This is in concern to our nation's current age of consent laws, and is addressed to our government, our remaining 12 state governments who still have the legal age set at 18, and fellow American citizens. It's also addressed to all of the nations worldwide who currently have their legal age laws set at 17+ or 18+ and I ask that this message also be translated into the languages of those nations as well and distributed to them, their respective governments, medias, and newspaper outlets please (perhaps through the U.N. or another avenue).

I also ask that this message also be sent to and reported by CNN, the Associated Press, ABC World News and any other media groups and newspaper outlets worldwide who're interested. All readers also have blanket permission to copy and paste this message wherever you want to, whether on social media or anyone else.

While I'm very much in support of protecting our children from being taken advantage of and/or exploited, and also against abuses of power from legal adults, or worse in regards to forceful abuse built upon fear, it's come to the point that in our society, both here in our nation and also worldwide, these so called kids who're seen as pure, innocent, and allegedly are unable to make certain decisions are now being shown to be capable of doing terrible things once they reach their teen years.

When I say terrible things, I'm not referring to your run of the mill petty theft or cheating on a test. There's now a huge number of cases in which teenagers, and as young as 15 and even 13, are committing despicable, horrifying, and monstrous crimes, from murder, brutal rape of their fellow minors and even gang rape, mass shootings, and possibly even cyber terrorism and treason.

I've also learned that young teen minors have also even raped, and I mean 'raped' in every sense of the word, legal adults. That's correct. There are cases in which the legal adults are now the sexual abuse victims of young minors.

We may want to protect teenagers and therefore the authorities of the past made laws against statutory rape while the more conservative elements of society condemn adults when they sleep with consenting teens, saying that they corrupted their innocence, but what they're not understanding or refuse to understand fully is that teenagers can willingly and completely corrupt themselves and without a pedo, evil adult, or even mental illness involved. They now do horrible things because they want to while also being of perfectly sound mind. You might not want to accept those facts but it's the truth. Otherwise why would we have detention facilities for teens, a provision in the law to charge teens as adults when necessary, and even the fact that we have films and shows (e.g. “The Paperboy 1994”, Lifetime's Mommy's Little Angel” , Lifetime's “Student Seduction”, Lifetime's “The Bad Twin”, Lifetime's “Double Mommy”, Lifetime's “Accused At 17”, the 2018 version of Lifetime's “No One Would Tell”, Lifetime's “The Perfect Teacher” and “The Gifted” 2x07 in regards to the character Rebecca) which present teens, and sometimes young children, as criminals and monsters who're dangerous to society ?

I'd also like to add that even when there's mental illness in the offender or said offender grew up in a toxic household, I'm one of those who believe that mental illness doesn't always mean that they can't be held accountable for their actions or are any less villains than the sane people who commit horrible crimes.

There's also a lot of irony here as well in regards to all of this. For example, there was a case in which a legal aged woman, who was a soccer coach, seduced a 13 year old female, and when the 13 year old's mom caught them she was outraged by it and crying, her major complaint being that her daughter was only a child. The irony is that just recently, and last year, we had a case of a male who was only 13, emphasis on '13', in Georgia stab his own female teacher and also threatened to murder a fellow student, and why ? Because he wanted to know what it was like to kill. And society would see him as just a child ? I think not. He was behaving in a pure evil fashion despite his age.

Plus we have all of these cases in which teachers have slept with their students, students under the ages of 18, 17, and 16, but how many cases have we had of students, who are so called minors, committing mass shootings or attempted mass shootings at their schools and at very young ages ? In those cases, which also sometimes involve the teachers getting wounded or even murdered, who're the villains and monsters here ? The legal adult teacher or the under aged mass shooter ? And who's the victim ? The under aged killer or the teacher ?

Another example of irony is how people have been arrested and convicted of child porn, and rightfully so. As far as I'm concerned, nobody of any age should ever allow their stark naked bodies to be presented and exploited even if they're consenting adults, let alone in regards to a preteen, prepubescent child. The human body's a beautiful thing but not something for everyone to look at. And we even have laws against hard core porn. However, we now have teenagers not only sexting each other but also, for all we know, possibly uploading the bodies of their girlfriend, and possibly even boyfriend since females can be evil just like males, online without permission from their said romantic partner.

Let me ask all of you, but in those particular cases, who's doing the child porn ? A perverted, hairy old man who preys upon preteens or the said teen minor who you consider to be just a child, not only sexting but also posting the image of their girlfriend or boyfriend online and especially without permission from them ? If society considers said teens to be just children, then it means that in this day and age, it's now the children or a child, if that's how you see them, who're also committing child porn, and with no perverted adult, pedo, or mental illness making or influencing them to do it. They made a willful choice to do things like that and because they wanted to and without concern for others, same as the perverts who're legal adults.

I also, years ago, read a case in which two parents were arrested for allowing their kids to see them have sex. Now while that was that and even though I can't remember the circumstances and setting of that incident, who's to say that there aren't teens out there who're freely and willingly violating their own parents privacy by secretly watching them do it and worse, even recording it ? I don't know if that's ever happened but in this day and age, anything is possible. And plus the parents might not even be aware of it.

