Should the age of consent laws be made more liberal and lowered?

I know it sounds strange but I think there should be a age at which you can have sex and an age that you can have children. over in england its 16, I think thats ok to have sex bu too young to be able to legally have a child so im undecided

Since people do not mature in a split second at midnight on their 18th birthdays, a more reasonable set of laws would be graduated.

If 17 is the age of consent, then 16 would carry a slap on the wrist, 15 something more severe, etc. It really makes no sense to make it a felony 1 day prior to the 18th birthday, and perfectly legal the next day.

I think 17 is a good age, 18 is too high. 16 might seem low, but it depends on the circumstance. I agree with kingofpop. An 18 year old having consensual sex with a 16 year old is not nearly as bad as a 30 year old with a 16 year old. I think the severity of the crime should increase with the age of person.

I think that they should not go under 16 years. The thing is I feel that at 16 you are basically an adult in full right and can then make your own choices from there. Also I think that there should be a very high emphasis on sexual education of teens.

16 is just about right…people need to rmb birth control though. and learn how to use it PROPERLY

A lot of innocent people in jail for it, but I still think it’s good maybe make it 16 when you can consent instead of 18 in most places.

Actually, by a great majority of the states, the age of consent is 16…there are states however, that make it illegal for girls to have sex until they are 18, tho for boys it’s 16…in the same state! …now that’s a bit biased…

Changing the age of consent would have to be a state by state law change…the Feds would be hard pressed to override state statue on stuff like this.

http://www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm

p

Death of innocence? You do realize that in Biblical times, people would marry in their early teens out of economic necessity and the reality of much shorter lifespans.

That being said, I don’t favor lowering the age of consent so much as I do applying more common sense to cases involving underage sex. It is a bit ridiculous that an 18 year old would be charged with statutory rape for sleeping with a 17 year old, while a 43 year old can sleep with a 19 year old, and it’s consensual. But, the line has to be drawn somewhere. Perhaps 17 is a bit more reasonable, but 16 is pushing it, in my view.

here in England the age is 16. I think thats just right. but 18 is wayyy too high.

No… I think it should be good at 18. Maybe higher for some people. I say this because of the fact that lots of people on this site ( 13 - 15 I see mostly ) Ask about getting kids all the time or say they want them. Also, If they didn’t have this then a 30 year old player would be charming his way around 14 year olds and stuff getting all the sex they wanted from them, Then throw them in the gutter.