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Well, the central question is: "Why is there an age of consent?" There are two lines of thought:
o People below a certain age are, in general, not mature enough to engage in sex. They aren't capable of making a rational decision about it, so we should prohibit it by law to discourage it.
- Personally, I think this sort of control should mostly fall under parental control, but, under a certain low age(13), parents allowing their children to engage in sexual activity probably need the axe.
o Second, an older person who is more mature and experienced can easily have undue influence over a younger person. IE, older guys have more experience talking the panties off of girls, and are good at talking girls into things they might later regret. More immature people need to be protected by law from older people who may prey on them.
- I agree with this concept quite a bit more. While people mature at different ages, you have to pick a standard. Preferably one that's easy for a horny, possibly slightly intoxicated, guy to understand. "if $age < 18 then $jailbait = True" is a pretty good one. If you don't have a hard-and-fast rule, you either have to let adults sleep with children, or you end up with nebulous debates in court, which is never a good thing.
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