And it's the same if teens have ever stolen their own parents private sex tapes, and especially without permission, and not only violate their parents privacy and trust by possibly getting off on said tapes physically but worse, and for all we know, distributing those tapes among their fellow under aged teens and making entertainment out of it between them all. So the law forbids legal adults from doing it in front of minors, unless there are exceptions to that in other nations, and has them arrested if they do so while society condemns them for being sick, but now we might have young teens who not only want to see their parents or legal guardians (which can include their older siblings) doing it, whether out of curiosity, interest, or to satisfy their own sexual lusts, but also go so far as to spy on them doing the deed, which would also be called voyeurism.

What does that say to those who would condemn the legal adults for doing it in front of so called minors when some minors might actually, and eagerly, want to not only watch it but take it so far as to violate their elders privacy by committing voyeurism against them and sharing those private moments with their legally under aged friends ? Who's at fault in these cases ? The legal adults, or the so called minors who violate their privacy ? Who're the victims here when or if the teens under 18 or 16 even take it so far as to not only record their parents and elders private moments and share them with their under aged friends but might even take it further than that and also post them online, or on some porn site, for the world to see ?

But just because they're teens, they're incapable of consenting to sex with those older than them, even in some cases in which there isn't always an intentional abuse of power from the older person in regards to the sexual relationship, or when said teens younger than 18 or 16 are shown to have the capability to commit despicable acts, such as murder and rape and other horrible deeds ?

In addition, they can't even be willing drug dealers or form criminal gangs and nor are they possibly able to commit bullying and cyber bullying of their peers and of legal adults and are instead always as pure, good, and innocent as preteens and can only be corrupted or made impure by legal adults and are always incapable of making a good or evil decision with their own minds ? Okay then.

If society and child psychologists truly believe that teens can't possibly consent to sex with those older than them or make a mental, well thought out decision regarding that but are instead seen as victims only, then why do we have so many cases of young teen aged men raping their girlfriends, as in violently forcing themselves on them despite their pleas for them to stop, those 15 year old men, or younger, taking what's not theirs to take ? How is it even mentally and psychologically possible for them to even make a premeditated decision to do that, to have the mental capacity to carry it out if they're only children, and also be able to project fear and terror into their victims, and if they're caught, can be sent to juvenile detention or prison and given a harsh talking to instead of the law and their elders waiting until they're 18 to do so despite their victims crying out for justice now ?

If very young teens are also mentally incapable or considered too young to go into a nightclub, or other legal adult establishment, and party it up while the owners are seen as poisoning their so called innocence if they let them in despite knowing their true ages, and if society also doesn't see a 15 year old as being mentally able to make an adult decision because she's 15 and what does she know, why did we hear a story on the news in regards to two 15 year old women who not only murdered their friend in the woods but also went so far as to butcher her body into pieces if young teens can only be seen as so pure and holy ?

And why did they commit such a cruel and inhumane crime towards their friend ? Because they didn't like her ? And I heard no reports about mental illness for either of them and the victim's family did not have anything but pure disgust for them. Even a no nonsense judge condemned them.

And why did we also hear about a case in which a 15 year old man not only strangled his mom to death but also continued to do so for 30 minutes until she was dead, and afterwards was extremely proud of his work and even boasted about it to the police as though he did a grand thing despite the horribleness of it ? The poor sheriff investigating the case was very disturbed by it and so was everyone else in that community and he even referred to him as a sociopath and a soulless person, and yet the murderer was only 15. Even the prosecutor can't believe we've come to a point in which a 15 year old is being charged with cold blooded murder.

So much for Florida, where the crime happened, following the example of federal law by having their legal age be set at 18, and presumably to protect kids and teens from the legal adults who would supposedly corrupt them, as though teens are always incapable of making a mature or evil choice on their own, since we now have cases like this going on in today's society, and in Florida. Since something like that has happened over there, perhaps Florida's city hall should follow the example of the other 30 something states who've lowered their maximum age to 16-17, the majority of which are 16, and consider doing the same. Seriously in regards to doing that!!

Let's also look at teacher and student cases again. As we all know, if a teacher seduces a student then they are condemned, even if it was fully consensual, and that they violated them. It can even be frowned upon despite the student being 18, balance of power and all. However, and hypothetically speaking, suppose a 16 or 15 year old male student who's 6 ft tall, very muscular, and perhaps a bit overweight grabs his petite, 5.5 inches tall, female teacher and tries to french kiss and grope her against her will, causing her to respond by harshly slapping his face and crying out for help.

In that case, who was the aggressor and sexual harasser here and who was the victim and a qualifying candidate for the Me To Movement ?

And if, hypothetically again, a 14 year old woman was so angry about being given an F, even though it was completely her fault, that she decides to take a baseball bat and clobbers her 30+ male teacher over the head and then, with help from her 16 year old strong female friends, kidnaps him and holds him hostage until he gives her the grade she wants. Who would be the villain here and who would be the victim ?

