Do you think 14 year olds know what they are doing?

I had a debate with a man who said 14 year old olds know what they are doing because they know what sex is and can consent to an adult for sex.

I said mentally they can't consent because they are not developed enough to make these kind of decisions, while the adult knows better in this case.
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Most Helpful Guys

  • Just because you understand something doesn't mean you should do it. Yes most of them understand consent just fine, and some of them understand their own biology to a T, but thats not enough.

    While the ability to comprehend things is easier the younger you are because of neuroplasticity being health related, I understand how skydiving works, does that make it safe? No, it doesn't.

    Their brains may have developed well enough years before then. likely before being a teen, but they are in no way set up to deal with paranthood before age 25 from a life stage perspective (and if a ressession, 30), and about half of them won't be physically developed enough to handle a pregancy at 14 without high risk.

    I understood everything about sex and consent just fine at that age (and before it), but it also resulted in me holding off on sex because I didn't want kids, wasn't wealthy enough to have them even if i wanted to, and watched real women give birth, and understood that birth control fails all the time and condoms tear and IUds cause serious health issues, as do vasectomies and tube tying/burning.

    I think if "you know what you are doing" and thus know if you aren't the parenting type, or if you are not ready to be a parent, then you typically abstain from having sex. And if a person does decided to consent at that age, then odds are they have no clue what they are doing.

    I think acknowledging that they are capable of understanding these things will keep them celibate longer, because when you don't teach them about this sort of stuff in detail, their curiosity gets the better of them and they sneak out of the house at night to bang that friend at school they thought was cute, and then their life turns to shit.

    Granted I think a lot of people in their 50s still have no idea what they are doing, and many contracted stds over the years and poppped out lots of babies who were poorly cared for, all because teen or preteen them was never educated because they were assumed to be too stupid too understand anything.

    So comprehension isn't really an age thing, but forced ignorance really isn't going to help. Typically the reason an adult would know better is do to having been exposed to the information. I've never had penatrative sex yet and I'm 35, because I knew better before I even hit 12 and decided to hold off until the right person comes along and i was physically and financially prepared for any outcome.

    • Children clearly have less comprehension skills than adults, that's how your mind develops, it's science, most kids don't know the consequences to their actions, and don't think rationally, this is why it's illegal in the first place for an adult to take advantage of a child, because they know better what they are doing and have power over the kid.

    • Actually children understand logic better than adults in most cases, I already mentioned why and any further debate would just have me repeating myself, you do not understand how the brain develops, the changes over growth stages are not comprehension related, they are related to transforming the body into and adult physically. Logic and comprehension are actually gained very early on, and mentally slow children tend to grow up to be even slower adults. The logical reason it should be illegal is physical development, financial security, and world experience being lacking. So I while I don't agree with the reason for the laws, I do agree with the laws. Also just because a person is mentally able to understand information, does not mean it has been given to them, so children can appear dumber than they actually are.

    • You are just here expressing your opinion while forcing it as a fact. You are like 1 in a million, and strange.

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  • this is funny because when a female teacher bangs a 14 year old MALE student, everybody just goes off on how the boy is so lucky and wanted it. Interesting because the "science" has stated that girls mature faster than boys, so if a 14 year old male knows what he's doing, and is a hero and lucky for banging his hot teacher, then the science and logic would support that a 14 year old girl would be even more mature and have greater understanding of her actions than the male. Wonder why society doesn't comprehend that. Their double standard is sickening.

    • The relevant difference there is that not every 14 year old female is going to be able to safely carry a baby. Men don't need to worry about a 6 to 20 pound parasite eating half their meals and taxing their body. So when citing a double standard, at least in that regard, it makes sense to have one. In terms of understanding things, there is no data saying either gender develops better or faster in cognition, (and plenty to refute it), and being able to understand things happens much earlier, but as I stated in my answer, thats not enough.

    • @TheSpaceGnome there is clear evidence females develop faster both physically and mentally, they are more rational and understand more than boys their age. This is evident in how they behave and act. This suggests that females are more ready for sex with older men. In regards to the pregnancy, girls can get just as often pregnant with a boy their own age, so that's not a justification for having a double standard against an older man.

