, these have become very popular with the young crowd recently.

In my state, age of consent for sex and marriage is 14 or 16, I know its not 18 though.
 
In many States, the age of consent for marriage, which often involves sex, is 16, and it can be younger with parental consent.
 
The age of consent should be the age when it is reasonable to expect they can deal with the consequences of their actions.

From my view that means being able to get a job that can support family.

I realize as well that this is not a concrete age. It is dependent upon resources, their own talent, determination, and maturity.
 
vz71 said:
The age of consent should be the age when it is reasonable to expect they can deal with the consequences of their actions.

From my view that means being able to get a job that can support family.

I realize as well that this is not a concrete age. It is dependent upon resources, their own talent, determination, and maturity.
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Problem is, that is different from person to person, and really in todays world, many 20 yr olds are not even close to being responsible or even having common sense, maybe it is due to them being over sheltered thru life or maybe thats just how young people are today.
 
John_Lazarus said:
They can’t drink until 21, isn’t that the case in the US?

There seem to be a number of thresholds for “legal ages”:
  • the age you can drive a car;
  • the age you can ride a motorcycle;
  • the age you can fly a plane;
  • the age you can vote;
  • the age you can be drafted;
  • the age you can drink;
  • **the age you can be tried as an adult in court;
  • and the age of consent.**
Maybe others that do not come to ind immediately.

Should they all be aligned to the same age?
Click to expand...
Yes. There is an inconsistency in saying that a 12-year-old has the mentality to consent to committing a crime, but does not have the mentality to consent to having sex. This does not necessarily mean that I believe that the age of consent should be lowered; more like the age of being tried as an adult should be raised. And just so y’all know, I think that all sexual activity outside a valid marriage is wrong.
 
Yet no one blinks an eye at an 8 year old receiving first communion. Your very soul is at stake if one does not properly understand what is necessary to fully repent and ask for forgiveness. I just think it’s way too important to place that responsibility on an 8 year old who lacks the full realization and maturity needed.
 
I would say eighteen, though I would understand seventeen or sixteen though. I also have the quirky opinion that the age of legal consent to engage in sex should be consistent with statutory rape laws, which is why I think eighteen is the best age.
 
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