The ethics of child sexuality

Extract

[...] So ultimately, this whole thing comes down to one question—should we put innocent people in jail, or allow guilty to people to walk the streets? That is too hard for me to answer. Summary In the United States, people are not legally capable of consenting to sex until they are at least sixteen years old. People who are against childhood sexuality argue that it can cause too many unwanted pregnancies, increases the spread of STDs, and it allows easier sexual exploitation. Advocates of childhood sexuality is that children have as much of a right to be sexual as adults and [...]

[...] The ethics of child sexuality Introduction The ethical status of children and sexuality has come to the forefront of our society's attention. There has been a strong attempt over the years to reduce sexual behavior in children. In the United States, the legal age of consent in most states is age sixteen, but some states have it set as high as eighteen. (Densen-Gerber & Dugan, 1989). Anyone below these ages cannot give legal consent to engage in sexual activity, even though they may possess the full mental and physical capacity to do so. [...]

[...] It is the most natural part of being human. Outlawing that in my mind is unhealthy, and is too utopian for my taste. It comes a little too close to the novel 1984. So I think that personal freedom should come first. I don't think that the risks of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are too strong of an argument against this freedom. In fact, it is a pretty lazy argument. All we really need to do is fix the sexual education system. [...]