Besides all of that, teens, and without any pedo or dangerous, legally aged adult criminal always being involved, enjoy sneaking into nightclubs and other adult establishments while using fake IDs, and because they want to. They want to have a good time, dance, and have one night stands just like legal adults do and, like some adults, have been working so hard during the week and just want to relax and blow off some steam, sometimes sexually. Despite how many times the bouncers throw them out, teens are always going to visit and have fun at those places and no matter how many times the law and society bans it or has those establishments close down if they allow teen aged adults to enter it (and to me, closing down the whole establishment seems too extreme), they're going to continue doing so anyway.

To the bouncers in all of the nations where teens under 18, or perhaps even under 16, are forbidden from entering nightclubs, aren't all of you getting tired of always having to throw out so called minors with fake IDs since they're clearly never going to stop wanting to have that same particular privilege as so called legal adults and will continue trying to get inside ? Isn't it getting exhausting for you to continue doing that and even, depending upon the rules and laws in your locations, when those so called minors are accompanied by their parents or other legal guardian to those places ?

It's the same as the facts that there will always be teens who not only sleep with, but also form, committed relationships with their teachers and other legal adults, and sometimes, not always but sometimes, with signed parental consent.

In addition, by drinking alcohol and sometimes heavily, helping their parents manage the financial records if they've been trained at an early age to do so or said parents allowing and trusting them to manage that by themselves and they don't break that trust, becoming entrepreneurs and running their own businesses or writing books and in turn generating a hefty income that they become their households breadwinners, especially if their familial elders are struggling financially, forming criminal gangs, being masters of manipulation towards anyone, including adults, sexting, lawful self defense killing, raising their younger siblings as though they're the parents since said parents are so doped up that they can't fulfill their duties (saw it on the “News Hour” on Public Television), are having consensual sex, joining the modeling, Hollywood, and music industry, committing unspeakable crimes such as mass murder, rape and date rape of both fellow minors and legal adults, cursing and sometimes using stronger language than their elders, forming grassroots movements to better society, committing cyber terrorism, and choosing their sexual identity, teens have become just like legal adults in almost every sense of the word and even when they're in high school.

And when I say 'teens' in regards to my preceding paragraph, I'm referring to teens worldwide.

As for maturity, I'm certain we're all aware of the fact that, despite what the law, child psychology, and many elements of society says, there are teens, including as young as 15 and even 14, who behave far more maturely and honorably than so called adults. For example and in this hypothetical situation, who's behaving maturely and honorably in terms of their sex lives ? The 15 year old man or woman who always uses protection, washes their bodies thoroughly before and after sex, and is in a committed, steady relationship with their teen partner while they never cheat on each other, or the legal adult who just sleeps with everyone out there and for the sake of doing it, without protection, and is a serial philanderer even when in a committed relationship ?

In another hypothetical example, we'd also have a very young teen who's also leading a grassroots movement bringing about positive change while also serving as a pillar of their community despite being so young, and displays calm, pure, moral, and rational leadership for his/her fellow teens, including those who are his/her fellow students. However, there's a legal adult, middle aged, who's a brutal criminal, causes severe harm to his/her community, runs a legitimate business but is trying to run a ponzi scheme, and is so corrupt while silencing anyone who gets in his/her way. I ask all of you, who's the respectable person and who's the shameful person despite the age difference ?

And with all of that said, which person should be allowed to enjoy the full privileges and pleasures of a legal adult and who doesn't deserve to enjoy them ? Or should all governments worldwide raise their respective legal ages to 51 or even 61 since some adults are extremely immature, get in drunk driving accidents, cheat on their partners, and are beyond lazy that the laziest person would be put to shame (And no, I don't think the legal age should be raised that high but am only trying to make a point) ?

Three perfect examples of my two preceding paragraphs are in fictional representations, in regards to maturity and respectability, even if you're a so called minor, vs pure wickedness, even if you're a legal adult, in the form of the telenovela series “Falsa Identidad”, (Diana compared to Augusto), “The Runaways” (the youths compared to their evil parents), and the CW network's “Riverdale” (Cheryl, Betty, and Veronica compared to their cruel and murderous fathers while they, despite having their own sins of choice and not always making the right or best decisions, are much better people to society while actually making a difference and helping people in their town, Betty especially). Plus in regards to responsibility, the character Veronica is running two businesses, and legitimate ones at that, despite being a minor under the law, and clearly doing a great job with it for the most part.

Plus, in regards to “The Runaways”, two of the female teenaged characters made their own choice in regards to their sexual identity.

Furthermore, while legal adults are usually the ones who train and guide teens in a positive direction while correcting them when they do wrong, sometimes it can be the teens who show the legal adults a better way to live, at times even calling them out and firmly or sternly, but respectfully, when said adults do some terrible things, convicting their hearts, putting them to shame, and guiding them towards the right direction. Another change in our world and society in which teens now also perform those kinds of functions towards legal adults that said adults perform towards their youth, and with adults learning moral life lessons from the youths. Food for thought ladies and gentlemen of all ages and around the world.

