
Teenage Sex - The Sleepover Question - jseliger
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24schalet.html?_r=1&src=rechp
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byoung2
It is important to note that the age of consent could have something to do
with the differences in attitudes in the US vs Netherlands. In many states in
the US, the age of consent (sexual) is 18. There are a few states where it is
16, or even 14, though. It would be interesting to compare responses from
parents of 16 year olds in these states. In the Netherlands, from what I was
able to find online, the age of consent is 16, but with the consent of
parents, it can be as low as 12. Given that, it would make sense that
attitudes of parents would be different.

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scott_s
I suspect the cultural attitudes shaped the law, and not the other way around.

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byoung2
_I suspect the cultural attitudes shaped the law, and not the other way
around._

You're right...these laws were likely written during a more conservative age,
but even though attitudes have changed, it is difficult to change the laws.
Just do a search for "Blue Laws" to see plenty of examples of this. I think
that it's quite possible that now the situation is reversed, that the laws are
influencing attitudes. Just look at the drinking age. I'm sure there are
plenty of parents who don't give their kids wine simply because the drinking
age is 21.

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virgin
Seriously asking, does no one care how many people their spouse slept with?

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yaks_hairbrush
Why does it matter? I met my wife when I was 20 and she was 23. Does it matter
what happened when she or I did at age 16, given there are no STDs or children
in the mix?

I know I don't particularly like to be judged on things I did before I was 19
or so, because the me at 18 was a very different individual (less responsible,
more petty, etc.) than the me at 20. So, turning the question around: are you
seriously going to judge a person based on what he/she did a number of years
prior?

