what should the age of accountability be?

Question

its 18 in the u.s. and lower in some other countries......
any thoughts?

Answer 1

12

Answer 2

Hard to answer that because at 16 some kids are pretty mature and others are still immature at 26. I just read about the 17 year old that was having sex with his teacher intern and his buddies were giving him high fives, his parents were respecting how he felt, but the administration said he was abused along with the police. I find it hard to believe he was "abused" as it sounds like he knew exactly what he was doing and had no remorse at all about what happened. While I do not want teachers educating students in that way, I also feel the boy had to be accountable for what happened as much as she was. In short, 18 is as good a number as any but not always indicative of the right answer.

Answer 3

That is really a hard call to make. Some people are perfectly able to maintain themselves in accordance to the laws of society at15-16, some aren't responsible enough to own a pet at 30 much less make decent decisions. Some of that is in dealing with how a person was raised, were they expected to do things for themselves and learn/understand the consequences of their actions? Were they carried around on a feather pillow until it's time to kick them from the nest?
Personally I believe that education should be taken into account, If you've never been taught about anything more than pregnancy and abstinence, how can you know anything about STDs, preventions and the risks involved, and so on....

The only real thing I do believe in, if you are old enough to vote and to fight and die for your country you are old enough to make decisions on things such as alcohol and sexual contact.

Answer 4

I believe the age of accountability in the UK should be 14. This is higher that a lot of countries at present, but I feel would be a positive step provided that parents become directly responsible for any act committed by their child whilst under 14. Parents should be convicted if a child commits a criminal act under the age of accountability, as it is the parents responsibility to ensure that their child is not in a position where they are able to take decision they are not qualified to make.

I feel that the law as it stands allows children to get away with far too much. Yes, we shouldn't punish children who genuinely don't understand the outcome of their actions, but we should punish the parents who allow these situations to arise. It seems to be the case that supervision is now optional when it comes to parenting, and this just isn't on. Someone has to be accountable for everything that happens, it is no good saying that the child doesn't understand whilst saying that the adult couldn't have prevented it.

Until I am confident that my child are sound of mind enough to be able to make difficult desicions and judgements, I will be supervising them closely and ensuring that no harm comes to them, or others, through actions that are easily preventable.

I also think there needs to be a better system to deal with 'troublesome' teens. I will not stand for the sort of behaviour that I did as a teenager in my children. If they live in my house, they live by my rules - parents need to stop being afraid of their children and start taking a stand! Yes, teenagers have a mind of their own and are very, very difficult, but the adults need to take control.

Answer 5

Well, that is a difficult question to answer, because in every person it is different. In terms of sexual relations, I thin that for many people 16 is able to make decisions, but certainly not all 16 year olds. So to be on the safe side, I think that leaving it at 18 is probably the wisest thing to do here in the US.

That being said, I think it should also be extended to other things. I think that it is ridiculous for an 18 year old person to be able to go off to fight for his country, to participate in the election of its leaders, BUT NOT BE ABLE TO BUY A BEER! Some things just don't make sense to me!

Answer 6

There are various ages of accountability in the U.S. At age 16, we can start driving. At age 18, we can buy cigarettes and porn, start voting, join the military without parental consent, and have sex legally with an adult. At age 21, we can legally buy and consume alcohol.

Personally, I would set the standard age at 18.

Answer 7

A difficult question. And in the US, persons even younger can be prosecuted under adult laws. Illinois once sentenced a 12 year old to the electric chair just for being in the car when a murder took place. 16 year olds are often waived into adult court. The question is, should the sentence be determined by the nature of the crime or the nature of the criminal? We are talking "accountability" here, and not "consent," aren't we? If so, this category is inappropriate, unless we're talking about prosecuting the older half of a gay duo.

Answer 8

it should be based on level of maturity, not on age, it should be tested like with driving lessons but cant be as the cost would be too much to the government.

I have met many 16 year olds who really know their stuff and are street wise and I would trust to make a well thought outr decision about their concent for anything!
Equally I have met many 24 year olds who I cannot say are mature in the slightest, let alone able to make a well informed decision about their sexuality, let alone concent.
Added to this are those with learning disabilities which leave them crippled to mental ages of 10 year old children. How many of these relationships practice having sex as they feel it is what every one else does and not because they make an informed decision.?!

Answer 9

Honestly I think the age should be lower in the US. I just feel that once you have a drivers license and the abiltiy to make decisions such as driving and dating. You should be able to do whatever you want with whoever you want with the law stepping in and dictating their rules. Most people are having sex at much younger ages and once they hit 16 they should be considered fully accountable.

Answer 10

In Canada, the age of accountability is 12 but under the Young Offenders Act, punishment is limited.