Us Teacher Marries Boy She Raped, Former US schoolteacher marries ex-pupil Options

[froggle-rock]

Here is the news story from the Beeb, down the left hand side are their older aarticles about it.

What do you think? Were they paid? Should they have continued thier relationship after she was convicted? Are you happy for them? Are you angry that they have been able to marry, have their children and now set up home? Have you ever had a relationship with a tutor/ teacher/ lecture? Did you, as a teen date a person old enought to be your parent, or vise versa? What do you think? Tell us

[believe]

I know that, and that raises a point I think. How valid is it raising moral values from religious text and trying to apply them to today when the past is so different?

Very vaild. Most of us agree with the major religious values to some extent. To love your neighbor and your God, live an honest life, be faithful to your spouse, try to do good things and so on. Those things (and in them bulk of religious values) are still approved of, even if people now (like the Bible times) still have a hard time choosing love over violence and a good life over a pointless or wasted one.

Now people live longer and women DO have a voice, so the precedent shown by medieval rulers and even the Prophet Mohammad seem... outdated. So can the same be applied in a much wider arc?

To a point. Some Biblical and Islamic rulings are blatantly cultural. Jewish food/purity laws, Mohammad's rulings on purdah or whatnot and so on. These are laws which people need to look at the heart of it and follow that in a way thats logical for the culture. In modern America, not having your head covered isn't a sign of possibility prostitution, so modesty has been adapted to not wearing certain skirts, shirts, ect.

And i'm not sure how much progress is being made. Before the distinction was whenever a woman started menstruating and a boy when they had wet dreams.

There is no perfect answer. Arbitary is our best guess and enforced to protect the most people we can. I don't know how many 11-13 yr olds you know, but the majority I've meet are not ready to start and maintain a productive sexual and emotional relationship. They aren't living or raised in ancient times where they expect and have to be a woman at 13 and it shows. Or maybe the ancient teenagers were no more ready, we'll never know. The point is that there will always be mistakes and people the laws don't comfortably fit. Its just the way it is with something like this. You protect who you can and err (hopefully) on the side of the victim, the defenseless or children.

[Hobbes]

This thread has moved a little further into the realms of conversations I've had with a woman I've known for a few years. We've discussed the likes of the age of consent, and emotional/physical maturity several times - and have found it a very difficult topic, fraught with a great many 'sides to the story'.

I just started to write a longer post, but I'm going to check first whether there has been an 'age of consent' debate in the forum's past - before using this thread as such.

But, briefly for now: I find the notion that every person becomes emotionally, physically and sexually mature enough for sexual interacourse at one age (16 in the UK) ridiculous. HOWEVER, I also understand why the age of consent exists - but I wonder to what extent this law actually prevents underage teenagers having sex. Has anyone here not had sex before 16 (or whatever the age of consent is in your country) because it is illegal, or just because they felt that - at the age they were - they were just no personally ready to do so... for whatever reason?