In regards to fictional representations, I'd like to use it to address the aforementioned matter of minors raping legal adults. In another telenovela entitled “Sin Senos Si Hay Paraiso”, a 17 year old woman named Mariana was obsessed with her aunt's fiance', 20 something Hernan Dario. He thankfully resisted all of her advances but because of his refusals, she masterfully manipulated, drugged, and had her way with him. To me, that's rape in every sense of the word, yet almost everyone else except for Valentina were unusually harsh with him and acted like he was the aggressor, despite him crying like a baby and looking pitiful while they didn't show him any leniency, just because he was the legal adult, and it was only much later that they recognized Mariana's wickedness but only after her 18th birthday, except for her mother who finally recognized that she gave birth to a monster. Her words.

Mariana at 17 was even willing to let her kindhearted dad go to prison just to hide her drug addiction except for the fact that her mom and younger brother, the brother more mature and behaving like a true adult compared to her, stood their ground at the airport. I think her brother was portrayed as 13.

To me and from a moral perspective, all of that, in regards to the rape, was one of the worst cases of injustice I've ever seen and Hernan, in the story, did not deserve it. Granted that he did not make the wisest choices, starting when Mariana appeared at her door half naked, but he still acted with the purest intentions and was clearly the victim despite the age difference between them. Plus 15 is the legal age in Columbia and Young Cata should've known the laws of her own country.

If any of you don't believe that scenario is remotely possible in the real world, I urge you to think long and hard about that and especially with what's going on in this world like the case with the aforementioned 15 year old man in Florida who murdered his mom last year. Besides, who's to say that some villainous 15 year old woman could watch that scene, be inspired by it, get a drug somewhere, trick the adult man she's obsessed with or worse, her own big brother or father if she's a sick pervert, into taking the drug, unclothes both him and herself, and then climbs aboard him and takes advantage of him ? Then when he awakens and realizes what happened, she uses it to blackmail him since who could possibly believe that a 15 year old could commit date rape, and he's so frightened of her that he follows her instructions due to said issue.

Then if it's ever discovered, the man's arrested since he was the adult while the 15 year old woman is coddled and treated like she's the victim, everyone calling her a child. That is a serious and unfair miscarriage of justice and something both our nation and other nations worldwide should address in their laws so that true justice can be served instead of treating teens as though they're always pure and can never corrupt themselves. If there are already other nations who've addressed this and always insured proper punishment for any rapist, including a so called minor raping a so called legal adult, then they deserve the credit and thanks for it.

And now let's move on to biology. Whether you believe in creation or evolution, we all know that the age of puberty begins approximately around 13 or so. If society believes that you're not mature or ready for the pleasures of an adult while you're still a young teen, even if the older and younger person were consenting and even married to each other, then why were our bodies designed to activate puberty, including facial hair for males and the ability for the female to become pregnant, at such an early age instead of at 18 ? Why wasn't 18 the chosen number to begin the physical transition to adulthood when the human race came into existence ? If the mind isn't ready for certain adult things, then why wasn't the body designed to begin puberty, including arousal, a more mature sounding voice, and everything else, at 18 ?

But being the case that puberty doesn't begin at 18, what does that say to all of you in regards to when the age of adulthood actually begins, despite what some have believed about teens still being children, and in turn incapable of making certain decisions or the alleged impossibility of committing sickening crimes even though we know that's not true ? Just because society and those who are overprotective of youths have been teaching something for decades doesn't always make it accurate or factual.

Frankly, while there is no doubt that some cases exist in which teenage minds can be scarred for life after having romantic or sexual relationships with legal adults, especially if the legal adult uses their authority to pressure or manipulate them into the relationship and then tries to force them to stay when the teen wants to break up, some of the emotional trauma, not always but sometimes, might actually be because society and the parents of said teens chose to suppress their physical urges and shelter their minds, ears, and eyes from adult matters instead of letting their bodies, sexuality, and minds develop au naturel, metaphorically speaking in regards to au naturel, and practicing free range parenting, while teaching them the most mature matters of life at a very, very young age, including sex and violence, like our ancestors did during B.C. times, and the Dutch people of today, thereby leaving our youth mentally unprepared.

Hence why some kids and teens are grossed out and think they need therapy if they see their parents deeply making out or accidentally walk in on them having sex, unlike other kids who see those things and take it in stride like anything else (and only politely excuse themselves regarding the sex part).

Or there can be other cases in which some kids have sadly grown up in a household suffering from domestic violence, leading to nightmares and them suffering from depression, their childhood ruined, instead of other versions of those very same kids and teens, due to knowing the birds and bees at very young ages and thoroughly trained and prepared in handling adult matters and violence, and taught to be fierce, are not scarred for life but instead the experience deeply matures them while they understand that horrible things do happen and, with the help of others, are able to thrive.

Instead, in some of those very same households, those kids have the strength to stand up to the abusive monster and demand that they leave their other parent alone. I ask all of you, who's being more mature and respectable in that case ? The parent who's a legal adult but an abusive monster, or the 15 year old minor, as the law calls them, who're trained at an early age on how to handle a gun properly but with certain rules, and uses the family's two barreled shotgun to threaten the abuser, their parent, into leaving the other parent and their younger siblings alone ? In turn, who's behaving like the true man or woman of the house and protector of the family in this scenario and who should therefore be seen as like a true, mature adult and given the full pleasures, privileges, and responsibilities of adulthood, the 15 year old protector or the abusive, legal adult aged parent ?

