Okay for a 14 year old boy and 23 year old woman to have sex?

I agree. It is certainly possible for a teenager to be taken advantage of, no matter how chock full of hormones he might be. But unless I’m missing something, I haven’t seen any solid evidence that that’s the case here.

Sure, why not? Why should someone who can drive safely be denied a driver’s license just because he hasn’t gone around the sun 16 times yet? Feel free to start a new thread if you would like to discuss youth rights in general.

Well, according to the study I quoted earlier, it seems very unlikely that he would be damaged in any way by consensual sex.

It’s not about the power of sex, but the power of her position. She’s his teacher. You don’t see a conflict of interest here?

Even in college, when students and teachers are often the same age, it’s generally forbidden. At the very LEAST, how could the teacher be objective in grading the individual? Perhaps she might manipulate her students, “Sleep with me or I’ll fail you.”

Aeschines, the adultery angle-that’s between her and her husband.

You know, when I was sixteen, I was majorly lusting over my math teacher. I fantasized about him all the time. Does that mean that it would have been a GOOD thing if he had tried to put a move on me? Absolutely not!

Even if he wanted, even if he enjoyed it-it was NOT what I’d call a good experience. There’s too much potential for harm. Even if it doesn’t occur this time.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone remember Mary Kay Letourneau?

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/marykay_letourneau/1.html

And would anyone like to argue that relationship worked out well for anyone involved?

I have noticed that a lot of the guys posting on this topic have mentioned that if a sexy teacher had offered herself to them at that age, they would have considered it a gift from God. I feel I have to chime in about this with an altogether different perspective, that of a Fundamentalist (Church of Christ)-raised individual. I do believe that if I (and some of the guys I went to Church with) had been confronted with this situation, I just may have felt that God was testing my virtue! I can just picture visions of the “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife” story springing into my mind, overcoming my attraction to the teacher (yes, I have seen pictures of her!) and causing me to run away screaming before Jehovah nailed me with a lightning bolt or had the gates of Hell open to engulf me! Feel free to laugh… I am giggling even as I am typing this!

Heh, that’s a good point gytalf2000. I might have been still religious at that point in my life and thought the same thing! Well, I would have thought it was Satan tempting me, not God. Satan in the form of a sexy blonde.

Which part worked out poorly… the part where Ms. Letourneau was sent to jail?

Mr2001 I really, really hope you’re joking.

Those 2 poor kids have a mother who is a child molester. She’s not even raising them; their father and their grandmother are. What a great childhood, knowing your mother nailed a 13 year old kid and knowing that the whole country knows what a sick freak she is.

A child molestor? Please.

You’re actually defending teachers who have sex with their students?

What if the teacher were male and the student female?

Well, as I said of the woman in the OP, she probably shouldn’t be teaching anymore. But it doesn’t seem that the kid was coerced.

Why would that make a difference?

So isn’t the real damage caused by the societal scorn of the relationship, the branding of her as a child molester, rather than just the relationship itself?

How do you define “child molester”?

Someone who makes sexual advances toward a youth who is unwilling or unable to consent. (“Consent” being defined according to common sense, rather than any legal age limits.)

(Looks like I’ve been misspelling molester. Oh, how far I’ve fallen since I was a spelling bee champion…)

So basically, nothing is abuse unless the child says “no”?

Or unless he’s incapacitated or drugged, or so ignorant about sex that his consent is meaningless. Same standard as I’d apply to anyone else, regardless of age.

All I have to say to that is that children aren’t capable of deciding what kind of cereal they want, much less who to take as a sexual partner, and that they have a nasty tendancy to do as adults tell them. What you propose is reckless endangerment of kids at the hands of abusers, rapists, and molesters in the name of some cheap kicks for a few.

Now hold on… what age range do you mean by “children”? I would submit that the vast majority of kids under age 12 or 13 are physically unready for sex, and are probably so ignorant about sex that their consent is meaningless anyway.

Nonsense. What I propose is allowing minors to make their own decisions about their own bodies. I do not condone abuse or coercion.

Kinsey would disagree.

So, you are proposing a legal limit at around age 12?

So you don’t have a problem with the Catholic priests feeling up altar boys?

I’m not familiar with his work.

No. I do not support legal age restrictions.

Do these altar boys consent to being felt up? Are they coerced or tricked into going along with it? Are they intimidated by the priest’s position of power over them?

You’ve not read Kinsey, and you’re talking about sex psychology?

O_o

So what would prevent grandpa from feeling up his 4 year old granddaughter?

They didn’t say no, which by your rules make it OK. O_o