So...What should the "jailbait" age be? and what should the consequences be?

[taster]

My friend kheserthorpe made the following comment: "it wouldn't be called bait if it wasn't tempting" and I was so impressed that I decided to ask a Question...what should the legal consent age be? And what should the consequences be to those who violate that law? Should there be a tier? In other words..is it more serious for a 50-year-old to have sex with a 17-year-old or for an 18-year-old to have sex with a 14-year-old?

[peace-love-couture]

The only problem I see with lowering the Age of Consent is that pedophiles use the same logic about children. It may have been Oprah, but she did an episode on NAMBLA(North American Man/Boy Love Association) and an FBI agent or whatever read off some of the information on the boards. Now, if you know the background behind NAMBLA, it's really a support/activist group and forum that supports older male/young boy relationships and of course it bases its argument around people simply being homophobic.

Some of the material the guy read off was basically grown men trying to justify pedophilia going as far as saying that when little girls are at the park and they are playing around and lift their dresses(cause they're little--about 3/4) or show their diapers and underwear, they're sending messages to them(the grown men) that they want sex. That's the problem. The men on the forum were justifying sex with children by saying that little boys and girls CAN give consent to sex so long as they say yes.

If we lower the age consent to 14, soon it'll be 12, then 10, then whaddya know? We've got herbert the pervert preying on innocent children.

But, my perspective also comes from the fact that there are too many young guys who have their lives ruined by immature bitches who all of a sudden want to cry rape when the relationship doesn't go as pleased. We had a star athlete at my high school a couple of years ago. Full ride scholarship offers from multiple SEC schools & he'd already committed to an SEC school. He had sex with another high schooler, she cried rape and he was stripped of all scholarships and offers and ended up going to a pretty crappy school. The thing was, he wasn't just athletic. He was IB, 5.0 GPA. He'd been offered athletic scholarships as well as academic scholarships. it's cases like that which make me angry because it's so hard to create laws around this. And there was a string of football players in my area a couple of years back who were falsely accused of rape or whatever.

I personally feel that there should be an age gap that eliminates "jailbait" simply because we've seen it time & time again where 15 year old heartbroken girl cries rape. In Texas, the age gap is 3 years. So, an 18 year old can have sex w/a 15 year old assuming it's consensual. I do think it should be a 3-4 year gap. So, if you're 14, you could technically sleep with an 17 year old(hopefully you won't) but when are parents gonna act like parents and become involved?

Ok, so, I say, make it a 3 year age gap for those between the ages 14/15/16 and common sense and caution must be taken for those 17.

I rambled too much

[peace-love-couture]

But I think being realistic is a little out of the realms in this one, so this is all really dependent on multiple variables. 1st, parents need to become involved and establish open relationships with their children. But the gov't can't expect that right? No, because most teens aren't willing to put in the effort. But people forget that turning 15 or 16 or 18 doesn't make sex off guard. Teens are gonna have sex with whoever they like, however they please.

[taster]

HA! You on a roll here lately...(:...<3<3<3=D

[TheAnswerer]

I believe that the way people "justify" pedophilia is just sick. I agree with you on that. However, I don't agree that the "age of consent" will drop over time and just be abolished if we drop it to 16 now. Actually, "Flynn Effect" states that the average human IQ rises steadily every year, and I'm sure that this "steady increase" applies to much more. May be all age-based laws should have the "age limits" gradually dropped and eventually abolished, because we are developing and progressing?

[TheAnswerer]

And by gradually, I mean like over a course of 200 years or so. May be this is what's supposed to happen, rather than a constant age limit for all laws.

[peace-love-couture]

Obviously you've never been to America where the IQ seems to drop every year. We And America certainly needs laws addressing this issue. if there are no laws it becomes too ambiguous and people find loopholes

[TheAnswerer]

Just because people seem to be getting more stupid doesn't mean we should start telling them what to do. The way I understand laws is that they "protect" rather than "guide". As in, if you are hurting someone else, you should be punished. But if you aren't hurting anyone else, even though you are doing something immoral / unethical / "wrong", laws can't touch you. P.S. I'm actually in the United States right now, as an international student.

[peace-love-couture]

Right, cause that's how America works. You seem to have it down rather than the rest of us who've lived here our whole lives

[pepper01]

both are more serious because they are underage. I think the age should stay the same 18 maybe even be raised to 21 because at 18 you are still a teenager. 21 more experience somewhat and more freedom.