In addition, regarding the matter of severe emotional setbacks and desocialization after a relationship or extended fling with the much older party, the teenage adults might also end up scarred or traumatized sometimes because of the media attention placing a spotlight on them, embarrassing them, while the scandal makes them feel guilty and terrible, leaving them withdrawn, when they originally felt like they were having a great time exploring their lusts and hormones just like when they are engaged sexually with partners their own age.

Furthermore, the teens may also be upset and miserable not always because they were pressured or manipulated by the legal adult they were engaged with. Instead, while both parties fully consented and without manipulation and pressure from either side, and they enjoyed themselves while still functioning soundly and socially in everyday life, they, due to the law and their parents forcefully separating them from their lover, became morose because they, in effect, had their favorite toy or piece of candy taken from them.

The world we live in is not black and white but instead there are shades of gray, and the rules that apply to some issues don't always apply to other issues and it's time for society worldwide to understand that better and make changes to their rules, more so than they already have.

For those who are religious like I am, and this paragraph is for them only, but if someone is 14 or 15 but hasn't reached their 18th or 16th birthdays, where do you think they'll go when they die without accepting the Light into their hearts even though they haven't reached 18, but are past their 12th birthday ? And if they go to the place no one wants to go, a place that we can figure out is beyond horrifying and worse than any human punishment, what does that say about where our Creator believes the age of consent and maturity should be set, besides Him designing our bodies to experience puberty and all it entails, including the menstrual cycle and the ability to conceive, at an age way earlier than 18 ?

Back to addressing everyone else, but if young teens truly can't make up a mental, complex, and well thought decision about certain particular mature issues, how come when some of them get into romantic relationships with 20+ people but the law, circumstances, or the older party being wise due to not wanting to get into trouble and therefore ending the relationship, separates them, the younger party in the relationship retains their feelings of love and lust for that person over the years, the two of them waiting until the older party's released if they're arrested and/or until the younger party's legal, and not only resuming their relationship but even getting engaged and sometimes marrying each other ?

If young teens are truly only children who don't know anything, same as little children, then shouldn't those feelings and desires for said teens much older lover or love interest always fade away as the years pass, like any other crush, becoming as though they never existed while the teen, now a legal, emphasis on 'legal', adult finds someone their age ? Or is there a possibility that said young teen, or so called minor, can know their own feelings and there can be real, true love between the teen aged adult and the legal adult, that love holding true as the years pass ?

Not only that, but I have no doubt that there are romantic relationships out there between young teens and legally aged adults that are not only healthy and thrive but can also enable said teen to mature faster, in a good way, from the relationship while their lover is a positive influence over their lives and guides them into becoming a worthy person for society and a pillar of their community. I'll concede that if those particular relationships do exist, there's probably a very minimal number of them. But 'minimal' is not a zero.

Plus who's to say that there isn't a strong, mature romance between a 15 year old man and a 21 or so year old woman out there while said woman, despite enjoying the physical side of things (I'm not referring to sex but instead other versions of the physical aspect)
with her boyfriend, might withhold certain things like make out sessions, for example, from him if he slacks off in his schoolwork, motivating him to study hard, get straight As and even A pluses, and eventually leading him to graduate as a Valedictorian, and with honors, since he had an incentive due to the said relationship ?

Between that particular relationship, if there's one like that anywhere on this planet, vs a relationship between two consenting, middle aged adults who're regularly fighting with each other, are both serial philanderers, and it escalates until one becomes a physically abusive monster to the other, which couple has the healthy, mature, loving relationship, and one that's good for the younger party, and which couple has the toxic, brutal, unloving relationship that should just end for everyone's sake ?

Love is love, desire is desire, and age is just a number that should not always be used to dictate who should be with who as long as both parties are fully consenting, not related to each other by blood or marriage, and as long as the younger party is not a pre-teen.

Another thing, but we know that many teens worldwide are sexually active and very experienced that while there are also many legal adults who're not only still virgins in every way but have also never kissed anyone, also known as virgin lips. Considering that there are teenage adults and legal adults in sexual relationships with each other out there, and while this following point usually happens in the opposite direction, what if there are cases in which the sexually active teen slept with the virgin legal adult, who was a virgin until that moment ? In those cases, who took who's virginity, and ultimately their innocence, and introduced and taught them about the pleasures of sex and certain “acts” involved ?

And for those who believe in a Creator and his ways, who, in the above scenario, took who's purity, violated their innocence, and corrupted them ? The very sexually active teen or the formerly virginal legal adult ?

And if anyone doesn't think that cases like that have happened in which a legal adult has lost their first time ever to a teen, remember that, as I said above, anything is possible nowadays.

