[YOUTUBE]vdoGSyLVYK0[/YOUTUBE] Kaitlyn Hunt (18) was in a same-sex relationship with a 14 year old freshman and is facing felony charges. The relationship started when Kaitlyn was 17, but as soon as she turned 18, the 14 year old's parents called the police. Were the parents justified in what they done? Should the age of consent be lowered to 16? Are the options [charges] that Kaitlyn has fair? There are good arguments on both sides when it comes to lowering the age of consent to 16. Personally, I would like to have it lowered to 16 because I believe I am a mature enough to make my own decisions [whether they are the "right" decisions are not] and I would be willing to face the consequences if I made a mistake. Is 2 years really that big of a difference? I am able to decide if a man over 18 is going to take advantage of me* or not. * - Controversial, I know. I'd like it lowered to 16, but would it be the right thing to do?
Well, given that 'England' is written on your profile, I assume thats where you're talking about the age of consent. Because it already is 16 in the UK.
I think it's justified. I personally don't see the point in having one age of consent, though - I think there should be an age range where it's legal if they're within 1-2 years of you, and then a higher age where it's legal regardless of age. Say 12 or 14 for the younger age, and probably 18 or 20 for the older age. I remember when I was 16 I felt pretty grown up, but now that I'm 23 I realize I was actually a lot less mature than I thought I was.
@Hexagon, I can't have sex with a man 18+ otherwise it would be considered statutory rape, even though it wouldn't be rape if we both consented to it.
The laws are flawed. I've heard that many, many boys got on the sex offender list just because they went a little too far with their girlfriends. This is totally different from a pedophile who preys on the kids. A 18 year old is still a kid to my eyes. If this was the case between a 18 year-old boy and 14-15 year-old girl, I'd say the same. There's Romeo and Juliet Laws, but these laws don't apply to gay relationship apparently. That aside, I'm sure the relationship between those girls started when Kaitlyn was already 18, and the other girl was 14. There are also missing details which you can find easily that don't sound very good for Kaitlyn. Personally, I think it's a waste of time and money to put the kids in jail for something like this. Edit: With further research, I've found out that in the case of Matthew Limon, the part "and are members of the opposite sex" of the Romeo and Juliet laws were struck. So I'm a bit confused right now as to whether these laws apply to gay people or not.
I think the age of consent is mostly okay where it is, because even most 18 year olds aren't mature enough to do it. But with that said, I also have faith in 16 year olds. We let them drive, which is taking their own and others' lives in their hands, and requires a fair amount of skill and focus. Having a physical relationship is peanuts in comparison if only a few precautions are taken. I would fully be on the side of the girls in support of their innocence and staying together. And I'd also be okay with the age of consent being lowered.
18 year olds are not kids they can vote move out and be tried as an adult, however in this case and the og poster is wrong the girl was seventeen and her girlfriend was 15 when they started ddating and then when there were 18 and 16 the parents pressed charges which to me i think is wrong if this person has never been violent or abusive to my daughter why ruin that persons life and drag her name thru the mud, thats just cruel all because they cant accept their daughter is gay ? couldnt a compromise be reached before calling the police and expelling her from scool and and pressing charges? even if it were a guy you can all reach a compromise say not to be alone only out in groups and say i dont want my child having sex so as long as you follow these rules you can still date my daughter when you break them i press charges , which to me is fair al around why did it need to come to all that , its just sad. also they dont even know if these 2 girls were having sex, not everyone wants to have sex, the parents could have said ok now that you are 18 i need to know if you are having sex, because now its against the law , you can still date , but no sex and your dates will have to be in groups.
I am sorry, but I cannot say yes to lowering the age of consent. I was not ready at the age of 16 and I was certainly not an adult, and I'm still not, but I know a lot better now than I did then. Was it wrong what the family did? Yes, it was incredibly wrong because they have quite possibly ruined another persons life because they don't like her gay relationship with their daughter. But no the age of consent should remain 18.
I always thought they had "Romeo and Juliet" Laws to make this okay as long as the two were consenting. If they had done the acts when Hunt was 17 the R&J Law should step in and defend her.
