Your friend tells you they're a paedophile

[Regina]

We protect those under the age of 16/18 because of consent issues rather than anything else. They either won't understand what's happening, or if they do, they're likely to later regret it because they're not emotionally mature enough to make such a decision. They are also easier to manipulate by an unscrupulous adult.

What is the "correct" age of consent? There isn't one. Morality isn't a science. Personally, I think 16 is too young these days. 18 is more like it. People grow up slower now, in England at least. The age is more to protect people under that age from people over if; rather than to stop two people under that age doing things.

Personally, I think an "ideal" would be to have two parallel ages of consent - one at 16, legalising sex between 16/17 year olds, and then a second at 18 which acts as a boundary between people over and under 18.

Teenagers are naturally curious about sex and you will not stop them from having it whatever you do. But I think it's less problematic legalising sex between teenagers since there isn't an uneven power dynamic there. A combination of sexual education and legalising it strictly between teens would probably keep teen pregnancy and STD down, since their attitude to sex wouldn't be so secretive or un-informed then.