Learn to abstain or face consequences

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I noted with interest The Gleaner’s endorsement of the decriminalisation of sex between minors, even the four-year age difference for the “close in age” exemptions.

None of the discussions mention parents as if minors are autonomous little beings in charge of themselves. Where exactly would two 15-year-olds have sex? In an empty classroom after school? At home in the absence of parents? In the bushes?

Don’t we want children to learn self-control and self-respect, or do we want them to be like animals in heat guided by the hormonal changes of adolescence?

As a parent, I would ensure that any boy who has sex with my underage daughter faces the courts, regardless of whether he is just a year older or four years older.

Underage sex is harmful to the psyche of girls in particular, acts as a distraction from their focus on school and cheapens them in the eyes of their peers, when, inevitably, their ‘boyfriend’ reveals details of her underage sex life at school.

In a sexually reckless society like our own, boys should understand that you cannot just “act on their ‘natural’ feelings” without ensuring that their partners are of the age of consent or they may just develop a habit of targeting underage girls because, after all, their ‘girlfriends’ was underage when they started to have sex with them.

As painful as the court process may be, I think boys should learn early that there are limits to “acting on their ‘natural’ feelings” and that sex is also about responsibility not just experimentation and pleasure. They should face the consequences of having sex with underage girls or learn to abstain or better yet find an age-appropriate partner who can legally consent to their need for sexual release.

CONCERNED PARENT