[taster]

but...that would make you jailbait? O:O...lol..Please don't sic the heat on me...(:(:(:(:

[pepper01]

well you know I'm dating an older guy and being 20 I can't even do anything lol. I think they should raise it to 21

[taster]

Hugs & Kisses Sabrina..<3<3

[pepper01]

hugs and kisses back :))))))

[iPood]

I think 16 is a good age for consent. And it should be one size fits all. Like, it's legal whether the partner is 18 or 60.

[taster]

Interesting..not sure if I have an opinion..kheser got me to thinking...(:

[TheAnswerer]

I agree. As long as we know that the person is too young or uneducated to decide on his/her own sexuality, it doesn't matter what the age of the other party is.

[taster]

Oui, c'est vrai...(:

[WhiteSteve]

interesting question. I think 18 is fair. I'm 33 now, and there's an 18 year old works for me. she's gorgeous, but I can't help but look at her as a little girl and just think "but if was 10 years younger I'd be all over that..." when I was 21 I hooked up with a girl that was still 17, which is legal in my state (we actually never had any type of sex until years later when she was around 21 and I randomly ran into her at a party) and didn't ever really feel that comfortable with it. then when I was 27 I dated an 18 year old who was in her last month of high school when we first got together, and even though it was legal, it just felt wrong. she just happened to be impossibly hot, so I figured I'd just get with her until she realized she was the type who can move to miami or LA and be some pro athlete or other rich celebrity's trophy wife, haha. anyway, it was great on a physical level, but hanging out with her was near impossible. she was a sweet kid, but she was just out of high school and still was fascinated by getting drunk and doing dumb sh*t, haha. plus she'd want to show off her older boyfriend to the other just-out-of-high-school kids, and I'm like, "ok, I didn't get into this to be hanging out with 18 year old DUDES." hahaha. point is: those age gaps are tough unless you literally just meet up and have sex and don't speak and then go back to your separate lives.

but that tier idea makes sense. I remember turning 18, and wondering if the sex I had been having all along with my 16 year old girlfriend was suddenly going to become illegal for a two year window of time, haha.

[TheAnswerer]

I believe that the "consent age" should be lowered to 16.

Anyone who knows what sexual intercourse is, and understands the risks and potential consequences of intercourse, is simply ready to give consent.

Considering that we all start to feel the effects of puberty at ages as early as 9 or as late as 14, a consent age of 16 gives enough time for the person to be educated on the risks / impacts / consequences of sexuality, and as soon as they are educated enough to be able to make decisions, they should be given the power and responsibility of making decisions.

I am NOT saying that a 16-years-old teenager always makes the right decisions, but neither does an 18-years-old "adult". But that is irrelevant.

The "age of consent" law is there NOT to make sure that everyone makes the right decision, but to make sure that everyone is CAPABLE of making decisions, in that, they are not being pressured into something they don't want or something that they don't know about.

Therefore, in my opinion, as soon as a teenager gains enough knowledge to be able to make decisions on his / her sexuality, he / she should be allowed to make these decisions, regardless of whether he / she will make the "right" decision.

Again, the laws are not there to ensure that we are "doing it right". They are there to ensure that "we" are doing it, rather than someone else coercing or manipulating us into it.

[queefy]

Part of it is the pregnancy issue in America. They don't want girls having babies too soon when they're still in school and still developing emotionally. But I was physically ready to receive long before 18. I didn't wait til then to have sex, and I've no regrets I waited.

[Xx_DRE_xX]

The age it is now.

[Anonymous]

Where I live the age of consent is 16, regardless the age difference. I don't think there is a 3-4 year difference rate meaning, I don't think it's legal for a 15 year old can legally have sex with a 16 year old where I live. I would have to actually research some more to be sure.

My problem is when there is a legal age of sexual consent being 16, but the legal age for p*rnography to be 18. In other words, it's completely legal for a 50 year old person to have sex with a 16 year old... but that 16 year old person can't send a naked picture of themselves to anyone...

So, they are old enough to consent to have sex, but they're not old enough to send naked pictures of themselves because then it would be labeled as "child p*rn".

I don't have a problem with 18 being the legal age for p*rnography, amateur or professional, but if the legal age of consent is going to be 16, then might as well do the same for photos. If they don't want to change the age of p*rnography, then they should change the age of consent to 18 to match it.

[taster]

Yeah I get you...Double standard...

[Anonymous]

I think consent should be 16, with a max of a 3 year difference unless you are 18.

[taster]

This is not a bad idea...(:

[Anonymous]

18-year-old to have sex with a 14-year-old is more serious. she's only 14