Another area of society that is impacted by this policy is the area of relationships. As discussed earlier, this policy has an impact on relationships that involve one member being in a position of authority, and an impact on the LGBTQ community, but there is also an impact that is felt throughout the teenage community and the relationships in which they engage.
The question could be asked, what if a teenage couple was more than five years apart in age; presumably this would be a reasonable situation. So, for example, let us examine a couple who have been dating for a year and now one of them is 14 and the other is 19 (potentially a high school freshman and a senior) and they are trying to decide whether or not they want to engage in sexual intercourse. If they choose not to have sex, then there are no legal ramifications, however, if they choose to have sex there could be some serious consequences. Let’s say the 14 year old is a female named Betty, and the 19 year old is a male named Bruce. After having sex, Betty’s father finds out what has happened, and since he does not like Bruce very much, he decides to report him to the police. Since Bruce is 5 ¼ years older than Betty, he is outside of the close in age allowance that the policy states is a safe range to engage in sexual intercourse (5 years). Therefore Bruce is arrested, and if the jury finds him guilty, he could be seen as a sexual offender or child molester for the rest of life. These are huge ramifications that Bruce could endure purely from having consensual sex with his girlfriend.
Now let’s examine if Betty and Bruce had decided to wait on having sex. There is potential that everything will be okay and they can hold off until they are both of age. However there is also the possibility that social circumstances will get in the way; I do not need to tell everyone how teenagers can be these days, there is a lot of peer pressure to have sex, and the presentation in the media is that everyone is having sex and that it is okay. Being a teenager is hard enough to deal with, and when you add your friends telling you to have sex, and then feeling like you want to yourself because your hormones are acting up and you are in love with your partner, it can be really challenging to resist the urge. This can result in a huge amount of stress and feeling pressured which can be detrimental to some youth and put a huge strain on their relationships.
Therefore there is no obvious answer that Betty and Bruce have; both decisions could have a negative impact and lasting consequences. Hence the very existence of this policy, while good for protecting people from harm, can be very detrimental to the relationships of our teenagers.
The question could be asked, what if a teenage couple was more than five years apart in age; presumably this would be a reasonable situation. So, for example, let us examine a couple who have been dating for a year and now one of them is 14 and the other is 19 (potentially a high school freshman and a senior) and they are trying to decide whether or not they want to engage in sexual intercourse. If they choose not to have sex, then there are no legal ramifications, however, if they choose to have sex there could be some serious consequences. Let’s say the 14 year old is a female named Betty, and the 19 year old is a male named Bruce. After having sex, Betty’s father finds out what has happened, and since he does not like Bruce very much, he decides to report him to the police. Since Bruce is 5 ¼ years older than Betty, he is outside of the close in age allowance that the policy states is a safe range to engage in sexual intercourse (5 years). Therefore Bruce is arrested, and if the jury finds him guilty, he could be seen as a sexual offender or child molester for the rest of life. These are huge ramifications that Bruce could endure purely from having consensual sex with his girlfriend.
Now let’s examine if Betty and Bruce had decided to wait on having sex. There is potential that everything will be okay and they can hold off until they are both of age. However there is also the possibility that social circumstances will get in the way; I do not need to tell everyone how teenagers can be these days, there is a lot of peer pressure to have sex, and the presentation in the media is that everyone is having sex and that it is okay. Being a teenager is hard enough to deal with, and when you add your friends telling you to have sex, and then feeling like you want to yourself because your hormones are acting up and you are in love with your partner, it can be really challenging to resist the urge. This can result in a huge amount of stress and feeling pressured which can be detrimental to some youth and put a huge strain on their relationships.
Therefore there is no obvious answer that Betty and Bruce have; both decisions could have a negative impact and lasting consequences. Hence the very existence of this policy, while good for protecting people from harm, can be very detrimental to the relationships of our teenagers.
P.
1 comment:
A better question would be is it every ok for a 19 yer old (with all of the maturity that travels with that age) to talk a 14 year old into having sex with him/her?
this sure sounds like explotiation to me.
I think the whole point of the law is to define a time when the younger person cannot be allowed the "freedom" to make such a decision (or in this case be talked into an adult decision).
W
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