For us, 16 is perfectly legal to have sex with another person who's 16 or over.
Out of curiosity, is 16 the age at which people are considered legal adults? (Do you have such a thing?) At what age can people vote? I know you can leave school at 16, and that's got a different meaning than kids being able to 'quit school' here at 16. Here, it means neither they nor their parents will be prosecuted because they're no longer in school, but since they won't have finished the high school program/have a diploma, it's viewed very negatively (they're quitters, slackers, and will be unlikely to find more than a minimum wage job.)
The sense I've had is that your 16 is closer to our 18, the usual age kids graduate high school. It would certainly be better if they did some university or advanced training, but higher ed isn't for everyone and it's at least possible to find a real job with just a HS diploma.
Just wondering if that factors into the statutory rape thing. Our kids are not considered adults until they're 18. Also? People here assume most teens are sexually active with other teens, and as others have noted, an age gap of a year or two isn't normally prosecuted even if one of them is over 18.
Apart from an age gap of more than a year or two, another thing which can make a difference in terms of whether it's prosecuted or not is if the older individual is in a position of authority of some kind over the younger one (babysitter, teacher, supervisor) etc.
no subject
Out of curiosity, is 16 the age at which people are considered legal adults? (Do you have such a thing?) At what age can people vote? I know you can leave school at 16, and that's got a different meaning than kids being able to 'quit school' here at 16. Here, it means neither they nor their parents will be prosecuted because they're no longer in school, but since they won't have finished the high school program/have a diploma, it's viewed very negatively (they're quitters, slackers, and will be unlikely to find more than a minimum wage job.)
The sense I've had is that your 16 is closer to our 18, the usual age kids graduate high school. It would certainly be better if they did some university or advanced training, but higher ed isn't for everyone and it's at least possible to find a real job with just a HS diploma.
Just wondering if that factors into the statutory rape thing. Our kids are not considered adults until they're 18. Also? People here assume most teens are sexually active with other teens, and as others have noted, an age gap of a year or two isn't normally prosecuted even if one of them is over 18.
Apart from an age gap of more than a year or two, another thing which can make a difference in terms of whether it's prosecuted or not is if the older individual is in a position of authority of some kind over the younger one (babysitter, teacher, supervisor) etc.