[jude24]

but enforcing the law might just make them think twice before they start having sex, because starting sexual relationships so early will increase the possibility of doing real damage to their futures.

LOL.

Making teenage sex against the law won't accomplish much, except to make a bunch of teenaged criminals. Teens will have sex regardless of what the law says. It takes serious value-driven indoctrination to counteract the hormonal urges. The law cannot accomplish that.

You assume teenagers are rational. I think that's amusing.

[Lorianne]

There are degrees. Most states have a 3-5 year disparity written into the law. A 2 year disparity is rare, and in my opinion very problematic.

In some states the age disparity portion of the law changes once one party is over age 18.

The intent of age of consent laws are to protect the YOUNGER pesron in the situation. If both are under 18 but over, say 13, I don’t think it should be a felony.

But it is up to the voters in each state has to come up with their own laws ... and parents should be fully aware of those laws and make sure their children know them. And make sure their children know that they will support the LAW in case the child breaks it.

How many parents don’t let their kids know that they will support the LAW in other areas? For example, “If you drink and drive and get caught, I’ll support the LAW being enforced against you” Or “If you commit vandalism or steal, I’ll support the LAW, being enforced against you.”

Very few parents, I think, make that clear to their kids. The kids are spoiled and think their parents will bail them out of any situation.

[SuziQ]

Seems like it wasn't until just about 25 years ago that we really started having problems with teens and sex. Sure, kids in the 50's and early 60's did the deed, but they knew it was wrong, and they'd face consequences if they did, not the least of which was pregnancy. Long about the late 60's with the advent of 'free love', adults seemed to just give up on any sort of responsibility, maybe because they wanted an excuse to do the same thing. Kids got the idea they could do anything they wanted, anytime they wanted with no consequences. But dang, that pregnancy thing just kept being such a pain. No problem! Those adults just decided to push for legal abortion, anytime, anywhere, for any reason, whatsoever. Then they wouldn't be bothered by their kids , or themselves or their girlfriends, for that matter, getting pregnant.

Well, it turns out that pregnancy WASN'T the worst thing that could happen to sexually active teenagers, and that disease got it's own set of civil rights, but that's another story.

When kids are given the information about the dangers of early sexual activity, and are taught ways tools to avoid it, many will. There are many adults who will fight against the kids being taught these skills, though, many times because they're couched in religious terms. Forget about the fact that they actually WORK, it's just that whole religion thing that gets some folks all riled up.