I've been thinking.....

[northener]

...which is not always a good idea and never has a happy ending.....

However:

We are currently obsessed with 'peedos':roll: in the UK. Anyone looking at anyone under 16 is automatically labelled a pervert. Yet within living memory the situation was different, marriage and sexual relationships below the age of 16 were quite common.
But does that mean the older generations were all sick perverts? I think not.

What about someone who has a 14 year-old partner in another European State (say, Serbia for example) who then comes to the UK? Does a howling mob appear outside their house? Or is it acceptable here because it's acceptable back there for them to be together? If so, why does it bocome acceptable for one group of people in the UK and not another?

This whole concept of 'morality' when it comes to sexual activity has always puzzled me.

In the UK it's 16, in Sweden sex with a 15 year old is legal, in Turkey you have to be 18. What defines a 'child molester' in these countries apart from some arbitrary ruling?
Does someone turn into a paedophile the minute they cross the border into a country with a higher age restriction?

It's all rather odd.

[Gronnuck]

I had heard that ALL men were peedos and/or rapists so it seems we're all doomed ay' tell ye, we're all dooooommed

[badger]

We do seem to have become rather hysterical about children doing things children do which were once quite innocent, but maybe that's because children aren't allowed to be innocent any more.

Remember Under Milkwood - "Kiss me or give me a penny". There would probably be a full scale inquiry if children played that game now :roll:

[Kenn]

Interesting post, it's legal in some Muslim countries for girls to be married at the age of eight although they normally stay with their family until they have reached about fourteen.

I'm not sure that obsessed is the correct word, we are certainly more aware of the problem as it is now blazoned all over the tabloid press,television and the internet. However, it as always been there and swept under the carpet like so many things that are now in the public domain.

I suppose it's a sign of modern times when families are seperated by long distances,people no longer know their neighbours and feel untrusting of strangers.It's very sad as children are not allowed to be the innocents that they once were.

[redeyedtreefrog]

In the Vatican the age of consent's 12.

[Stefan]

It's called "culture" and I don't find it so strange. It seems it's all the more understandable if you travel to such country and live with local people.

[John Little]

We are a sick society.

In the drama society I am in we just finished doing a revue tonight and it had kids in it. By law the kids have their own dressing rooms with chaperones, and were not allowed near the adult room which was one room divided by a screen twixt men and women.

Society is divided among itself and we are all potential paedos, or bombers, or terrorists...

And so we teach our next generation not trust and cooperation but fear and individualism.

[rich]

jerry lee lewis!

[Aaldtimer]

when it comes to this sort of thing it's a no-brainer!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1264729/Child-bride-13-dies-internal-injuries-days-arranged-marriage-Yemen.html

[disgust]

[brandy]

reading some of the replies to the post i have to agree.. even though 12 is way to young to marry... we should also look to our own steps as well... we are horrified that 12 and 13 year olds are being married.. but at the same time our own 12 and 13 year olds are out having sex.
what age is sexual maturity in a person?
i dont agree with the practice, because
1 the child is too young
2 she obviously dosent get to choose her husband
3 she has no rights
4 the man is usually much much older than her

while in an ideal world our children would not be going out and acting like we lived in a modern day soddom and gomorah, i do belive in being able to choose where we love, if not free love.
i dont expect kids to save theirselves for marrige... even when it was a requirement.. i doubt only the purist and nobility did it.
however i would hope that they could wait until they are mature enough to understand what they are doing and the consequences of doin it..
honestly i think 16 is a decent age for concent.
our bodies are pretty much filled out by then,
our hormones are raging
and even though im an old fuddy now.. i do remember being a teenager! and even though i thought i knew everything i really dif.
and those emotions i felt were not the be all and end all...

i do worry about our society, that the kids have run wild.. that there is no middle ground.
just to be able to put a pinch of common sense in there would be great.
ok ill stop here..
i dont know if anything i have said makes any sense..
but im pretty sure i was trying to make a point in there somewhere.
im almost awake so if this is one of my more random posts you have to forgive me..

[northener]

It's called "culture" and I don't find it so strange. It seems it's all the more understandable if you travel to such country and live with local people.

That's my point exactly. An age is arrived at by a State and anyone involved in sexual activity with a person under that age is prosecuted. A person travelling between Sweden (not that culturally different to us) and the UK could theoretically find themselves convicted as a sex offender by having sex with their partner in the UK after meeting them and having a perfectly 'normal' relationship in Sweden.

It's the concept of what is acceptable and what is not - and how that varies from country to country that intrigues me. I know what you mean about cultural differences, but that doesn't provide an all-encompassing amswer.

As I stated in my opening bit, the laws have only recently changed in the UK - does that mean anyone who legally marrried/had sex with and under 16-year old in the UK should now be viewed as a sex offender? Because to modern eyes, and invoking modern laws they would be.....

[Tighsonas4]

i think society being what it is today theres been a complete change in the way of living
it seems times change with the ages, some good other things not so tony

[Kodiak]

How about this then. The Age of Consent in Vatican City is 12 years old for both Boys and Girls. I was surprised that I was not surprised.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Vatican_City

[Kirdon]

...which is not always a good idea and never has a happy ending.....

However:

We are currently obsessed with 'peedos':roll: in the UK. Anyone looking at anyone under 16 is automatically labelled a pervert. Yet within living memory the situation was different, marriage and sexual relationships below the age of 16 were quite common.
But does that mean the older generations were all sick perverts? I think not.

What about someone who has a 14 year-old partner in another European State (say, Serbia for example) who then comes to the UK? Does a howling mob appear outside their house? Or is it acceptable here because it's acceptable back there for them to be together? If so, why does it bocome acceptable for one group of people in the UK and not another?

This whole concept of 'morality' when it comes to sexual activity has always puzzled me.

In the UK it's 16, in Sweden sex with a 15 year old is legal, in Turkey you have to be 18. What defines a 'child molester' in these countries apart from some arbitrary ruling?
Does someone turn into a paedophile the minute they cross the border into a country with a higher age restriction?

It's all rather odd.

You really want to get a book for sitting at the taxi rank. This "thinking" is not a good thing for you.

[northener]

You really want to get a book for sitting at the taxi rank. This "thinking" is not a good thing for you.

I know, I know.:Razz

[ducati]

We are a sick society.

In the drama society I am in we just finished doing a revue tonight and it had kids in it. By law the kids have their own dressing rooms with chaperones, and were not allowed near the adult room which was one room divided by a screen twixt men and women.

Society is divided among itself and we are all potential paedos, or bombers, or terrorists...

And so we teach our next generation not trust and cooperation but fear and individualism.

If youre worried about bombers and terrorists just what kind of revue was it? :eek:

[theone]

In the Vatican the age of consent's 12.

I didn't think that those who frequented the Vatican cared much for consent.

[sam09]

it may be legal in those countries, but that does not make it right.

[northener]

it may be legal in those countries, but that does not make it right.

But it would appear to be right to them, so who are we to pass moral judgement upon countries such as, say, Sweden?

I'm not being antagonistic, just arguing the point.

[sam09]

I know Northerner what your saying. these laws in other countries are what allows perverts to travel to these countries and abuse children. children should be allowed to be children and a universal law of age of consent to be brought in in ALL countries to be at least 16 years old.