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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Sex, consent, and selfhood</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Bishop Howard Gregory
Sunday, February 18, 2007
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>There are perhaps few subjects capable of generating as much irrationality these days as sex. With the very mention of the word, persons begin to line up in camps and to hear and see things which the speaker never intended, and to see consequences that are more of the individual's fertile imagination than the facts of the situation warrant.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>REESE. proposed that the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18 </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Major Richard Reese, the commissioner of corrections, seems to have ignited just such a process among the population. In a submission to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament he proposed that the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18. Media reports of his submission are sketchy, but from what can be gleaned, he approaches the issue from a point of readiness for a life of independence from parental support, especially financial support.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He is quoted further as saying, "Raising the age (of consent) will help them to postpone their earlier sexual involvement and thereby focus on preparation for adulthood. This age (18 years) will also be consistent with the age when children are considered adults and are capable of making rational decisions".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Now, Major Reese is someone I respect and with whom I have had brief exchanges on matters related to the correctional system. I believe that he has a good grasp of the issues and even where he has made some daring proposals which have not met with public approval, he is on the right track. But I must also concede that Major Reese is a product of the military and, more recently, the correctional system, which have as their modus operandi discipline and law.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That he should seek to solve the problem of early pregnancy by invoking the law by raising the age of consent from 16 to 18 should not, therefore, surprise us. Apparently, from his perspective, his proposal would bring a measure of discipline to the life of these young females and would address violations by invoking the law. This latter would ostensibly be directed at the men who impregnate these young females.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Not surprisingly, the Children's Advocate did not support this position. As quoted in the media elsewhere, Mrs Mary Clarke argued that "legislation should seek to protect children and not to increase criminalisation of children. We need to focus on protecting our children from exploitation, especially by adults". She supported her position by arguing that while she is of the view that these teenagers should wait until they are "physically, emotionally and financially ready" to take on parenthood, she had to acknowledge that many of them were not waiting, and would not be persuaded by more stringent legislation to conform.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I must take issue with the basis of Major Reese's argument for the increase in the age of consent, as the argument, built on the principle of independence, is not a very convincing one. One of the things that surprised me several years ago was to discover that the definition of adolescence by several writers in the social and psychological sciences has been pushed from the customary teenage years toward age 30.<P class=StoryText align=justify>This is in recognition of the fact that, with development and opportunities for social advancement, especially through educatio
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Bishop Howard Gregory
Sunday, February 18, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>There are perhaps few subjects capable of generating as much irrationality these days as sex. With the very mention of the word, persons begin to line up in camps and to hear and see things which the speaker never intended, and to see consequences that are more of the individual's fertile imagination than the facts of the situation warrant.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>REESE. proposed that the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18 </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Major Richard Reese, the commissioner of corrections, seems to have ignited just such a process among the population. In a submission to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament he proposed that the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18. Media reports of his submission are sketchy, but from what can be gleaned, he approaches the issue from a point of readiness for a life of independence from parental support, especially financial support.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He is quoted further as saying, "Raising the age (of consent) will help them to postpone their earlier sexual involvement and thereby focus on preparation for adulthood. This age (18 years) will also be consistent with the age when children are considered adults and are capable of making rational decisions".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Now, Major Reese is someone I respect and with whom I have had brief exchanges on matters related to the correctional system. I believe that he has a good grasp of the issues and even where he has made some daring proposals which have not met with public approval, he is on the right track. But I must also concede that Major Reese is a product of the military and, more recently, the correctional system, which have as their modus operandi discipline and law.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That he should seek to solve the problem of early pregnancy by invoking the law by raising the age of consent from 16 to 18 should not, therefore, surprise us. Apparently, from his perspective, his proposal would bring a measure of discipline to the life of these young females and would address violations by invoking the law. This latter would ostensibly be directed at the men who impregnate these young females.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Not surprisingly, the Children's Advocate did not support this position. As quoted in the media elsewhere, Mrs Mary Clarke argued that "legislation should seek to protect children and not to increase criminalisation of children. We need to focus on protecting our children from exploitation, especially by adults". She supported her position by arguing that while she is of the view that these teenagers should wait until they are "physically, emotionally and financially ready" to take on parenthood, she had to acknowledge that many of them were not waiting, and would not be persuaded by more stringent legislation to conform.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I must take issue with the basis of Major Reese's argument for the increase in the age of consent, as the argument, built on the principle of independence, is not a very convincing one. One of the things that surprised me several years ago was to discover that the definition of adolescence by several writers in the social and psychological sciences has been pushed from the customary teenage years toward age 30.<P class=StoryText align=justify>This is in recognition of the fact that, with development and opportunities for social advancement, especially through educatio