Age Of Consent : Sexual Activity

In the article “Driving to the Funeral” the author Anna Quindlen addresses the issue of the age to begin driving. She believes that the age 16 is far too young teenagers to begin driving. Driving at a too young of an age is one big reason that the way majority of teenagers die is because of automobile accidents. There isn’t enough limitations on young drivers, causing safety concerns. Parents shouldn’t allow their children to drive at such a young age, just because they want their kids to have “freedom and responsibility”.

5. A learner’s permit allows you to practice driving with a licensed driver at least 21 years old or with an immediate family member at

Once an adolescent reaches the age of 18, they have the ability to join or be drafted into the military, vote, buy tobacco, get married, serve on a jury, sign contracts and be prosecuted as adults. They have all of these rights, so why is it that the only thing an 18 year old can’t do is drink alcohol? Once you hit the age of 18, you are an adult, and should be treated as an adult, so therefore you should be trusted enough that you can make your own decisions on how much alcohol should be consumed (Drinking Age).

When a person turn 18 in most states they are considered adults under law and have most of the same rights and responsibilities as all other American adults. Their new rights include being able to vote, gamble, buy cigarettes, acquire guns, sign contracts, view adult material, get married, make a will, make their own medical choices and much more. With these newly acquired rights comes the burden of additional responsibilities and consequences.

If 18 is considered the age of adulthood, then a person at the age of 18 should be permitted to enjoy the rights and responsibilities that becoming an adult entails, including

First, Americans 18 years old already have many adult rights. America believes that people 18 years old are legally considered an adult in this country. According to New York Times article named “Return the Drinking Age to 18, and Enforce It” mentioned that “American 18 years old have the right to vote, marry, buy guns, get a tattoo, vote in local or general election, and join the military.” Americans 18 years old have enough responsibilities to do many things these days. Some laws don’t have to get parents’ permission to do it. If America allows minimum legal drinking age, then our teenagers will learn more and figure out new responsibilities in life. Since high school doesn’t teach teenagers how to be an adult, it’s a great opportunity for a student who’s ready for adult life. American should allow 18 years old to drink alcohol as well as other many adult rights.

From a very young age parents teach their children right from wrong, some children even as young as 6 years old get that talk. Not only do we have parents teaching our children but we also have the education system and other family members. In 47 states being an 18-year-old means you are an adult and can be tried as one in the court of law. You may wonder, why 18? What makes an 18 year old different from 15, 16, or 17-year-old? Well, according to New York officials the only reason why 18-year-olds are considered adults is because that is the age they are allowed to vote. (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2013/04/new_york_minimum_smoking_age_why_are_young_people_considered_adults_at_18.html) If it were not for the voting age being 18 maybe children would be considered adults at a younger age. Most people can look back into their teenage years and realize that they were not dumb or that we did not know any better.

Likewise a 18 year old has many other adult like perks such as getting married driving and serving the military which are all have a much much more adult like manner getting married is a threatening decision decision for most people so if 18 year olds can do it then why couldn’t they have a smaller decision such as drinking and even a bigger decision can be made at the 18 year old mark which is serving the military and that can be a very dangerous place for such a young person to go to the military can present many life setbacks such as injury and loss of time to finish the time at the military so if that decision can be made at such a low age then the small decision of drinking should be given too at that age because it is much less dangerous and can have a smaller life changing impact.

Martha Kempner, author of the article “What’s Wrong With Our Age of Consent Laws”, states “Age of consent laws is meant to protect young people from exploitation by adults, but in too many instances they send 18-year-old boys to jail for having consensual sex with their 15-year-old girlfriends. The boys then end up on sex offender registries for life along side rapists and pedophiles. Should we really be legislating teen sex?” There are also many inconsistencies amongst state to state regarding these laws, differing between ages 16 and 18 as the legal consent age, causes much confusion for couples in relationships, such as one Kempner stated, as well as the opportunity for the exploitation of 16 year olds by adults who live in states in which the laws have been lowered. Now the age of 25 for sexual consent laws, is likely too drastic, however we propose that there should be at least an equal age amongst all states, to eliminate any further unnecessary confusion, embarrassment, and

Age of consent, respecting your elders and the legal age of jobs are acceptable but being made fun of, having to do more things just because of your age, and being seen differently just because you are younger is disrespectful and unfair to children and people younger than you. Age isn’t just a number but everyone deserves respect. If an twelve year old and an thirty-four year old are arguing people will most likely pick the older one just because they have “more experience” even if the child has a valid point is absurd and stupid. Everyone was once an infant, child, teenager, and adolescent, so why do humans think they are in power because of age? That does not make

*Between the ages of 17 and 18 years they can learn to drive and hopefully pass successfully, but thereafter they need to display ‘P’ plate for 12 months after they pass their

The Alabama Graduated Drivers License Law was one of the main things I learned during this course. This law is very important today and became affected on October 1, 2002. A Fifteen year old with a valid learner’s license are to be accomplished by a parent or legal guardian of the age of twenty-one with a valid divers license. This law states that six-teen year olds must not operate

“Keep your mouth shut or I can make this a whole lot worse,” the rapist told her right before the attack. Rape is at crisis levels; ordinary boys and men commit rape and other violence against women. The normalization of sex and pornography make it acceptable for boys to see women as sexual objects. The United States should keep the same age for consent and focus more on educating teenagers about responsible and safe sex practices or raising the consent age.

Teens should not be permitted to drive until they are 18 years old. They should be able to drive on a temporary permit when they are 16 years old and use it until they turn 18 years old. This permit would allow them to drive only during daylight hours and with a parent/guardian. This would enable the young drivers to become more experienced. The eight hours of drivers training with your instructor is not enough. These teens need to get a feel for the road and learn to drive defensively. If you do not know how to operate a vehicle responsibly, it could be used as a deadly weapon. These young drivers are hurting themselves and other innocent people, because of their lack of experience and their irresponsibility.

     In responding , one can say that teenagers always complain about the ¡§grown up¡¨ world and its rules. Teens find it rather hard to be part of the grown up worl until they have the licence to go out on their own. Basically, the whole concept of graduated licencing is not so complicated. There are only a few changes: 1) There must be a fully licensed driver beside you with at least four years of driving experience in the G1 level. 2) There is a year waiting period between the G1 level and G2 level. 3) New drivers may only drive in cities, not on highways, and only during daytime hours. Even though there is a 1 month waiting period between G1 level and G2 level, it can be shortened to 8 months by taking a driver¡¦s insurance training course. During this course, the driver will learn more about techniques on driving, and it will cost less when getting car insurance later on.