age

Genarlow Wilson's case, which is back in the news because he has been freed finally, makes us think this is a good opportunity to get smart people thinking about the problems with age of consent laws.

We've opened a new forum and we invite you to join in the discussion. Right now its wide open. Anybody want to dive in? Click here to join the discussion 

For past coverage of the Wilson case on Sex in the Public Square, click here.

 

Genarlow Wilson is free today after the Georgia Supreme Court ordered yesterday ordered his release. Yet the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on other teens still locked into sex offender registration for similar crimes.

Age of consent laws, and the punishments attached to them, are deeply problematic. Yet solutions to those problems are hard to even talk about in a society like ours that so stigmatizes sex outside of heterosexual marriage, and that has developed out-of-proportion fears of teens, of sex, and of the combination of the two. 

How do we get out of this mess?

 

I think lots of people actually feel differently about older teenagers having sex and younger teenagers having sex. And they certainly feel differently about either of those groups having sex than they do about "kids" or "children" having sex. What is the cut off line between being a 'kid' and not being a kid?