    • I'm not saying a double standard should exist, I'm saying thats why one would exist, because thats the conclusion most people are going to draw (that since men can't get pregnant, it's not the same risk level). Also, there is definitely NOT evidence that girls develop faster mentally or physically than boys. Most adults are irrational, stupid people there entire lives. Finding a rational person is like winning the lottery, so any study" claiming any gender develops faster mentally is automatically pseudoscientific bs, you will never get a big enough sample size for that. As for physically, there is no standard in size or shape, individual men and women develop in different ways and rates that are almost as unique as a fingerprint, and the differences within one gender are so drastic when comparing individuals, that no consistency in growth rate or growth type exists for a given gender, so it's impossible to compare each gender. Some women never grow boobs, some men never grow beards, some are hulks at 12, some small and thin at 40, there is no standard, not even close. Also I finished developing physically at 14 and was more advanced mentally than most 30 year olds as a preteen, so by what measurement goal is a person "done" developing? If you go by personal experience, I've met more rational men than women, but even the men were not high in number, and the reverse might be true in someone else's case. As for the younger vs older men comparison, the context he put fourth was an older person banging a younger one, specifically a teacher banging a student. so I responded to that context. Regardless of being the same age or one person being older though, not every girl is going to finish developing physically by 14. so my point still stands as valid.

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Most Helpful Girls

  • Tell this gentleman that in general the law would see such as being coerced not consenting and he'd end up in jail. Passed around as the wing's new squealing bitch.

    As for the question. No. They don't.

    The only ones who "do" and I use that word most liberally are 14-year-olds who've grown up in shitty households where their mother runs a one-woman brothel and they were exposed to over-sexual behaviors young. Those are the typical 14-year-olds running around in high heels, makeup & what not pretending to be 18 or older. A case of "monkey see monkey do" - mom's a tramp & daughters start young (generations of tramps are very typical in some areas of UK).

  • I think some can and some can’t. I knew all about sex and i was mature at 14 but i had little clue about consent because schools don’t teach that until too late. They’re plenty developed to make a decision but they’re probably not educated enough to understand or recognise the consequences. I think there’s a difference between fooling around with boys your own age and adult men who take advantage

    • How does the adult men take advantage and the boy does not

    • Assuming the girl likes both

    • No it’s just that you’d assume that boys would have that same lack of education. Men know about the law and consent and they can go around that, boys in my opinion would be in the same boat as girls as in awkward fumbling and no understanding of consequences

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What Girls & Guys Said

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  • yep they would know what sex is but 14 year olds do not think long term and they do not think about the consequences of their actions. they are prone to peer pressure and may try to conform to their idea of "norm". they may have raging hormones but i think if they're mature enough to use protection and keep safe, who are we to comment? cheers.

  • i definitely wanted it when i was 13... i had anal and gave oral... not to say i made the right choices as i pretty much became a slut.

    • That’s a pretty normal thing for 13 year old girls tbh. My daughter is the exact same, very horny and adventurous.

    • @EUAussie Thats hot.

  • Personally, I think that minors are too young to consent, because while they know what happens, they won't be thinking about the consequences, and even if they do and they still want to go through with it, they won't be as socially accepted as other people their age. Although, 25 is the ideal full maturation age when all adults are at their peak of emotional maturity, so I wonder, why not bring the consent age up a notch? That way there can be less teenagers going around carrying babies to school (obviously this doesn't actually happen, just using it as a metaphor) and they can focus on getting a good job instead of cooking their child's next meal. But anyway. I also don't think the parents or guardians of the child should be able to consent for the child, because then that's just giving someone's rights away, and that... is questionable, at least in my opinion. But honestly, I think children shouldn't be able to consent with anyone older than them, if they do, oh well, we can't control their lives, as much as they can't control ours.

  • Going to be an unpopular opinion here...

    Personally... No I don't think they should be having sex... Others have said it... Just cuz they know what it is doesn't mean they're are aware of the consequence. That being said...

    I think using the "there not mature enough" is a pore excuse... It should be more of an individual evaluation... To say she's to young to know better also implies that an adult automatically knows better just due to some magical number... When I've experienced SEVERAL adults who didn't have the maturity to handle regular situations let alone sex...

    All "being an adult" means is that every one else dissent care of you mess up cuz your responsible for yourself. Weather or not that person is mature or stable or what ever... No one cares...

    And on the reverse side. There are younger men and women, boys and girls... Far more mature then some adults. So I think the question is kind of loaded.

    I will saw that yes, with age comes a better chance of being responsible cuz you've experienced more. But it's not a 100% thing... And we shouldn't just assume it is. I think this is a big reason different countries and started have different ages of consent as low as 13 in some places.

    What should be more important is education on the subject so that a person can make a better informed decision for themselves.

    But that's just my opinion

  • Judging by the ignorance I see everyday on GAG i'm convinced lots of 44 year-olds don't know what they're doing either. At least at 14 they can learn

  • This is immoral no 14 yr old should be having sex. What about pregnancy, disease, etc. Kids should be enjoying their childhood it won't last long just my opinion ✌️

  • 19 year olds don't even know what they're doing.

    You should probably report that guy to the police lol

    • That's stupid

  • 14 year olds are naive because of their lack of life experience. They haven't spent time out in the world. They're not retarded or completely stupid, by any means, but they much more easily manipulated.

