Is this a double standard? (about teens)?

Question

Why is it that when a 14 year old has sex with an adult, they prosecute the adult and more than likely send him/her to prison because the teen didn't know what he/she was doing. Now when a 14 year old commits a crime, (armed robbery, murder, etc., the try him as an adult because he DOES KNOW EXATLY what he/she is doing. I don't condone sex with teens but something seems wrong with this picture!!!

Answer 1

They don't always try children as adults, it's a rare occurrence - it depends on the severity of the crime committed. Armed robbery and first degree murder are heinous crimes and should not be dealt with lightly. They require planning and malice.

No, it isn't a double standard.

Answer 2

No, it is not a double standard. The reason it is illegal to have sex with a 14 year old is NOT because the 14 year old didn't know what they were doing. It is because the 14 year old is likely to give in to pressure from an adult, and because the PARENTS of the 14 year old are the ones who have to deal with the consequences (such as teen pregnancy and STDs). Also, our society is more condemning of violent crime than illicet sex. Charging a 14 year old as an adult for violent crimes is done to act as a deterrent. 14 year olds are physically capable of anything a legal adult can do, but they do lack some judgment (and parents frequently do not supervise their teenagers). That 14 year old is old enough to know that they will get the same punishment an adult would, and this is done to deter them. As for sex, we as a society encourage everyone to breed. Look at all the sexual inuendo around you, and listen to what your preacher says at church (go forth and be fruitful....etc.).

Answer 3

Usually for a child to be tried as an adult, he/she would be closer to 18 and the crime is a violet crime resulting in death (something even a 3 year old would realize is wrong). However, a 14 year old child is still innocent compared to an adult predator seeking sex (some not as much as others, but obviously still some degree of innocence given the age of the child). The adult has forced the child to loose the rest of his childhood and the rest of his innocence----therefore, the adult IS responsible for those damages.

Answer 4

Teens can want to have sex, and when they are paired with an adult undue influence is exerted. No teen wants to have his stuff stolen, so it stands to reason that ever since kindergarten, when his teacher told him not to steal the cookies, he has known that. He also knows not to take a gun and point it at anyone. He also knows not to hurt or take a life. These are things he hears and sees in society even at a very young age.
What he doesn't hear or see is don't have sex you are too young to understand all the consequences and older people will take advantage of that to try and have sex with you.
Maybe if we were less prudish, and more inclined to talk frankly with our youngest children so they grow up with an understanding of physical limits that they must place upon their bodies with older people we could eventually ease up on the adults. But by the time an person reaches adulthood he does know these things and if he chooses to overlook them he is the one responsible, not the child.

Answer 5

Never thought about it like that. Great question. Heres one I always found weird that is kinda the same type of thing. If a guy is around 16 or 17 and dating a 14 or 15 year old girl and they fool around and the parents press statuory rape charges. He is still a kid him self but he will now be be classified as a pedophile and forced to register as one for the rest of his life. So when hes a 30 yr old guy getting a job is going to be hard because when u think of a pedophile you think of someon messing with young kids. It wasnt like he was getting little girls and doing stuff this was his girlfreind of over a year. I dont think that should have been a pedophile classification for teenagers doing what almost all of them do.

Answer 6

If/when a teen is coerced into doing things(sex, criminal activity, whatever), then the adult is generally held MORE responsible. If a teen commits a crime alone, that person is held wholly responsible. The age differentials vary from state to state, which is unfair. It is however, part of the old"states rights" arguement, which is why driving age, drinking age, plus age of consent for sex , as well as age of consent for abortion, varies so widely.

Answer 7

Well I think that if the kid is stupid enough to have sex with an adult, they should be prosecuted for it to teach them a lesson (Illegal means illegal no matter what age you are, I don't care.)...Yes, it is a double-standard in a way, because they DO know what they're doing in both cases...

Answer 8

You're trying to compare two different types of offenses so no there is no double standard.

By the way, I oppose trying teenagers as adults

Answer 9

that's the same with each little thing. infants won't be able to ask for counsel with something with out being informed, "you're actually not an person yet." yet if an older woman replaced into to ask for help with the same subject that they had be seen over worked and mandatory a wreck. i wanted to hire a cleansing woman some months in the past with the aid of fact I went to college 7-2 then worked 3-10. human beings informed me i mandatory to possess as much as my household initiatives and be an person. yet I regarded at older human beings asking approximately cleansing ladies and particularly everyone replaced into giving them strategies. supply me a wreck! i'm eighteen, I pay my own mobile telephone bill, lease, and pay for nutrition. yet no person seems to decide for to handle me as an person. yet once you have a sprint one you quite won't be able to basically drop him off on somebody. i replaced into searching for area jobs babysitting so i will earn extra money on the weekends, and that i replaced into watching the hours some human beings decide for you to observe their infants. some woman wanted on a daily basis till 8pm. Are you joking? Why have little ones? as quickly as and a at the same time as is positive... yet human beings do could very own as much as their household initiatives.