[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

You honestly think a 12-year-old is ready to handle the physical, emotional, and societal consequences of sex?

They are ready to handle the biological aspect of a sexual relationship, which covers physical. Children are way too sheltered, so no on the emotional. As for societal, you basically agreed with what Erik said.

[Big Mac]

Girls and some boys may be biologically ready to engage in the act at that age, but that does not mean they are able to deal with the consequences thereafter. Some 12 year-olds still play with dolls and action figures.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Girls and some boys may be biologically ready to engage in the act at that age, but that does not mean they are able to deal with the consequences thereafter. Some 12 year-olds still play with dolls and action figures.

Some MacNNers still play with "dolls" and action figures.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

You honestly think a 12-year-old is ready to handle the physical, emotional, and societal consequences of sex?

What Rumor said.

My opinion on whether a 12 year old is "ready" or not is irrelevant. Maturity, and especially emotional maturity, is highly individual. At 12, there would be a wide range of maturity-levels which had to be taken into consideration on a case by case basis.

The world is not black and white, and there is not a set age where you suddenly become mature enough to handle sex. Heck, there's thirty year olds which have maturity problems.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

What Rumor said.

My opinion on whether a 12 year old is "ready" or not is irrelevant. Maturity, and especially emotional maturity, is highly individual. At 12, there would be a wide range of maturity-levels which had to be taken into consideration on a case by case basis.

The world is not black and white, and there is not a set age where you suddenly become mature enough to handle sex. Heck, there's thirty year olds which have maturity problems.

That's a poor comparison. While it is individual and some people never reach the level of maturity that's required, that doesn't entail that other people might just as easily reach that level of maturity the moment they're born.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

That's a poor comparison. While it is individual and some people never reach the level of maturity that's required, that doesn't entail that other people might just as easily reach that level of maturity the moment they're born.

That's not what I said. What a peculiar Kevin-like spin.

[The Godfather]

So, this is a disagreement of the could/should variety. I do believe that a pair of 12-y-o could get the hots for each other and do the horizontal mambo. But it should be strongly warned against because of the consequences that should be pretty obvious to everyone: risking pregnancy, birthgiving, parenting at age 13, losing your chance of finishing high school and going to college, etc.
I have to plead guilty of not knowing the emotional harm that comes from minor-to-minor sex. Anyone?

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by The Godfather 

I have to plead guilty of not knowing the emotional harm that comes from minor-to-minor sex. Anyone?

Same as with any emotional harms stemming from sex: guilt, regret, anxiety, etc. Again, this is highly individual, but I suspect minors could be more susceptible to these types of emotions with the added societal pressures.

[Salty]

Sexual activity is commonly linked to a host of psychological disorders when practiced at a young age. Even if it's children molesting each other. Actually you'll find most research will suggest that early sexual contact before the child is capable of processing and handling all that they experience is one of the biggest causes of later psychological disorders, right there, and commonly associated with abuse from parents and other care givers.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

That's not what I said. What a peculiar Kevin-like spin.

If you weren't trying to suggest that there's a decent chance young children are ready for sex, what were you trying to say?

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

My opinion on whether a 12 year old is "ready" or not is irrelevant. Maturity, and especially emotional maturity, is highly individual. At 12, there would be a wide range of maturity-levels which had to be taken into consideration on a case by case basis.

All right then, let's look at statistics. About how many 12-year-olds, expressed as a percentage of a whole, would you say are truly ready?

If you really want to get to the age at which people are truly ready for this sort of thing, then my initial hypothesis would be an average of 25, with a standard deviation of about three years. In other words, if we assume a normal distribution then some 60% of people finally attain the maturity level needed to handle sexual relationships between the ages of 22 and 28.

The world is not black and white, and there is not a set age where you suddenly become mature enough to handle sex. Heck, there's thirty year olds which have maturity problems.

Then once again, let's look at it statistically. If we assume my model (the numbers for which are mostly ex recto at the moment but can easily be adapted to fit more scientific data), then about 96% of people finally become mature enough between the ages of 18 and 31, 99.97% between 15 and 34, and 99.993% between 12 and 37.