    I have absolutely no problem with 14 year olds deciding to engage in sexual activity. Many girls that age do, and their partners are usually at least a year or two older, because boys tend to mature a bit later than girls.

    Once kids reach puberty, it's time for them to begin their journey of exploration (not only when it comes to sex) in gaining life experience. They are eager to try out their new, adult bodies. They have to start making mistakes in all aspects of life and human interaction, and learning from them. That's how people grow.

    Hopefully, they have been taught enough by their parents and teachers to be cautious, and not make terrible mistakes. But safe sex is not terrible. In fact, it's a good thing.

    In the scenario you painted, though, the problem is not with a 14 year old girl engaging in sexual activity, it's with a much older man chasing after her. A guy like that has issues. He's a predator. He can try to rationalize his behavior by saying the girl knows enough to freely consent to sex with him, but he has no business being around her in the first place. The two of them have absolutely nothing in common except for physical attraction. And as I said before, it would be relatively easy for a good looking older guy to flatter a young girl and manipulate her in other psychological and emotional ways just to get in her pants. The difference between young, inexperienced people and older, more experienced people is gullibility due to lack of life experience.

    • I was never talking about girls

  • To put it into context our age of criminal responsibility here in Scotland is 12 years old. So it's assumed that by age 12 you have enough sense to know what you are doing and what actions you're taking.

    However when you're discussing sex, and adults, it's not just the kid that's making a decision, it's two people involved and they can be manipulated if they're not taught about things like consent. So when it comes to sex, no I don't believe there capable of making sensible, knowledgeable decisions.

  • While gross generalizations are ALWAYS dangerous. Let's look at the REAL issues. Foremost is the POTENTIAL for PHYSIOLOGICAL harm; unintentional conception, ... communicable diseases and anatomical physical trauma.

    Most adolescents live in the perpetual 'immediate moment' ... they live to EXPERIENCE, ... to 'feel' and ONLY THEN to reflect... once the sensations have passed. Humans have naturally evolved such that in their formative years their foremost priorities are to observe, ... in order to survive, ... in order to reproduce SUCESSFULY to perpetuate their species. Pragmatically ALL ELSE is 'surplusage 'pastimes!

    The Divinity's manifest Nature DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN that you can comprehend calculus, but DOES evolutionarily neurologically hormonally 'reward' the quality and quantity of One's capacity to seduce and copulate. This is most overtly-observed in our nearest genetically-related simian relatives the Bonobo chimpanzees. Yet, despite this, no consensus can be pragmatically reached to 'educate' our pre-teens to counteract opportune predatory exploitation!

    Our primate brains are conditioned to seek out, ... and release highly-addictive pleasure chemistry of Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin. Societally, 'morality' are the 'do's and 'don'ts authoritative (church & state) OTHER'S have overlain as restrictive 'rules' ... which have LITTLE actual relationship to the PRAGMATIC PHYSICAL CONCERNS discussed in the opening paragraph.

    Therefore... ANY CONSENSUAL sex play which DOES NOT violate the rational physiological perils, IS... in most non-western nature-centric societies, PERMISSIBLE and tolerated. And in SOME, even ENCOURAGED. (See paragraph two!)

    Do you think 14 year olds know what they are doing?
  • I think that older people underestimate the capabilities of teens way more than they should.

  • I agree with you - The dangerous thing is some teens think they know what they are doing and are open to manipulation - Is that not the whole premise of "Grooming"
    There is a huge difference between knowing "What sex is?" and "What are the implications?"
    Let me explain it this way - Say you are high up in a bomber with the release button for a huge bomb that you have to release and you cannot see what the bomb will hit - Knowing how to release the bomb is just pressing the button - Knowing the implications of it is asking to be told when you are over uninhabited area not a crowded area.

  • They probably know what they're doing but dont understand the full consequences of what could happen if they do have sex.

    • I feel like they don't understand the situation they are in and are just being used

  • No, they don't and you're right they are neither mentally strong nor old enough to understand, analyse things to make their own decisions.

  • In my opinion, no, and simply "knowing what something is," does not count as a qualification for anything.

  • It goes past being body matured and actually being mentally matured enough to make the right decision. A young mind can easily be naive and be manipulated. In this case I'd say the adult is wrong and just wants to act

  • People today hardly know what they are in this world for when they are 30, let alone when they still stink of milk. Most definitely not.

  • You're right. I'm sure lots of 14yos would know what sex is. But they're too young to understand the ramifications of it.

  • No they don't. They should not be allowed to consent to adults.

  • Most likely not in terms of sexual intercourse since their brains are nowhere near being fully developed and most likely when they have sex at that age it is their first time.

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