And yet, when I was sixteen, these laws were enforced by the State of New York, and they were clear, comprehensible, and didn't cause any major social disruption.
Almost every attempt to lower the age of consent in US jurisdictions fails, so the People, at least to the extent that they speak through their representatives, favor age of consent laws.
As they used to say, "Fifteen will get you twenty".
Easy to understand, it's the law.
What's the problem?
“And yet, when I was sixteen, these laws were enforced by the State of New York, and they were clear, comprehensible, and didn’t cause any major social disruption.”
In what percentage of the cases of teen sex between sixteen or seventeen year-olds and fourteen or fifteen year-olds do you think those laws were enforced?
You have cases of a boy and girl in the same grade, only a few months apart in age. Do you think in such cases someone should be charged with statutory rape?
I’m not saying the age of consent should changed, but it should protect teenagers from adults, not from other teens and schoolmates who freely choose to date each other.