Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Lowering the Legal Age of Consent to a Sexual Act

Satisfactory Essays
430 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lowering the Legal Age of Consent to a Sexual Act
Lowering The Legal Age Of Consent

The law states that no person under the age of sixteen is capable of giving their consent to a sexual act. Yet there is still people at young agese being involved in sexual acts by their own choice. This makes people wonder if the age of consent should be lowered as at this age the acts are already being preformed if it is legal or not. There are countries such as Canada, Germany, Italy and other European countries that the legal oafe of consent to sexual acts is fourteen and in these countried ther have fewer teenage pregnancies, abortions and HIV's.

The average age of someone's first sexual experience whether it is intercourse or not is the age of fourteen even though anyone under the age of sixteen that takes part in these acts are breaking the law which crimanalises over half the teenage population. Lowering the age of consent will reduce crime reports against teenagers under the age of sixteen who have made a joint decision with their partner to have intercourse or take part in sexual acts. Lowering the age will also provide schools with better sexual education as many teachers withhold information about sexual acts in case of parents suing or being accused of encouraging their children to be involved in such acts.

Lowering the age of consent may tempt more young or even younger people to paticapate in sexual acts. This is does not mean that if the age of consent is lowered then younger people at ages such as twelve and thirteen will start to become active in sexual acts. At the age of twelve their bodys are simply not ready to be involved in sexual activity.

The lowering of consent could possibly end up with more pregnancys and STI's as they are younger and leess mature. As they may be more embarraced to go speak to contrecption causing this problem. As they are younger and still like to be the same as their friends this may lead to people having sex or being involved in sexual acts as their friends are.

I personally agree that lowering the age of consent will prevent teenage pregnances as younger people will be more educated about the concequences and will feel more comfertable talking about sexual acts and proitection. Lowering the age of conception may lead to schools providing free contreception which may provide a more comfertable or easier way to get and allowing them to talk more openly about their sex lifes without worrying about being questioned or breaking the law.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Did you know that with the open-parent-child relationship, teenage pregnancy has declined more than 58% since it peaked in 1990? With the legislated-parent child relationship, the percentage will clearly rise and this will cause more financial, educational and social burden to the state and even the country as a whole. This is evident because there are 50-60% of teenagers who do not discuss sex with their parents. With the passing of this law, teenagers who do not want to talk to their parents about them having sex and wanting to get checked for any possible STI pose the risk of never seeking medical attention. Also, what about those teenagers who are going through some disorders or even some sort of depression and want to seek mental health counseling? Does this mean they do not have the right to ask for help without parental consent? Yes! The parents might have their best…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main reason is the law recognizes eighteen-year-olds as adults. If the law were to go by maturity, instead of a set age, there will be complications. On account of the law, statutory rape would be a difficult situation to address. Statutory rape is for someone sexually assaulted under the age of 18. If there was no set age on becoming an adult, what would be classified as statutory rape? Statutory rape would not exist for someone under the age of eighteen. For example, Caiti is 14 and her boyfriend is 19. If Caiti is raped by her boyfriend, she can file for statutory rape. You can file for statutory rape even if you wanted to have sex. If statutory rape was not used to convicting rapists, then rape victims would be more terrified to make an accusation. Do you really want your child or loved one to lose the right to file this against someone? Most criminals are charged with this crime. If statutory rape did not exist, these criminals would be spending less time in jail. In 2000, there was one statutory rape for every three forcible rapes. Three out of five victims of statutory rape are aged 14 to 15. Three out of ten statutory rape incidents are boyfriend, girlfriends. Six out of ten incidents were acquaintances (ncjrs.gov). Do you really want your son or daughter to be sexually assaulted and the criminal to get away with it? If eighteen-year-olds are not recognized as adults we would not have this law to keep children and adolescents…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first main point of not lowering the legal drinking age is teen depression. Teens deal with a lot of stress, drinking will turn into binge drinking and then depression (ProCon.org “Drinking Age“). Also, it is a depressant…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Some would argue that the drinking age shouldn 't be lowered because of three very real risks, drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and violent or destructive behavior. Drunk driving is a stain on our civilization. An average of 17,000 individuals die each year in drunk driving related deaths. It seems quite plausible that were alcohol to be legalized for those under the age of 18, the 15.1% of 18 to 20 year olds who drink before getting behind the wheel would rise significantly. A brief stroll through nearly every campus in America reveals keg parties, crowded bars filled with fake ID minors, and rowdy sorority and fraternity functions. When you consider that adolescence is a time of great impulsivity and tendency for violence and destructive behavior, the dangers of legalizing alcohol for minors become that much more real.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the pros if the age was lowered, underage drinking can be supervised in settings such as bars and restaurants vs college dorms and fraternity houses. Turning 18 is a celebration to adulthood for many. You can do many other things at 18 such as smoke cigarettes, vote, get married.…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Over 5,000 teens die every year while intoxicated and more than 175,000 are seriously injured. That means alcohol leads to almost 30% of teen deaths each year. Lowering the legal drinking age would only increase this number.…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is a fact that many teenagers drink even though they are underage. Whether its at home, parties, or just at hang out places. People make all this mess about how easy teenagers can get to alcohol. If they lower the drinking age then twelve and thirteen year olds will be able to get alcohol even easier and start drinking at a even younger age, but according to statistics that's not true, because now 71% of 8th graders say it is easy for them to get alcohol. So it wouldn’t make a difference if the age was lowered.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most children are very excited about turning 18 because it means adulthood, running off to college, and gaining freedom. When turning this age, you are allowed to join the military, get married and receive all the rights and responsibilities of an adult. However, having a wedding at this age means that during the celebration, one is not allowed to share a glass of Champaign during the toasts because the drinking age is 21. The United States is one of the few countries in the world to have such a high legal drinking age. Therefore the drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you are able to sign your life away and go to war, young adults in other countries are able to handle the responsibilities, and the different age limits do not coordinate with the responsibilities.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenagers are not mature enough for the drinking age to be lowered to eighteen years old. Being able to drink at an early age can lead to alcoholism at more quickly. When teenagers consume alcohol it is more easily for them to drink and drive because they believe nothing can or will happen to them. All fifty states minimum age to drink is twenty-one, but in some states it is okay for people under that age to drink under adult supervision. Having to drink in front of adults brings…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this day and age, there are many laws and regulations that set limitations on the age at which a person is allowed to do certain things, such as voting, purchasing cigarettes, getting licensed to drive a car, and even joining the military. These laws and regulations were set with the idea in mind that people will be at the appropriate age to take part in such activities. Lawmakers believed that at these set age limitations people would be matured and responsible enough to handle such privileges. One law pertaining to age limitation that has gotten a lot of light and has been an enormously controversial topic in recent times is the drinking age, which is currently 21 years old in all 50 states within America. Some say that it should be lowered so that people at the age of 18 can take part in the privilege of enjoying alcoholic beverages while others strongly disagree and find it to be anything but a good idea. Personally, I am with those who think that the age should be lowered. I…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No matter what the law states there are people that will break it. This especially includes teenagers who are going through a rebellious phase and trying to find their identity. “In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives” (procon.org). The law that twenty-one is the legal drinking age is clearly not being abided and is no longer relevant in today’s society. Drinking is very common and included at most gatherings, as a way to have fun and enjoy the night. However, with drinking being illegal for those under twenty-one, drinking tends to happen in some sketchy places and surrounded by unfamiliar people. It is in these situations where drinking becomes unsafe. Therefore, lowering the drinking age will drop unsafe drinking rates throughout the United States (procon.org). Allowing people to purchase and drink alcohol in the comfort of their own home. Instead of drinking it illegally and needing to worry about unsafe…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People argue on lowering the drinking age to eighteen whether it is a good idea. Some teenagers start experiencing drinking in high school. Many teenagers think there is nothing wrong with a drink every now or again at a party. In fact, many teenagers see drinking alcohol as an important stage in becoming an adult. For this reason, teenagers are more temped to consume alcohol. The legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because eighteen is considered to be a legal adult, it will help with economy, and help teenagers have a safer environment.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Should the legal drinking age be raised to 21? Drinking alcohol is one of the biggest problems facing the Australian community. The proportion of people at risk as a result of excessive drinking of alcohol is constantly increasing as 3200 people die and almost 81000 people admitted to hospital every year. People use alcohol for numerous reasons; peer pressure, celebration, anxiety, sadness, boredom, rebellion, insomnia, just to name a few.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Minimum Drinking Age