The odds of a given 12-year-old being mature enough to handle a sexual relationship, in other words, are about 1 in 33,000. If we assume that there are about 500,000 12-year-olds in the country, then we could expect to find maybe 15 who are mature enough for this sort of thing. Getting two of them into the same classroom would be, to put it mildly, quite difficult.

Perhaps you want to challenge my numbers. That's certainly feasible, though the basic model stands. Give me a range of ages during which you'd say 60% of people -not much more than half- finally become mature enough to handle the physical, emotional, and societal implications of sex, taking both the act itself and the possible consequences into account. Then we'll run the numbers.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by The Godfather 

I have to plead guilty of not knowing the emotional harm that comes from minor-to-minor sex. Anyone?

The basic effects are the same as could come from sex between any two people: issues with attachment, with power dynamics, with morality (personal or external; it can often happen either way), and so forth. The difference comes from the fact that minors are not equipped to deal with these things: they lack the experience and education, not just in sexual matters but also in life in general. Without that, the effects are magnified, sometimes greatly.

Sex is not a meaningless form of play, worth no more than the nerve endings it stimulates. Somewhere along the line our society lost sight of that. This mistake needs to be corrected.

[marden]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

The basic effects are the same as could come from sex between any two people: issues with attachment, with power dynamics, with morality (personal or external; it can often happen either way), and so forth. The difference comes from the fact that minors are not equipped to deal with these things: they lack the experience and education, not just in sexual matters but also in life in general. Without that, the effects are magnified, sometimes greatly.

Sex is not a meaningless form of play, worth no more than the nerve endings it stimulates. Somewhere along the line our society lost sight of that. This mistake needs to be corrected.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

Sex is not a meaningless form of play, worth no more than the nerve endings it stimulates. Somewhere along the line our society lost sight of that. This mistake needs to be corrected.

Quoted again just because the truth should be repeated over and over.

[marden]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Quoted again just because the truth should be repeated over and over.

I agree.

Originally Posted by Millennium

Sex is not a meaningless form of play, worth no more than the nerve endings it stimulates. Somewhere along the line our society lost sight of that. This mistake needs to be corrected.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

All right then, let's look at statistics. About how many 12-year-olds, expressed as a percentage of a whole, would you say are truly ready?

Statistically, a very small one. Since you'd use the qualifier truly, I'd even be more conservative than you and say >1%. And again, that's not up to me, but to the individuals involved.

And to answer Chuckit's question in the same go: I am not trying to say any of the such, just putting the biological facts out there. If kids are fooling around and discover sex it's because their urges are in place and working. That's just nature.

I'd rather not touch the moral, sociological and psychological aspects of it myself.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Millennium 

The basic effects are the same as could come from sex between any two people: issues with attachment, with power dynamics, with morality (personal or external; it can often happen either way), and so forth. The difference comes from the fact that minors are not equipped to deal with these things: they lack the experience and education, not just in sexual matters but also in life in general. Without that, the effects are magnified, sometimes greatly.

Sex is not a meaningless form of play, worth no more than the nerve endings it stimulates. Somewhere along the line our society lost sight of that. This mistake needs to be corrected.

Looks like we are saying the same thing here.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

And to answer Chuckit's question in the same go: I am not trying to say any of the such, just putting the biological facts out there. If kids are fooling around and discover sex it's because their urges are in place and working. That's just nature.

Oh. Well, that's true, but kind of irrelevant.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Oh. Well, that's true, but kind of irrelevant.

Irrelevant to what?

[Chuckit]

To the situation at hand. The statement, "If two people decide to have sex, their sex drives must be working" is tautologically true, but I don't see how that fact sheds any light on anything.

[Northeastern292]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Some MacNNers still play with "dolls" and action figures.

Some 16-year olds still play with Matchbox cars.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Northeastern292 

Some 16-year olds still play with Matchbox cars.

What's your point?

You are a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. And not in a good way.

[Adam Betts]

Originally Posted by Northeastern292 

Some 16-year olds still play with Matchbox cars.

They're practicing to get their driver's license duh