Should the age of consent be lowered?

[streetsinger]

I think the word consent is very important here, its not about waiting, its more about, knowing what you are doing. Becuase, without consent the implications are unthinkable.

Me and David Allsop wanted to get married when we were 7....

Canny Allsop, mmm, if you had married at seven they might have called you Canny Allsoppy.

[canny]

Canny Allsop, mmm, if you had married at seven they might have called you Canny Allsoppy.

aw young love,,, its the best

[Chuckt]

In the US they are working on a healthcare plan for Americans and you can be fined for not having health care coverage but up until this point it seems okay to a lot of people to do away with abstinence. When we had our first baby, a nurse came to our house to weigh the baby and to check it and and she was asking questions because they wanted to know if we were able to take care of it. On one sense, it takes a lot of effort to raise a child and there really isn't anything that can prepare someone for the cost.

Changing the subject a little:

A friend of my family has a daughter who is heavy set. She started gaining weight so they started taking her on walks. She stopped swimming so no one would know and then one day she started going in labor and then she called her boyfriend and he doesn't drive and he ran to her house. The boy's mom drove her to the hospital and the mother of the child gets a call from the other mom saying we're taking your daughter to the hospital because she's having a baby and it is in the middle of the night. They never knew. And then she told her mom she only did it once and the truth is it was all the time.

From a Christian standpoint, we're all brothers and sisters so unless we're married, if we lower the age of consent then we're lowering the standard for brothers and sisters. Nice thought?

[Galaen]

I seem to find myself wondering almost constantly why we appear to have done away with discipline and reward bad behaviour - rather than enusre people keep the laws it now seems that the way we deal with law breakers is to change the law - does no-one else see this is a total diluting of morality and standards.

[smellycat]

thats the whole point galean.this is why God never changes.morality gets lower and lower.thats why there are revivals.

[Robert Cragg]

I agree that the worldly standards have dropped to the point where there isn't any and family values forget it, we christans must get our standards from God's word, sad to say some christians do pay more attention to the world than God, but those who know what God's standard's are must stand and do the best to set an example for our families and be accountable for our actions, some day we will all be held accountable, and as has been said pray for revival across the world.

[DeaconDan]

Two teens doing "it":
Secular response: Nothing wrong, at least if they have protection.
Christian response: see no evil, hear no evil

Two teens getting married:
Secular response: Oh no, that is wrong!
Christian response: Oh no, that is wrong!

[Butterfly]

If the relationships between the parents of these girls and boys were as it should be then the parents would be teaching correctly about the safe practices of sex.

Interesting thread- can I just say as a parent to four children, and one that has a very good relationship with them all, that it is not as simple as the above sounds. My children all knew the difference between right and wrong values, they knew my views and all the concerns that went along with them, they all went to church ect ect. Yet in time, all went the way of the world, and have had to face many difficult consequences.
My daughter survived until she was 18years old, but from the age of 16 was continuously hounded by her friends to conform - in the end she simply complied because she had had enough, did she regret it, yes.
All my sons have had different attitudes, different views, but the voice of the world has come to define ' love ' as ' sex ' and that has sadly come to dictate what relationships are often based on. Within the school system they are handed out condoms, well its best to be safe than sorry they say !
I could argue that I had a non believing husband who was constantly unfaithful, and that contributed to the influence on my children, it may well have done- especially with the boys. I did find that there was an eliment of ' pride ' from my ex when my sons lost their virginity, but with my daughter he would set so many restrictions- I failed to understand why it should be that way, given that in order for this stage in my sons life to happen it required someone elses daughter- double standards I will never understand !
I have had to walk with my children through many ups and downs and consequences, one day they will realise, as we all do, that doing things the Lords way is much better- sadly the world appears to have the loudest voice at the moment.
Butterfly

[canny]

Hello Butterfly It's not that easy is it, but I think our children have a right to make their own mistakes, most come through it a little wiser.

I have a feeling those that made no mistakes could end up accomlishing very little later on.

I don';t think an unbeliever is bad, I have met too many wonderful people to be able to think that. I do think tho that having something in common helps the relationship along. (whatever that may be)

That last bit is in the wrong thread

[Lily]

I have a feeling those that made no mistakes could end up accomlishing very little later on.

Totally agree. It's how we learn and grow in character.

I spent many years Butterfly ( hello by the way ), thinking I was doing the right thing by stepping in like superwoman protecting my Son ( apart from once when his life was in danger ), but I soon came to realise that a good Parent sometimes has to take a step back and even though we can see they are on the wrong road, we sometimes have to let them go there and see for themselves.

My heart has sometimes been broken in two watching him make these mistakes and knowing he is going to fall but I have had to take a step back and let him do it because he was never going to learn otherwise.

I was brought up in a very loving enviroment but looking back now, what my Parents did with all very good and loving intentions was wrong.
I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy at an early age and to say I was wrapped in cotton wool would be an understatement even to the stage where my Father ( again with good intentions ) warned my then fiancee that I was to have no worries, he then took that to extreams and completely took over.
Up until nearly 3yrs ago now, when I had him forcibly removed from my home, I didn't even know how much a pint of milk was, knew how to do nothing in the home regarding changing fuses even changing a light bulb.
When my solicitor asked me how much my mortgage was or how much was owing on the house, in preperation for a divorce, I looked at her like
How pathetic is that, I couldn't even tell you the price of a pint of milk

I don't blame my Parents as such because they did what they did with good intentions but when my Father showed such anger toward my estranged husband for controling me, I did rather look at my Father with a while thinking, " so you take no responsibilty for laying down that impression that he was to take over ? "
Ok, so abuse wasn't part of the plan but hope you get my drift.

When we parted I was totally lost and had to be talked through like a child even in matters concerning taking over the household bills, but even then, my Father thought he was doing right by trying to take over again and do everything for me. Thats when I put the blocks on it and oneday went into orbit, telling him that all my life ( for very different motives ), I had been controlled and it had to stop because it was the reason I " was " so lost and I was determined not to make the same mistake with my Son and go jumping in feet first everytime he was about to make a mistake. If he was going to make a mistake, it was going to be " his " mistake and learn from it.