I realize nobody is reading this, but I will continue anyway, if only for my own amusement. In the spirit of Jonathan Swift (I think), I offer my own:
A Modest Proposal.
We should no longer make the activity known in legal circles as statutory rape a crime. The illegality of the activity is illogical. There really is no reason that someone over eighteen should not be able to engage in consensual sexual activity with someone under that age. I speak only of consensual sex. Anything to the contrary is actual rape and is abominable. However, I have heard no reasonable explanation from anyone as to why this activity is illegal. After all, aren't we essentially encouraging (with a wink, a nod, and a government-sponsored condom) the sexual activity of youth anyway? Therefore, there really is no difference between a 16-year-old and a 17-year, 364-day-old having it off and a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old doing it. For that matter, how about 17 and 23? 15 and 19? Remember, this is consensual . After all, it is common knowledge that teens are going to have sex. We cannot stop them.
I have tried to think of what is supposedly wrong, but I cannot come up with anything. It can't be that kids under eighteen don't have the ability to consent. After all, consensual sex between teens is an exciting part of the process of coming of age, right? I mean, no one really waits until marriage. What boy in high school has not dreamed of having one of the cheerleaders? What girl in high school has not fantasized about being taken by the captain of the football team? And if you believe surveys, most high school students (and an increasing number of junior high students) are already dancing horizontally with each other. It shouldn't matter if Billy wants an English teacher instead of a classmate or if Suzie wants her best friend's older brother instead of her younger brother. If they can consent to sex with each other, they can consent to sex with someone five, ten or many more years older.
I considered the issue of power. An adult would be able to use his or her power over a child to engage in sexual activity. Again, I do not mean physical power. Adults certainly wield influence over kids and could pressure a teenager into sex. But, peer pressure amongst teens is possibly the greatest determinant in their decision-making process. So, if all her friends are doing it and Johnny won't love her if she doesn't do it, what choice does Heather have? Certainly Johnny has as much power over young Heather than Johnny's father does.
Many of you are repulsed by the very though of sex between teenagers and much older adults. Well, the older the adult, the more the teen would be repulsed the idea as well. We probably wouldn't have a lot of grandfathers hanging out at the schoolyard or school field trips to the old folks home. But, if a 15-year-old becomes sexually infatuated with a 35-year-old, what's the harm if they copulate? No one gets hurt. Quite the opposite.
To sum up, if two teens exploring the thrills of sex with each other is a natural thing, then bonding carnally with an older, more experienced adult is equally beautiful. The cliché is that kids grow up so fast. We seem to want to assign so many other rights to children that were before only considered for adults. With the present day attitude toward increased sexual permissiveness, how can we stand in judgment of what two post-pubescent people want to do with, for and to each other. It is hypocritical not to legally allow consensual adult-child sex.