Finally, I had also asked a friendly acquaintance of mine what she thought the legal age should be, and here's her answer, which I've copied and pasted with her permission:

“I believe that the age of consent should probably sixteen. if we trust sixteen year olds to drive, that means we trust them with machinery that is the cause of hundreds of millions of deaths a year. If we trust them with our lives, I'm pretty sure they can be mature enough to make their own decisions in life”

To add to her words, that actually makes very good sense and should be another very important thing to consider. Not only that, but this also provides yet another hypothetical question. In this scenario, who's the responsible driver and the one who deserves not only a driver license but also an automobile ? The 15 or 16 year old who drives responsibly, obeys all traffic rules, is never intoxicated while behind the wheel, and sternly calls out her fellow minor friends for not being responsible when they drive, or the legal aged, middle aged man who drives recklessly, disobeys traffic rules, is intoxicated a lot, and doesn't sternly call out his children when they get behind the wheel while intoxicated since he's as irresponsible as they are ?

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the 15 or 16 year old driver has to sometimes be the one to pick up their parent or legal adult sibling from a bar who, due to being irresponsible, has gotten themselves so drunk that they can't drive themselves, putting it on the teen aged adult to drive their parents home if there's no one else to pick the drunk parent, the teen even ashamed of their parent or 21+ older sibling for being drunk, and sometimes calling them out, instead of the opposite way in regards to who feels shame towards the drunk person.

One more thing, but while statutory rape laws were created to protect young children, there's probably many cases out there in which young teens have outright lied about being seduced or brutally raped by legal aged adults, are have sometimes lied about having consensual sexual relationships with their teachers. As a result, the teachers or any other legal aged adults were sent to prison for a crime they did not commit.

Regarding this, who manipulated and took advantage of the statutory rape laws in order to willfully get someone in trouble and in turn, service their own ends, whatever those ends may be ? The legal adult or the so called minor ? And who committed the slander in those types of cases and in turn, who's the victim and wrongfully suffered many consequences including the destruction of their career, as in any career depending upon their profession ? Is it the legal adult or is the so called minor, depending upon if the minor was the slanderer and it was premeditated, who is the villain ?

Having said all of this above, I'd like to call upon and formally propose to not only congress, in regards to federal law, but also the Supreme Court, the remaining states here which still have their legal ages set at 18 or 17, and any nations worldwide that also have their legal ages set at 18 or 17 that the maximum legal ages be lowered to 15/16, preferably 15, though 16 should also work, granting our youth at said ages of either 15 or 16 here, and across the globe, both the freedom to have romantic relationships or flings with those 19-39 (but not 40+ unless there's parental/legal guardian consent) if they wish, as long as the teens are either 15+ or 16+, and also the full rights, privileges, and pleasures of adulthood, and also the full consequences for wrongdoing.

In regards to the full consequences for wrongdoing, that would also include the death penalty for cold blooded murder here in the U.S. if it's shown that the teenage murderers were not completely mentally unstable or pressed by a legal aged adult and if said teens remain unrepentant

However, if the maximum legal age under federal law is changed to 16 (or 15), I believe there should be five exceptions in order to prevent any types of problems in regards to the following issues:

Marriage (unless they're 17+ or if their parent/legal guardian gives written, notarized consent but only so long as they're 15-16 and they're fully certain that's what they want. Plus with the appropriate authorities thoroughly questioning them to ensure they're not being forced into the marriage by anyone)

Either dating or having no strings attached flings or one night stands with their high school teachers (unless the 15-16 parent/legal guardian gives written, notarized consent permitting those kinds of relationships and if it's permitted, the teacher has to be transferred to a different class in order to avoid favoritism towards their romantic partner or fling. Plus no hanky panky inside of the school building since there are certain areas where people shouldn't be doing things and even if they're legal adults or married to each other.)

Drinking alcohol of any kind (unless they're 16/17, while those 14-15 are allowed wine and champagne at either restaurants or special events like weddings, parties, and the like, but wine or champagne only, and only if their parents/legal guardians are present and allow it while the wine and champagne is always evenly mixed with water for them, an even 50/50. In the privacy of home, the parents/legal guardians will still have the authority to allow their 14-15 year old's sips, or a little more, of wine, champagne, or beer though, though I'd like to recommend to any parent that does so to consider mixing the alcoholic beverage with water if you give them more than a sip, but it's up to you)

American teens joining the U.S. military before 18 and not high school graduates (unless their parent/legal guardian gives signed and notarized consent for them to join the service before they're 18 but only after they turn 16, no younger)

Entering a nightclub or any other adult establishment by themselves if they're 13-15 (though they may enter by themselves after they turn 16, instead of waiting until they're 18, and have a real ID card to prove it. They wouldn't be allowed to stay in the establishment past 11:00 p.m. though until after their 17th birthdays and it would be a mandatory policy for all of those establishments. After they turn 14, but before reaching their 16th birthdays, and they have a real ID to prove their age, they are allowed to enter and to enjoy everything that's offered, except for the alcohol unless their legal guardian consents to said alcohol and it's mixed with plenty of water, but only if the 14-15 year old is always accompanied by their parent/legal guardian or 17+ older sibling, but said accompanying person must provide ID proving that they're the parent/legal guardian or 17+ older sibling)

Other than the aforementioned five exceptions listed above but mixed with their own exceptions, I ask all of you, here and worldwide in regards to whom this message may concern, to please restructure and modify the current maximum age of consent laws so that the 15 or 16 aged teens of today be granted the full right to enjoy everything a legal adult enjoys. It's also more than enough time that the U.S. follow the example of our sister nations England, Canada, and Australia, and the majority of states here, in lowering the maximum age here, that's under federal law, to 16 (or 15 here in the U.S. instead of 16).