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages

    There will always be people who want to drink underage, and if we were to lower the legal age thinking that we can avoid the problems of dealing with young people drinking, that is wrong. Underage drinking will only get pushed down on to even younger people which is even worse for a 15-year-old to be drinking rather than a 19 or 20-year-old. If not for just the scientific facts of the damage underage drinking does, think back to the proposal at the beginning of this paper, imagine what that would be like to lose a child. I know I would not want to go through that, and I hope you wouldn’t want to…

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Who are we to define what we’re old enough to do and not to do? Yes, everywhere is different and every country has their rules and regulations, and as an international student I’d like to narrow the comparison of my island and the U.S.A. and why I strongly believe that the drinking age should be lowered. In the United States of America, at the age of 16 one is entitled to get their driver’s license, meaning the lives of other people are in a 16 year old’s hands. At age 18, one can volunteer to fight at war and are also allowed to kill, sometimes the decision is not even theirs but they have no choice but to go. If one commits a crime at age 18 they’d be charge as an adult yet they’re allowed to through post-traumatic stress disorder and not be able to drink their sorrows away? Now, see where I come from, we have a standard age for everything; whether it’s clubbing, driving, going to the army and yes drinking alcohol. Some see it as reckless, but in reality if you could handle driving and going to the army, if you are so responsible to do such things, then why not be responsible and or ‘mentally stable’ to drink alcohol every now and then? The more rules we set, the faster people are going to break them. During teenage years we have a lot of curiosities and people are going to want to try and do things before their time. The determination of legality in drinking should not be based on age, but rather on maturity and the ability to handle responsibility, therefore the age of drinking should be decreased.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays