Why is the age of consent lower than the age for drink?

mr_fegelien

Seems a bit insane no? And even culturally, there's a different attitude towards a 14yr old having sex. A parent complaining online will get told "you can't control who your daughter/son dates" or if a daughter wants an abortion but the parent doesn't then people will say "her body, her choice".

If a parent complains about his kid being on weed will get told "kick the brat out of the house, show him whos boss". Why the difference? It's both someones body?

Why is underage sex tolerated but smoking a joint or having a drink is seen as the end of the world?

Many people i know, would be the opposite way around.

jaxxx

Deleted User wrote: »

Many people i know, would be the opposite way around.

As would anyone with half a brain.

Pauliedragon

The human brain isn't fully developed until adulthood and alcohol is very bad for developing brains. That's the reason it was limited to over 18's originally even though it's now been found that the brain isn't fully formed until the early to mid 20's so maybe it's time to increase the drinking age.

dotsman

Not sure where you are coming from OP.

Not a parent myself, but I can think I can speak for 99.9% of parents out there that they would rather have their 14 year old daughter have a glass of wine than be having sex!!!

dotsman

As to your original question regarding the law. Ultimately, like many of our BS laws, it is simply down to complacency.

The legal age for drink is 18, but everybody knows that most 14/15 year olds will try it and most 16/17 year olds will drink on a regular basis. So why bother change it.

Same for sex; it is legal for 17 year olds based on historic culture norms, when people married and had kids while very young. Likewise, most people don't want to think of their 16 year-olds having sex (hell, a lot of fathers don't even want to think of their 21-year daughters having sex). But changing the law would mean people having to discuss it and think about it and ultimately open a can of worms. So we leave the law as-is and everyone ignores it, unless it is a young girl with a much older man (which is the only real socially unacceptable scenario these days)

freshpopcorn

I've never seen a massive bad reaction to somebody underage drinking the odd time to be honest.

What about some states in the USA.

Drive a car a 16
Go to war at 18
Have a beer at 21

eviltwin

The odd drink is fine, it's drinking to excess i would be concerned with. Sex is different, there are risks associated with sex that can happen even if you only do it once. Not to mention the mental health impact of underage sex.

Irishphotodesk

Omackeral wrote: »

What about some states in the USA.

Drive a car a 16
Go to war at 18
Have a beer at 21

In Ireland it's legal to marry at 16 (with parental consent)
Sex is legal at 17
Smoking and drinking are not legal until 18
You can drive at 16
Not certain but you may need to be 18 to buy condoms.

Ubbquittious

It doesn't matter what they are, kids gonna drink and shag anyway regardless of what the politicians want

touts

Wasn't the law in Ireland once that:
You could get married at 16
You could have sex at 17
You could buy condoms at 18.

Totally the wrong way around.

RandomName2

mr_fegelien wrote: »

Seems a bit insane no? And even culturally, there's a different attitude towards a 14yr old having sex. A parent complaining online will get told "you can't control who your daughter/son dates" or if a daughter wants an abortion but the parent doesn't then people will say "her body, her choice".

A 14 year old in Ireland having sex is breaking the law. There is no minimum age for drinking. The minimum age to buy alcohol is 18, but it is perfectly legal to drink in your home if you are under 18. The minimum age for sex at 17 and 18 for buying drink are both on the high side, as far as Europe goes, but either way your information is incorrect.

Personally I think that a 16 year old should be able to buy a pint in a pub. It is a controlled environment. 16 year olds are drinking anyway.

touts wrote: »

Wasn't the law in Ireland once that:
You could get married at 16
You could have sex at 17
You could buy condoms at 18.

Totally the wrong way around.

I mean condoms being legal is a relatively recent phenomenon for the state.

Bobblehats

dotsman wrote: »

Not sure where you are coming from OP.

Not a parent myself, but I can think I can speak for 99.9% of parents out there that they would rather have their 14 year old daughter have a glass of wine than be having sex!!!

Especially nowadays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8lc8c67ZLg

At least he’s wearing a condom?

Bobblehats

Deleted User wrote: »

Many people i know, would be the opposite way around.

There must have been 20yr between my first drink and my first ride. Priorities!

OneEightSeven

It's because alcohol can cause irreversible brain damage in teens. Sex won't.

Most age of consent laws are just arbitrary numbers anyway. It should be based on age gaps between partners until both parties are mature adults. Ireland has one of the most nonsensical age of consent laws, the age for boys is 16 and 17 for girls, which means a boy can be convicted for statutory rape even if she is 364 days older than him.

Raconteuse

mr_fegelien wrote: »

Seems a bit insane no? And even culturally, there's a different attitude towards a 14yr old having sex. A parent complaining online will get told "you can't control who your daughter/son dates" or if a daughter wants an abortion but the parent doesn't then people will say "her body, her choice".

Why is underage sex tolerated but

(Just quoting the bits relevant to my reply).

Ah here, that's really not true. You're conflating SOME people holding the above views with being the dominant views, which of course they aren't. The majority of people would not be ok with their child having sex at 14. A handful of people saying you can't control who they date (which you can't in fairness but that doesn't mean being ok with it) doesn't mean the majority think it's no big deal. And a daughter having an abortion is hardly something anyone thinks is ok, even if some say "her body, her choice".

Underage sex is obviously tolerated by those having underage sex - can't think of anyone else who would be ok with it. Yeah people accept it happens (you can't really stop it) but that doesn't mean they think it's in any way ideal.

Bobblehats

OneEightSeven wrote: »

It's because alcohol can cause irreversible brain damage in teens. Sex won't.

Between all the headbangin n drinkin my god.

Real smooth operators these days bit of puff, bit of bump n grind..

Boredstiff666

The number/age has got nothing to do with it. People have been having sex at under the age of present day consent for thousands of years with no bad side effects. You only here about what makes the headlines.

In olden days not too long ago, everybody of all ages drank beer everyday. This was because it was safer than the water.

They all survived. They must have otherwise you lot wouldn't be here rattling on about this.

Raconteuse

What the OP is saying is that parents are pretty much universally cool with their children having sex under-age though. This of course is not true.