I live in England and I get angry that it is acceptable for a 16 year old to have sex legally and morally.?

Question

But it is unacceptable legally for them to get married without consent of their parents. Am I wrong about the law? If not what is the law. Also ethically it is okay or even encouraged to have sex at 16 but its not okay to settle down. What about the vulnerability at that age, pregnancy? STDs?

I'm 26, muslim-female, married and proud to be British. When I was 16, I expressed that I loved family life, children etc and wanted marriage, I was ridiculed for this. I didn't want sex before marriage, but it was okay for my peers to have sex at 14, a class mate got pregnant at 14 and hey thats great oh and the Father disappeared and the girl was left to deal with everything.

If sex is legal after 16, then marriage should be legal without the consent of parents at 16.

Answer 1

I'm with you on this one and hot mama's answer is typical of the inner city whores that England has been breeding for over two decades now.

It is acceptable sadly not for 16 year olds but i had neighbours who were so proud that their daughters all 4 of them all had their own children by 14 years of age !!!


As I stated inner city pathetic whores ! however I am disgusted by the authorities who don't care these idiots need to be prosecuted for under aged sex and for statutory rape of minors pedophilia anything its about time these bloody fools were brought to book and had their imbecilic behavior curtailed Hot mamas answer here is entirely typical of the common English **** sadly throw the book at all of them I say maybe they'd think twice and then maybe our children can go back to being children instead of becoming Vicky Pollards !

Answer 2

The law states the age of consent is 16, so whether you agree with that morally or not is, sadly, irrelevent. My personal view is that we parents/adults have colluded with a media driven culture that has sought to systematically destroy childhhood. Childhood and the innocence that comes with it is seen as something to be got rid of as quickly as possible. In schools children as young as 6 are being given sex education, and in these times of PC that will eventually encompass all forms of sexual activity whether the individual/parent agrees with it or not. Has the advent of all this information and knowledge led to reductions in STDs, underage pregnancies and abortions? On the contrary, it has encouraged the belief that sex is no different to any other human activity and is therefore of no great importance .
In the past the fear and shame of an unwanted pregnancy kept many young women/men from engaging in sex, where this did happen a "shotgun" wedding was often the result. The invention of the contraceptive pill and increased availability of condoms greatly reduced this fear, but in return has not led to a reduction in either pregnancies or STDs. Logic then tells us that this is because greater numbers are having sex at this age.
Does giving our young this knowledge "protect" them or does it give them carte blanche to do as they please?
At the end of the day the individual will either follow the morals instilled by the parent or the prevailing attitudes within the wider society. We get the society we deserve in my view. .

Answer 3

16 year olds can still get married in Scotland without their parents consent. My grandparents did and they were happy together for their entire lives. So it's not always a bad thing. I guess it's just a difference in the generations. Young people nowadays are encouraged to delay everything for as long as possible - which of course we all know never happens because they're all too busy having fun sleeping around with each other. Maybe it would be a good idea to let some of them marry, it might encourage them to be a bit more responsible. :-)

Answer 4

I don't agree that it is acceptable. My ethics are clearly very different from those of the people you are in touch with and so are those of my friends and acquaintances, none of whom would encourage sexual relations at so tender an age. It is simply that the law allows marriage at that age with parental consent and it is impossible to make this concession without at the same time accepting that sexual relations between consenting individuals of this age are not to be viewed as unlawful. Sixteen is in fact far too young to get married, as one still has a great deal of growing up to do. And no responsible parent is going to encourage sleeping around at that age.

Answer 5

Pregnancy and STDs can be prevented. Biologically, we are wired to be having sex by age 16 or younger. This means that it will happen whether society calls it "moral" or not. The law sounds like it is acknowledging the inevitability.

I had sex when I was 16. Once I have my own kids, I'm sure I'll be hoping and praying that they wait a bit longer to have sex, just given the risks you mention. It's just how it works.

But I would be interested to know what you think would happen if sex WERE considered both illegal and immoral by a society. Do you think 16 year olds would just conform and ignore their raging hormones and resist any sexual opportunity or expression? I certainly don't. So we're back to square one.

Answer 6

Sex is perfectly natural. Nature is most feared amongst the weak. Sex is not anything gross or traumatic. Most people by the time they're 16 are plenty capable of making the decision to have sex. The few who aren't shouldn't be allowed to burden the lives of those who are. Even some 30-40 year olds aren't. STDs can occur at any age, sex education is more effective than legal persecution in preventing them.

Answer 7

Don't move to Japan. The age of consent there is 12. Japanese culture prepares 12 year olds better than British/American culture does...so for them it is normal. Japanese 12 year olds know more about pregnancy,and STDs, than do most college grads in the USA/England...which is why they have less of both.

Answer 8

Law and ethics are two completely different things.

Whatever age we decide our young people are old enough to exercise responsibility, some will not be ready, some will be ready long before.

Sixteen seems a reasonable compromise between protecting the innocent and allowing adult responsibility.

Answer 9

Indeed.
Actually the girls start at age 12 and are be given free abortion pills at the school door.
Also the girl gets pregnant, the girl only decide what to do with it - if she is not married to the father, she can kill it (abort it) and if she doesn't, it is not his problem, case his name was not put in the child birth certificate... the guy can do a run and he is not wrong, just the woman is framed as stupid.
Welcome to England.

Answer 10

Legally speaking one persons is considered minor if he or she is below 18.Health experts state that sex below the age of 18 is undesirable.What is legal and what is moral are different.One person should be fully aware of the implications of what he /she is doing.Teenage sex should be discouraged.

Answer 11

Oi, whats your problem? yes, its OK to have sex at 16, and settle down.. move in together and start a family... they just need permission to get married, no one can stop them living together.

and things have changed. when my mum had me, 50yrs ago, she was 18, and my dad had to sign the papers for surgery as mum wasnt old enough. they were together all their lives...

at 16 most girls are mature, certainly more grown up than boys of a similar age...

and if youre in a monogamous relationship where do the STD´s come from? and your right babies do appear... but its not by magic... is it? in some cultures girls are married at 13... go on, scream about that...

its all based on cultural and social norms, and how prudish the government is...