Autonemesis

What about under 14 with another under 14 child? My first experience was at 13 yrs old, and I knew what I was doing, and it was consensual.

How would it have been different if one or the other of us was 15 instead of 13?

dangin

I kind of agree with you KB, SS's use of 16 is arbitrary. Physical, sexual maturity means the body is ready. (the mind is a different thing entirely, there are 40-year-olds who are not ready for sex)

If the body is ready arbitrarily legislated start dates are silly.

ybnormal

I will say, though, that I have experienced this when I was either four or five (I would not admit this anywhere else), and that I did not at the time, nor do I at present, feel anything negative about the experience to any degree.

Yes, and at this point, a full 73.53% of respondents have totally ignored your honesty, leaving them of course, as part of the problem. Folks continue to insist that they know better than those actually living the experience.

I see little difference between the ignorance of the straight majority and that of homosexuals who honestly state that they were born gay. Folks continue to insist that they know better than those actually living the experience.

I see little difference between the ignorance of those who have never smoked marijuana and those who have, without harm. Folks continue to insist that they know better than those actually living the experience.

That said, the stated age of 4 or 5 is terribly problematic for those who are unable to relate, as it should be. Take the fact that I was eight years old myself, who can honestly say that I too, did not at the time, nor do I at present, feel anything negative about the experience, yet I can't begin to relate to becoming sexually active at four or five.

So in that sense, I must understand, to a degree, those who can't begin to relate to my first experiences at eight. My problem with them tho, remains, that they can so easily state that It is always wrong, when I assume they haven't a firsthand clue, so I must question the source of their so-called knowledge, certainly when they in essence call us liars.

I also must wonder if they are aware that they are technically condemning a multitude kids in the US who continue a sexual relationship past their 18th birthday, with their 17 YO partner, not to mention the larger multitude of kids from other countries that have much lower age of consent laws. I can only speculate that they don't really care about these kids, as much as they care about their own preconceived and erroneous emotional reactions to an unfamiliar concept. This is clearly an issue with shades of gray, rather than some black and white absolutism.

Altho it is NOT always wrong, your simple poll has proved your point.

Don't let'em get you down, Bud. Nothing matters more than your total acceptance of your self. And whether you realize it or not, yet, only you have control of that.

PEACE!

Fr.Andrew

I go with the third option--sometimes OK--sometimes not.
I tried to start a thread last fall, on one of the forums here, asking what objections there may be to children experimenting with sex--at whatever age they became curious, and in whatever direction--if we could take pregnancy and disease off the table.
The thread was quickly high-jacked by a crowd of judgemental thugs from the Cygnus Forums whose desire it was to paint me as a pedophile...and I discovered that there are subjects about which even [some of] the denizens of the Internet Infidels Forums are unable to maintain an open mind.
In my opinion, the harm of (non-coercive) inter-generational sex is the guilt associated with it and foisted on us by our (Judeo-Christian) culture. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with it--again in my opinion--and I can even imagine (and have articulated) situations in which it would be beneficial to the child.
Further, there is a good study indicating that the great harm which we commonly associate with inter-generational sex is not based in reality.

Loren Pechtel

If you take the STD's and pregnancy off the table you have just eliminated basicall all objections to sex between children of a similar age.

When dealing with age-different relationships you still have power-imbalance issues. I'm not sure how I would feel about such cases.


One thing I would like to see--I don't like hard age limits. Age limits (in general, not just pertaining to sex) should be subject to a judicial bypass system.

Also, I would impose criminal penalties for an adult giving a minor a STD unless the adult was the victim of someone they reasonably trusted or other such circumstance. (If you had reasonable cause to think you were clean then you aren't guilty if something sneaks in. If you merely weren't being careful, though, you're guilty.)

Primal

Yeah I know.....its not like children are easily manipulated or pressured by adults into doing things they'd rather not. I guess farmer Bill is allowed to molest his daughter Betty Sue after all....I mean she refuses to press charges and all.

Amen-Moses

I answered C because the question is rather vague, i.e define "Boy" and define "Love".

If you mean "Love" then how can that ever be wrong?

If you mean "Sex" then it would depend on several things, i.e the definition of "Boy" and whether you are talking about the use of force.

So basically it depends.

Amen-Moses

Sue Sponte

My response was to the OP's presumption that an adult and child were involved. If it is two children, the scenario is altered in that there is no adult in a position to use coercion in some form to have the child engage in the act.

I have no problem with two 13 year-olds exploring sexuality, if both are ready to do so. But I see that quite differently than an adult and child. Obviously, as the ages get closer, the lines are more blurred. But if you are asking me whether an adult should seek sexual gratification from someone under 14, I believe the answer is no.

Odemus

If I ever caught an adult molesting my little girl I would kill them no questions asked. If you feel the need to coerce children into sex, you've got serious problems. If you act on that feeling with my child (or a child that I know) those problems will be quickly alleviated by a claw hammer to the head.

Vandrare

if as seems to be the case, one of the main problems here between a man-boy relationship is that of power and STD transmission, how is that then any more morally wrong than two people of the same age group but from within totally different power groups having sexual relations? after all, the much more powerful partner could easily manipulate the other into sex without them being truly ready, and could just as easily transmit an STD.
*just an interesting aside*