It might also be a little weird to some that federal law still has the maximum age set at 18 if so many states have set their legal ages at 16.

As for the death penalty, if young teens feel like they can commit cold blooded, brutal, premeditated murder and act like they've done nothing wrong or worse, enjoyed it, and it's shown that they were not mentally ill or unstable, then they're clearly old enough to face severe consequences for said actions. If they show real remorse and repent however while in prison, then maybe they can be eligible for parole as long as it's shown that they're no longer a danger to society.

I'd also like to add that changing the laws for legal ages will make prosecution even easier for severe offenses from so called minors instead of what an episode of the now concluded “CSI: Cyber” presented in regards to a teenage woman who committed cyber crime but was given leniency because she was a minor, though Avery, the head of the agency, said that maybe the laws would change one day. Same for real life cases such as the 15 year old man in Florida who strangled his mom.

Also, if the authorities worldwide decide they aren't willing to change the law in regards to letting 16 year olds drink alcohol or frequent nightclubs by themselves or with their familial elders because said authorities still see them as children, then I'd like to recommend an alternative in which teen only (aged 14-16) nightclubs are established for teens to frequent and hang out with the establishment having all of the accessories, looks, and functions of a typical nightclub, minus the serving of alcohol, and they can enjoy their late night fun and whatever it may entail, including picking up someone their age or slightly older, as in 16 if they're 14, for the evening. And no legal adults would be allowed to enter whatsoever except for the security staff, the teens family elders/legal guardians, their 17+ older siblings, and emergency service personnel.

The teens however, before they enter, would have to be accompanied to the door by their parents/legal guardians and thoroughly inspected by fully scrupulous security members outside to ensure that they don't try to smuggle drugs or alcohol into the the premises.

With that said, there would be two types of nightclubs worldwide: legal adult only nightclubs that minors aren't allowed to enter unless they're there to drive their drunken elders home, and teenage only nightclubs in which legal adults aren't allowed to enter except for the four exceptions listed at the end of the preceding paragraph.

Besides changing the laws, I'd also like to address our 15-16 year old youths directly, and if you young people in particular agree with this message and in its entirety, including who you who date and love, please stand up, make your voices heard, and demand your rights. Start a national, and perhaps even global, organized movement, and protest movement, that demands the maximum age be lowered to 15 or 16 while granting all of you your rights. But no violence, property damage, or leaving your trash lying around if you decide to take to the streets. Demand your rights, firmly and with strength, but peacefully and respectfully if again, you take to the streets, showing you're mature enough to have them.

In addition, give out comprehensive, structured, well thought out, and logical reasons and speeches for your case on why the legal age should be lowered to 15 or 16.

I also ask that if there are any parents/legal guardians, older siblings, or teachers out there who agree with everything within this message, including the age of consent for romantic relationships, and also said parents here in the U.S. who've given written consent for your teenage offspring to be with their lover despite the age difference, and that the legal age should be lowered, I encourage you to stand with your 15-16 year old children in support and in order to add legitimacy to their message.

Furthermore, I'd also like to encourage any adults worldwide who've been raped by minors, minors who were 14-15, to also start a strong movement of their own as well, one proving that said minors can be perfectly capable of raping a legal adult, even if it's only through use of a date rape drug if not physically, while demanding that justice always be served for yourselves and not just in a few cases, and even if it happened years ago and your abuser is now a legal aged adult. But make sure not to lie or even embellish the truth. Otherwise your movement won't have full legitimacy. Take a lie detector if you have to. But stand your ground and stay strong until you can prove to society that minors as young as 14 can and have probably raped legal adults in many cases and that it's not always the minor who's the brutal rape victim of an adult, ensuring that you always receive the justice you deserve.

Before I conclude this, I'd like to share two pieces of trivia. First, in regards to U.S. History, the legal age used to be around 10 or so. I'm not making it up. That was the law decades ago. The reason it changed to 18 was because a woman's puritan movement campaigned for the change and won.

Now I don't why it used to be 10 or what our predecessors were thinking. Ten is way too young to me and I also doubt puberty even begins around that age anyway, making the whole thing unnatural. Something must have either been wrong with our predecessors minds or their heads weren't on straight. Therefore it was a good thing the woman's puritan movement, if I'm getting my information accurate, campaigned to have it raised.

At the same time though, while changing things from 10 to 18, I think our nation went from one extreme to the other. Instead, I believe 15 or16 is the best maximum legal age, and not only here but worldwide, but with those 5 exceptions listed above, albeit containing their own exceptions.

Secondly, in regards to french kissing, and kissing in general, did you know that some anthropologists think it was originally an act between mothers and their children in that the moms used their tongues to transfer food from their own mouths into the mouths of their children until the children were able to chew their own food ? Plus, if I remember correctly, the mom pushing her tongue into her young child's mouth in and of itself was also an act of comfort for the child when food was scarce. Somewhere along the line, our ancestors turned it into a romantic and sexual thing and it's been that way ever sense, but at it roots it was a mother and child practice, according to some researchers. Mothers allegedly stuck their tongues into their babies and toddlers mouths to transfer food to them while it also at times served as an act of comfort between mother and child.

