England::A Legal sex age??

Hey i was just surfin around when i noticed something about the age limit on sex in great britain. 16?? is this true? if so, thats crazy. Im from the u.s., and it just seems different to me. any brits who know somethin bout this?

Yes the minimum age for legal consensual sex in Britian is 16. What about it do you consider crazy? The fact that a mininum age exists at all, or is 16 too young or old in your opinion?

Tom

Personally I think 16 is way too young... and I think it says something for society nowadays that we have laws about such things...

And also do you think a law about consensual age is even going to stop anybody?

In the United States I know if one of the individuals is under 18 and the other is 18 or older sex is considered statutory rape (or something like that). Personally I like that becuase even though I'm 19 if a guy is bothering me somewhere I'll just be like. 'oh by the way i'm only 17' and he'll usually leave me alone...

It is the same with the statutory rape thing in the u.k, and your'e right the age limit rarely stops anyone.

What about the fact that the legal age for Homosexual sex is 18 two years older than the hetero law

m

So it's 18 in the U.S. then? I'd say if so, that would be more appropriate. I've always thought the drinking laws are more appropriate in the U.S. than they are of Britain, that you can't legally buy a drink in the U.S. until you are at least 21 years old! Wheras it's only 18years in the U.K. which I think is too young! This is going a little off the subject but I reckon there would be less binge drinkers in the U.K. if they had toughened up the laws over here but they are slack in my opinion The U.S. has better laws in that respect - and if the legal age for sex is 18 then the laws over in the U.S. are more appropriate also.

well being an 18 year old myself i am of course going to DISAGREE with all of you!! i think at the age of 18 people are mature enough to do things for themself. if you can drive a car at 15 (in NZ), have sex at 16 (just cuz its the legal age it wont make a difference to anyone i think its fine)... and get married at 18 then why cant you drink at 18?? i spent last year in Holland where the drinking age is 16 and soft drugs are legal... and i can say with all honesty that New Zealands drug and alcohol problem is a lot bigger than Hollands!! its not the age thats the problem is the mentality of the people...

when you're my age its supposed to be the best years of your life where you go out and party and have fun!! I love the fact that every weekend i can go out clubbing with my mates and just have fun!! haha of course being 18 of course i am going to say this.... but its good to have a young'uns opinion

Hi IngridJone - don't get me wrong - I lurrrve to party I'm 25 so I have been 18 myself once. I partied from when I was 14 years old and I admit I did get ridiculously drunk sometimes. I haven't given up yet either However the negative part is getting addicted cos you are drinking so young - some of my now 29 year old friends still binge drink and I used to up until a couple of years ago. The mentality of people thinking it's all ok etc. to drink, have sex etc. so young is usually because the laws aren't tough enough. If the laws were stricter on sex at 16 etc. then people would think more and think that it is wrong to have sex at that age. Mainly, in my opinion, at 16 (also you can get married at 16 in Uk) you are too young because you feel wreckless (even so at 18 when drinking) you cannot control your behaviour at that age and get easily addicted to drink, drugs etc. At 21 you are more likely to control your drink. At 16 when having sex - matters such as contraception, etc. go out the window, and before you know it you have a pregnancy to deal with, probably then feel depressed and then follows the vicious circle of so many young pregnancies in britain, followed by STD's and then binge drinkers. I think most pregnancies are underage too, because if you make a law 16 for sex - it's going to happen a couple of years younger (after all you're nearly at the legal age so what) is what people think. If you make a drinking law 18, then people will do it at 14, 15, 16 - whereas if the law was envisaged enough and made tougher, people would think twice about drinking, sex and drugs and realise that, in my opinion, unresponsible sex, binge drinking and drugs at 15 is a bit too much Sorry to come on so strong

From the states...
Does anyone feel that since the legal drinking age in the States is 21 (much higher than most other countries, but we also get our driver's licenses sooner) Anyhow does anyone feel this causes more solo drinking verse just being a social drinker?
Meaning since 17-18-19 etc. yr-olds can't go to the local bar or pub to have a drink they instead have parties when parents are gone or drink (sometimes alone) in the secrecy of their room/basement/shed/in a car while driving.
Personally I think this may cause more binge drinking...

Also in the UK or wherever the legal drinking age is 18 is it customary for you guys to get completely smashed on your birthday that makes you legal to drink? My friend just turned 21 and on his b-day his friends were making up reasons to make him chug beers etc. This is quite comon and it usually doesn't matter if they have already been drinking (illegally) for the last few years.

As far as sex/drugs/alcohol everything I think we're trying to put too much responsibility on the law. I think eventually it boils down to the individual and how they were raised...

I was drinking from about 15, while living in Holland (although the law is 16, it is the norm to be drinking younger than that and I never experienced an age check). Actually, when I first went to Australia at the age of 17, I asked for wine on the plane and was kind of taken aback when asked whether I was old enough! I just said yes, and the stewardess accepted that - if she had asked for ID, I guess it would have been a problem

Being in the States now, EVERYONE asks for ID and at a supermarket recently an Australian driver's license wasn't even good enough and we were refused grrr... You can only imagine that we were a little pissed off about that (various 'coalition of the willing' remarks came to mind afterward) !!! I understand though that they can lose their alcohol selling license if we had been undercover agents or something No one else has had a problem with the aussie license though.

To draw conclusions from my own experience, I don't think a younger age has any effect on how many binge drinkers there are. It can easily be argued both ways, but effectively it comes down to the culture of the country and the circles you hang out in if you ask me. And I totally agree with Leah that it depends on how you were brought up. We were always raised to treat alcohol responsibly and enjoy in moderation, etc.. and I think the first drink I had was at home and not with friends. I've never been drunk (although severely tipsy maybe ) and have no desire to be either! If parents deal with these things openly, I think the children grow up a lot more responsibly and it is far more effective than any law could ever hope to be.

Also, it's worth considering that in some places alcohol is a REALLY severe problem (like aboriginal communities in Australia). In these places, I think it is best to not drink at all in public, so as to set a good example to those around. In fact, in some communities of Australia ('dry communities'), alcohol is completely prohibited for that reason.

You guys are saying the legal age a person can have sex as an/with an adult is 16. What is the legal age though for other things such as voting, marriage, ability to sign contracts, obtain a driver's license, join/be drafted to the military?

Some of these have been answered already, but I am very curious at what age in the UK you are an actual "adult" and your rights/privledges are no longer restricted by age.

In the USA it is 16 for driving, 18 for everything else except drinking, some states it is 19 for ciggarettes too, and 21 is when you are old enough to drink... 3 years after you are able to be conscripted by the millitary. I can't imagine going being in a war and having some jerk tell me I can't have a beer cause I am not a man yet.