quote:I love being an adult. [For the reasons enumerated.]
quote:The best thing about being an adult is you get to order pizza whenever you want!
To me, none of these things correlate with adulthood, but rather with age. In my worldview age and adulthood (actually, I use the term "grown-up" when I need to be gender-neutral in this context, not "adult," but I'll use "adult" in this post) do not have a causal relationship. I have the same freedoms and respect as you do, but that stuff doesn't affect my "boy" self-concept.
Clearly my definition of "adult" in this context differs significantly from yours. It's entirely possible that I will never think of myself as a "man," particularly if I never have children. At this point in my life I want to remain a "boy" indefinitely.
To put it more precisely, I might be an adult according to your terms, but I am certainly not a grown-up according to my terms.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: Hmm... I had no idea my state allowed girls that young to get married.
Farmgirl
I ran into this as a principal in another place in Kansas. In this case it was a 25 year old male who married a 14 year old girl at the school I was principal in. SRS could not stop it, the school could do nothing, the parents were very approving.
The entire situation had a very "unwholesome" feel about it.
Nothing we could do. The girl had been living with this guy at the parents' home for a couple of years. They just wanted to make it legal, I guess.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote: Now that I think about it, I think older children have a responsibility not to hurt younger children. If a thirteen-year old did something that would be likely to cause harm to a 4 year old that thirteen year old should be confronted by the appropriate authorities. Which in that case would be the parents. This 22 year old boy has graduated from his parents authority to the community authority, in the form of the law. So whether he’s a man or a boy is irrelevant, except in determining who is responsible for calling him to account.
It might be good if we established that he is, in fact, harming her.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote: Carefull Sticky, I think there are some Kansasians here.
Maybe they need to vote more and put and end to legal "sex with kids"!!!!!!
SW, where do you reside? Are you fully cognizant of every law in your state/province... what have you? Fess up about your location and we'll see if we can't find something about your region that begs disdain.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
The weird thing about statutory rape is that it is easier to nab the adult guys who stick around. Someone who impregnates a 13 year old and then runs off is nearly impossible to catch, and said 13 year old usually doesn't have the resources, the energy, or the wherewithal to catch him. The parents are often not much help because they are often the kind of people who allow their 13 year olds to get into situations where they could get pregnant by a much older man.
But if the guy shows up at the hospital and admits paternity, he is easy to find, you've got an admission, and often he gets arrested.
If I was the absolute monarch and had unlimited financial resources, I'd put in a system where guys who stuck around after getting a minor girl pregnant would be subject to harsh penalties, such as higher child support payments, probation that requires them to be employed, supervised visitation with the mother, and mandatory counselling before even discussing marriage. I would also have mandatory genetic testing on all infants born to minor mothers and a gene bank that was both accurate and comprehensive (and yet, magically, did not impinge on anyone's civil rights and was never used in an unlawful or unethical way) to ID the fathers so they could be prosecuted.
But... I'm getting carried away. I've seen quite a few young teen pregnancies. A lot of them were while I did legal clinics in California. This situation is sad, but it really isn't all that unique. Around where I live now, the teen pregnancy rate is 33% in some towns and many high schools provide nursery services. There is a teen parents' alternative high school in one of the cities, and much talk about building a middle school.
But it really isn't a problem confined to back woodsy states. I counseled several high schoolers who had toddlers and even small children in LA, and the fathers were all in their twenties when conception occurred.
Posts: 700 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Storm, the physical stress that sex and pregnancy puts on a 13 year old body counts as harm in my book. She and the baby are also at high risk for all sorts of complications. Even if they were in love, they could have waited until she was older to have sex.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
I wonder... are there other crimes that when committed a subsequent act negates the first act as a crime?
Now, I do not know if it is in the best interest of the girl for the husband/father to remain with them. I couldn't get the link to come up and its unlikely we get a full picture anyway. The best interests have to be decided by someone who is actually there and can review all the information, not just the information the media hands out.
But that said, does anyone know the answer to my question? Are there other crimes that are negated by a subsequent act?
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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posted
Well, with a lot of crimes you could do something later that makes the victim decide not to press charges, but I don't think that's really the situation you're looking for here.
quote:Clearly my definition of "adult" in this context differs significantly from yours. It's entirely possible that I will never think of myself as a "man," particularly if I never have children. At this point in my life I want to remain a "boy" indefinitely.
Adult = A big kid who has successfully convinced himself or herself and/or others that he or she is not a big kid. (More or less)
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I meant to say, by the way, that you captured the essence of my meaning very well. 
