Ok, here we go with another controversial one...!!!
Firstly, however, I want to ensure that I get on record the fact that I do *NOT* in any way support, condone or approve of anyone being persuaded, forced or influenced into doing anything against their will or without their agreement and informed consent.
Now, having said that, the fact is that our society considers children to be incapable of giving informed consent, but there is, IMO, a fault in that reasoning because if we deny them the information they need then *of course* they can't make an informed decision!
However it should be pointed out here that modern ideas of childhood are exactly that, *modern*. For the majority of human history children have been working in the fields or workshops or factories as soon as they were old enough to help, it was only post the industrial revolution that we could afford the luxury of universal education because we could finally spare the children from the need to work.
The result of this is that we have effectively *created* this thing called childhood and whilst it's a laudable thing and should be protected, IMO we've taken this concept too far because we are now preventing children from learning things that, in the past, would have been every day events to them.
(And I'm not just talking about sex. In the past death was, if you'll pardon the expression, just part of life, but now we seem to think that children have to be "protected" from it, with the result that it's *more* traumatic when they first really encounter it)
But what happens now in this country is that children do not learn about sex (and, more especially, relationships) until *after* puberty when the hormones are already starting to rage and all they've really learned is what they've picked up in the playground (which is, of course, almost certainly wrong).
Some years ago I saw a documentary which showed a group of Dutch children watching a British "sex education" film and they were laughing their socks off at how twee and repressed it was. Dutch schoolchildren get taught about sex education *and* more importantly, relationships, much earlier and they're given the *full* facts, not just those "sanitised" ones that have been foisted on British children.
Guess which country has the lower rate of teenage pregnancy?! (In fact, IIRC, it's one of the *lowest* full stop!)
The fact is that, despite the "well meaning" efforts of certain parts of our leadership, children are *still* going to grow up and experiment with sex and trying to stop them from doing so by denying them the information they need makes about as much sense as saying "well if I don't teach my children about swimming, they won't go near the water and drown"!!
So my point is that we should stop treating children at the age of puberty as if they were still infants, but, instead, treat them as *young adults* as they deserve to know the truth about the facts of life *before* they need the information, not after!
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....... and freely discuss their feelings openly will perhaps lend even more credence to the views and opinions of paedophiles who try to convince others that the children they abuse are willing accomplices in their criminal acts because they are sexually and emotionally mature therefore actively participate in these acts.
... :p
but if that isn't what he said... then i apologise if my question implied it.
.... it would be interesting to know at what ages people think being a child ends... and the young adult phase begins....