and, say reports which examined in detail, should be raised to 12.

The Ministry of Injustice says "no; children of 10 are well aware of right and wrong".

So why is the Age of Consent 16? Am I missing something?

Just because you know when something is right or wrong, it doesn't mean that you are old enough to take on the responsibilities of something like sex or to drinking alcohol.

Human bodies weren't designed to have sexual intercourse at 10 or anywhere near 10 and to do so could be very damaging.

Indeed, Robbie - I think the age of criminal responsibility and the age of consent should be the same - possibly around puberty - and we should educate our children in all matters, sanctity of human life, perils of pregnancy, dangers of the internet, STDs and all - by then.

No, you're not missing anything JK. It's just that our notions of childhood and responsibility are insane.

Most countries in Europe have equal age of responsibility/age of consent laws.

When the Czech Republic came under pressure a couple of years ago to lower their age of criminal responsibility to 14, their parliament decided that it was therefore rational and fair, to also lower the age of consent to 14.

The age of consent in the UK is now effectively 18. And yet 10 year olds are as aware of what they are doing as adults are???

Crazy.

I think JK is correct and I quote the mother's comments here:


Dr Maggie Atkinson suggested in a newspaper interview on Saturday that James' killers - Venables and Robert Thompson - should not have been prosecuted because they were aged just 10 at the time.

Children under 12 did not understand their actions, Dr Atkinson told The Times on Saturday.

Mrs Fergus was outraged by the comments, demanding an apology and the sacking of Dr Atkinson.

"This woman owes James and me an apology for her twisted and insensitive comments," she told reporters.

"Then she should resign, or be sacked.

"To say that his killers should not have been tried in an adult court is stupid.

"They committed an adult crime - a cold-blooded murder that was planned and premeditated - and they were tried accordingly."

The Dr is correct but who can blame the poor mother. This sort of grief does a person's head
in and the media has not helped.

They are kids in every respect or they are adults... you cannot have it both ways. The laws should be uniform. The sticking point is sex!!..the hang-ups about sex are getting worse and the hang-ups about kids having sex are becoming quite insane.

Let's face it-most of Europe was always ahead of the UK in matters of sex and remain so. Look at the bizare outrage about some kid pictured on google view when you can go to most beaches in the South of France or plenty in Spain or Greece and there are thousands of familes completely nude. There was a family nude nbeach in Bournemoth 20 years ago. I bet that's ended due to pedo hysteria.

Surely the ages of Criminal Responsibility and Sexual Responsibility should be the same and education provided with all the essential and correct information?

But then I'm considered a Vile Pervert, so what do I know?

does this mean that kids of 10 and 11 can go around and smash your windows, scratch your car, kill your dog and its all just fine. They wouldn't recieve any punishment and there would be no deterrent.

No, they should be treated as children and punished as children; locking children up in small rooms without windows may have suited the Victorians but surely we have matured since then?

JK2006 wrote:
No, they should be treated as children and punished as children; locking children up in small rooms without windows may have suited the Victorians but surely we have matured since then?

That sounds fair enough to me, so long as there is some deterrent there.