on 22. Mar 2010 at 06:44:
cal-Q-L8 wrote on 22. Mar 2010 at 04:15:
Quote:And how is a 15-16 year old no longer a boy? It may not be in the age range of your interest but he is still a boy
A 15 or 16 year old is much more like a man in the physical sense than he is to a boy.
And from the mental and emotional side of things, .... even from my own experience as a young man of 15 or 16, I identified myself far more with adults (even though I still only looked about 13). A lot of it is to do with the higher level of independence that a person of that age has acquired. In most western countries 15/16 year olds can leave school, get a job, have sex, and drive a car, etc. Most 15 year olds dread being identified with ten year olds.
Furthermore, I believe one of the increasingly problematic phenomena in our society is to do with rebelious youth. The reason IMO is because we (society) don't treat young people with respect, we try to keep them bottled up and labeled as children until they reach some predetermined legal age. It would be far better to let them be part of adult society much earlier than having them squander in a state of societal limbo. I could go on about this in depth but there's not much point, other than to say that some people here put individual boy actors on some sort of pedestal and idolise them, which I find rather appalling. Let them grow up!
I agree with a lot of what you said. Especially the last part as far as our society and government holding youngsters back and trying to keep them children for an unnaturally extended period of time. However, I don't know what country you are referring to that allows 15-16 year olds to not attend school (legally), get a job, have sex, and drive a car. Especially the sex part.
Even in Canada two years ago they raised the age-of-consent from 14 to 16 and I have heard that they are going to raise it even further to 18. Mostly due to arm twisting by the U.S. Government. Most people aren't even aware of the fact that in the U.S. legally even minors cannot consent to having sex with other minors and that minors can be and are prosecuted for child molestation for having consentual sex with other minors of the same age. Mostly due to the fact that these laws do not specify what age a perpetrator is defined as, so the courts interpret that as meaning the legislature intended these laws to apply to individuals or all ages and that no person can legally have sex with a person under the age-of-consent.
Yeah, in the U.S. we not only idolize child actors but children and youth in general and try to keep our youth in the childhood state until they're 30. It's pretty ridiculous actually.
In Austria you can leave school at 14 and start working at 15. You are allowed to vote in all elections (both regional and statewide) at 16, you can start riding motorbikes at 14, and you can start your driving lessons at 16 and drive regularly with an adult on the passenger seat, obtaining your licence on your 17th birthday. You are allowed to drink soft alcoholic beverages, only strong drinks are prohibited to be sold to people under 18.
And concerning the sex issue, in Austria you are free to have sex with whoever you want once you are 14.
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Lockie Leonard (Read 18,022 times)
