Lindseyw Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Originally posted by halevan They have not fully developed either physically or mentally to be able to cope with the deep emotions which are involved. I totally agree !! [Edited by Tony Ruscoe - fixed formatting] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_ Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Where did you read this t020? It seems unreal that Channel 4 would back something as crazy as this. What is the age of consent in France? I heard it was 14?! In my opinion most people at 16 aren't even ready for sex, i was glad i waited till 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t020 Posted August 11, 2003 Author Share Posted August 11, 2003 The Telegraph Channel 4 is to examine whether the age of consent should be lowered to 14 in a series of programmes devoted to teenage sex, it said yesterday. The Adult At 14 season will offer a "realistic examination of teenage sexuality" in a succession of programmes highlighting the increasingly sexualised world in which children grow up. In one episode, Age Of Consent, the presenter, Miranda Sawyer, argues that sex below the age of 16 should be legalised. Another documentary, Porn To Be Young, will interview young people about their attitude towards pornography, while in 14 Alone, a group of 10 14-year-old boys and girls will be allowed to spend five days and nights together in a house without adult supervision, television or computer games. This is a follow-up to Boys Alone and the subsequent Girls Alone, a televised social experiment that attracted criticism for putting a group of 11-year-olds in a house to fend for themselves. The programme claims it will offer an insight into "this tender age when children are on the cusp of adulthood". A Channel 4 spokesman stressed that rules would be imposed and a camera crew would be present at all times to ensure things did not get out of hand. "This is not like Big Brother where they are left completely alone. There will be cameramen in the house with them," she said. Although the season focuses on the subject of teenage sexuality, sex will be banned in the house. Channel 4 will also screen Pleasureland, a feature-length drama set in Liverpool about the pressures on teenagers to have sex before the age of 16. The channel, which has been criticised in the past for packing its schedules with supposedly serious-minded programmes about sex, will also broadcast Pornography: The Musical, an assortment of sex workers singing about their lives. Away from sex, Channel 4's new autumn season heavily indulges another human obsession, with seven different series about the property market and people moving home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 As long as advertisers and women's magazines use waif like models to sell their products then it's going to appear acceptable to be sexually aware at an ever younger age. Look at any of the fashion mags and they all seem to be promoting child-like looks as fashionable. Men see this and think it's OK to have sex with ever younger girls if the mags portray them as adults and the girls try to emulate them, the waifs not the men. Not sure if that made sense but ... I can't see a problem with a program investigating anything, they're not promoting it are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huwj Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 xxxxxxxxxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Maiden Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Does anyone know what the age of consent is in countries like Finaldn and Italy for example? Because I do believe they are something like 14 yrs. This subject is way close to home for me due to circumstances which occured a few months ago now with my step daughter. I do not think that she was sensible or mature enough to deal with what she has done. In addition I am not in a position to go mouthing off about girls having sex under age because I have been there done it, have no regrets nor problems then or now. Perhaps I am one of the lucky few who was able to deal with it all. Something else that may have escaped some peoples attention is that it is only today's society that wrongly or rightly looks down upon girls as young as 12 having sex. It was common place for girls as young as that to get married and have children. I cannot comment on whether this adversely affected their mental or emotional state, but they were socially accepted as being able to do this - and it is perhaps only social conditioning of todays teenagers that makes them unable to deal with it all. I think that generally today's soceity like to protect children lest they loose their childhood - which appears to be a modern invention - Thank Queen Vic! I don't think I can really take a stand either way. I will bring my kids up to cope with situations I believe they may face as any other parent would. Moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 I am with moon maiden on this, every word she says. To quote that oft used phrase in the smacking debate "It never did me any harm" either but that is not to say that it might not hurt others. Personally, I think it is more a question of how old the person is that is having sex with a young person. Two 14yr olds, or two 15yr olds happily exploring together doesnt seem so scary or inappropriate as a 30 year old bloke (or woman) and a 14 year old girl (or boy) Now I know you cant legislate for that - the age differential, but I would be more worried about youngsters being persuaded into doing things they didnt want to by the worldy-wise than a few youthful indiscretions between teenagers. I expect we all would. I think my vote would go for 16 though on balance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ruscoe Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Let's be honest here... there are 14 year olds out there having sex with each other anyway and it's not doing anyone any real harm - so why bother lowering the legal age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Maiden Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 I remember reading somethign about the age of consent in another euro country (cannot remember which one) Which stated that if both parties were under 16 and they both consented then it was not illegal. However if one of them was ovre 16 then they must wait whilst the younger hit 16 too. Moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosywolf Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Right there with you, Louise. Young people will explore their sexuality - no amount of legislation can or should stop that. Where it gets scary is the intervention, as you say, of older men and women. Sexuality was never a taboo subject in my household, and as a result of the openness of my family I did not feel desperate to go out immediately and find out what it was all about, but I did feel prepared for the situation when I was ready, and knew how to be safe. (i'll not discuss the mental scarring caused in teenage years by that very propensity for open conversation - some things you just don't want to share with your parents:lol: ) What is needed is APPROPRIATE education - i.e. open, accessible, from various points of view, absolutely truthful...and more of it. Lowering and raising the age limit would only cloud an issue that needs people to think clearly about it for a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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