Three years difference in age, tops. (Unless the Senior was held back.) Insane? Not at all. You must remember that for the vast majority of the history of Humanity teenagers were having sex and getting married and nobody was complaining. Juliet was 13 when she married (and had intercourse with) Romeo. The standard age for women to get married in ancient Greece was (I think) 13 or 14. The men in ancient Greece were typically in their late 20s or early 30s. (You might ask how they managed to wait that long. Probably by boinking boys.)
I disagree vehemently with the idea that an 18 year old having sex with a 15 year old is insane. I agree that it may not be in the 15 year old’s best interest to risk pregnancy at that age, but sex with an 18 year old is hardly insane.
Psychonaut, to make it more simple yet, both the Federal Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal have ruled unconstitutional section 159 of the Criminal Code.
"Hey…
I’m not a lumberjack,
or a fur trader…
and I don’t live in an igloo
or eat blubber, or own a dogsled…
and I don’t know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I’m certain they’re really, really nice.
I have a Prime Minister,
not a President.
I speak English and French,
NOT American.
and I pronouce it ‘about’,
NOT ‘a boot’.
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, NOT policing.
diversity, NOT assimilation,
AND THAT THE BEAVER IS A TRULY PROUD AND NOBLE ANIMAL.
A TOQUE IS A HAT,
A CHESTERFIELD IS A COUCH,
AND IT IS PRONOUCED ‘ZED’ NOT ‘ZEE’, ‘ZED’!!
CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS!
THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY!
AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA!
MY NAME IS JOE!!
AND I AM CANADIAN!!!"
I disagree vehemently that the idea of a 15 year old having sex with anyone is insane. If I was not going to be unable to access the boards during the next week I would invite you to discuss this further in GD.
Fascinating. I am curious, what does this ruling really mean? Clearly the law hasn’t been repealed, as it’s still on the books. I take it one can no longer be convicted of the crime, but can one still be arrested for it?
The age difference is not the point and while the historical context is interesting it has relatively little to do with the current modern world in which we must fend, wherein a pregnant 15 old is seriously hobbling not only her own ability to become reasonably well educated and skilled enough to make a decent living and home for her child, but the support burden the baby imposes on her family may compromise the ability of the family to provide economically and educationally for her siblings as well.
“Insane” by itself is probably too imprecise, it might be better to say that, regardless of biological yearnings and historical precedent, unless you want to struggle like Sisyphus in making a decent life, it is extremely ill advised for a 15 year old girl to have intercourse with a 18 year old male given the serious risk of pregnancy.
Unconstitutional laws do not automatically get repealed or taken off the books in Canada. Thats one reason you rarely see a Canadian Criminal Code that isn’t anotated.
In theory this law isn’t dead yet. While criminal law is federal, administration of justice is provincial. The Ontario Court of Appeal decision is binding only in Ontario. As Ontario did not seek to uphold the law in the Supreme Court of Canada the law is effectively dead in the province.
Another province could lay a charge and the Ontario decision would be considered persuasive but non binding. Were another appeal court to disagree we would expect to see the issue hit the Supreme Court of Canada where it would be resolved for the whole country. If it upheld the law it would apply again in Ontario.
In real life the law is effectively dead. The Ontario Court decision was very strong and predictable on a number of grounds. The biggest surprise was that the federal and provincial justice departments bothered to argue it should be upheld in the first place.
I hate to sound like a goody two shoes.But consdidering your ages I would think that five months of “not getn’ jiggy with it” shouldn’t be too long to wait. I would
be a good test of the relationship.
Whether a teenage relationship stops at milk and cookies, holding hands and a good night kiss, necking and fondling or intercourse is to some degree dependent on parent’s and peer’s expectations, the relative maturity of the individuals involved, the way they have been raised and how seriously they understand the consequences of intercourse. Fairly or unfairly the most serious burden in all this falls the girl’s shoulders with respect to the risk of pregnancy and its real world consequences for her future life.
So yes, I would “expect” my 15 year old daughter to be smart and disciplined enough not have intercourse until she is prepared for the consequences and quite frankly, I would not encourage her relationship with an 18 year old man. Whether it pans out this way is obviously subject to a number of variables but this is what I would “expect”.
Out of curiosity gex gex what would you “expect” for your 15 year old and how you would you advise her to behave?
[Moderator watch ON]
Just a reminder, folks: This thread is specifically for discussion of the legal situation presented by the OP, in the state of Massachusetts. Most of the other issues which have come up in this thread belong in Great Debates, not General Questions. Please take them there.
Here’s a Question. If you both are havine sex now then why does it matter if he’s going to be older unless your parents don’t know and in either case they’ll probably find out sooner or later. Wait a minute. I just thought of something he’s 18 and you’re only 15 aren’t you? A little young aren’t we?
“Come on up to Canada, where the age of consent is 14 Better yet, I heard that the Netherlands was considering lowering their age of consent to 12. Anyone know if this happened, or am I hallucinating again?”
Ahem, a US citizen going to another country & having sex with someone under 18 is illegal under a nifty new US law. We talked about this new law before on the board. Dunno about Canadians boinking US citizens by coming here though.
Hey, if you want to know whats legal all you have to do is call your local police station. They would let you know. After all, they do the arresting too.