Just because something is being used one way doesn't always mean it was its original purpose or the way it was meant to be used. So for anyone who enjoys french kissing their spouses, partners, and flings, just remember that some anthropologists believe it originated from an act of sustenance and familial intimacy that was shared between mothers and their very, very young offspring. A mother and child act. Also, I'm not advocating french kissing between moms and their kids today, but to all mothers anywhere, if anyone continues giving you the business about kissing your kids on the lips and even when it's an innocent peck, just give that rude person this second piece of trivia and then send them on their merry way.

I'd also like to add something else on a slightly unrelated subject, and it's that since so many teens are sexually active and often, I think that our current sexual education system needs to be revamped in order to better prepare them, including in regards to handling puberty and their bodies while they and their parents become more comfortable and open with each other in regards to these matters, and I'd like to recommend to all nations across the globe that it be restructured and revamped to 100% mirror the Dutch model in regards to sexual education and that the model be both distributed and established worldwide.

I personally don't agree with every part of it, particularly since I do not believe that kids should run around naked, am a one man/one woman believer, and am also a no sex until marriage, or maybe, emphasis on 'maybe', engaged to be married but only so long as you marry your fiance', believer, most people nowadays do what they want and the liberal people worldwide have spoken.

Therefore, following the Dutch model for sexual education, including when children first learn it, and fully integrating and absorbing all that it entails, or bits and pieces of it, into our sexual education system and society, and not just here but also worldwide, might be beneficial to our youth and to humanity's next generation. It could also include inviting both education officials and parents from the Netherlands traveling both here and to other countries while having them tour the world and sit and explain to education officials and parents worldwide on why they support their own program and if it works for them or not.

Museums could also be built worldwide that model theirs in regards to said museums sexual education purposes, but a little less graphic in regards to what they present since, while I think the idea is good, I think it's also a little too graphic in regards to what those museums present. Just a little though.

As you can see, I've chosen to remain anonymous since this message will probably be controversial for some, and I'd rather not have people either giving me dirty looks, flying into a rage and chasing after me with knives or pitchforks, or worse. Let it be known though that I do not do this for personal gain. Namely, while I believe that age should not matter as long as both parties in the relationship, fling, or one night stand are fully consenting to each other and the younger party is not a preteen but 15+ or 16+ instead, I have no personal interest in or wish to date teens. When I date and marry, it's going to be an adult around my age and that's final.

I just want there to be more recognition and understanding that teens can behave just like legal adults and therefore should have the same rights and privileges as their elders after they turn 15 or 16. Plus they shouldn't have to feel left out, upset or resentful that legal adults seem to be having all of the fun, whether it be in regards to one night stands, drinking (as long as the teenage adults are not 15 and younger in regards to drinking), going dancing at nightclubs, voting (honestly, what's wrong with being allowed to vote like any other U.S. citizen if you're 15-17 ?), running for public office if they feel as though they can lead and have done an outstanding job in other roles like student body president, or anything else, and especially for any out there who've shown more maturity and integrity than so called legal adults.

Plus it's unfair that said teens are still seen as young children by society and that a legal adult is always the one to corrupt them, or that it's abuse in every single case, when teens are now committing unspeakable crimes, including butchering a body like the two 15 year old women who murdered their friend in the woods, and now have fully grown, legal aged adults as their victims, including in regards to sexual harassment and even rape.

Not only that, but I also learned, and to my surprise, the fact that teens before reaching 17 and 18 can become a registered sex offender when the case deems it necessary, making the teen as much of a legal sex offender as either the pedo or brutal child rapist who also qualifies as one while the teen has to follow the same rules as the legal adult sex offenders.

Interesting that teens 13 or 14-15 can now also become registered sex offenders themselves depending upon the case just like legal adults who get into trouble for sleeping with, or brutally raping, teens of the same age range. Who would've thought ?

Things have changed now, we live in a new era, and it's time that our laws, beliefs, traditions, teachings, and child psychology worldwide be revamped in order to reflect the reality of this time period.

Plus we really need a clearer, leaner, and slightly more concise version of the age of consent laws these days, at least here in the U.S., in order to avoid confusion, complications, befuddlement, and different conflicting issues, and also in order to handle the changes in the current culture and environment instead of what seems to be a cluster jumble regarding the laws surrounding the legal age and their pertaining cases.

I now leave everyone with these links to some interesting online articles (I make no claim to these articles and they belong solely to their creators), articles which should serve as food for thought for whoever reads them:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6145131/U...

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/11/29/1...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3011478/I...

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/third-tee...

https://kfor.com/2018/07/20/ive-never-heard-of-stu...

http://centerforchildwelfare.org/kb/SexualAbuse/Fe...

https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/zmm8yx/teache...

http://www.freerangekids.com/

https://www.kveller.com/how-i-pretty-much-raised-m...

On a side note, I also hope this message aids the nation of France, their government, and their people as they try to figure out appropriate maximum age of consent laws for their people.