setting aside for a moment the question of how a sexual relationship with someone much, much older might impact the average 15 year old of either gender, it's pretty clear that we should seriously question the psychological state of any 30, 35, 45 year-old who embarks on a sexual relationship with a teenager. it's one thing to look at a tarted-up Britneyfied fifteen-year-old and feel sexually attracted (and yeah, i do largely blame a hypocritical culture that, on the one hand, cries out in horror whenever youngsters are sexually exploited and, on the other hand, traffics in sexualized imagery of young people and children everywhere we look), but it's another thing entirely to think it's acceptable to act on that response.

and when an adult--and any adult is absolutely in the power position with any child or teenager, and should possess the judgment and imulse control that a teenager might not have developed--does cross that line, it really doesn't matter if the younger person in question is a boy or a girl, or what their sexual/emotional maturity level might be. that's entirely beside the point. no adult has any business giving him or herself permission to put a much younger person's well-being at risk. women who do this should be every bit as prosecutable as men who do this. it is indicative of very disordered thinking when an adult exploits a young person and then rationalizes that it was all equitable.

however, that being said, i think there are absolutely gray areas when the age discrepancy isn't so big. there's a difference between a nineteen year old boy having sex with his seventeen year old girlfriend and a thirty year old schoolteacher doing her fourteen-year-old student. the tricky thing is establishing some sort of enforceable age of consent boundary. of course it seems absurd and arbitrary to say that an eighteen year old having sex with a sixteen year old is necessarily rape. one would hope for some common sense in such cases. but consent laws are there to protect kids from exploitation. and sure, not every teen who has sex with an adult is necessarily scarred for life, but some sure as hell are. and it's valid to err on the side of protecting the child.

Indeed, a touchly subject. Any statute that engages in strict line drawing will inevitably lead to seemingly arbitrary or anamlous results for time to time. But it seems that the current statutory schemes are not keeping up with social mores and norms.

However, I think that in improvements could be made to current statutes. Perhaps we could have a bifurcated age of consent that apply in consensual relationships. Say 16 and under (unless the "adult" is within three years of the minors age for civil liability. The minor's parents could sue for any damages that they could prove. However, for criminal liability, perhaps 14.

Another way to solve some of the problem would be to have adjustable punishment ranges depending on the age of the minor. Fine or fine and short jail term if the minor is 15 or 16 and the "adult" is within three years of the minor's age; up to one year in jail if the minor is 15 or 16 and the adult is not within three years of the minor's age; and more serious jail time, similar to current punishments if the minor is 14 or under.

She was a highschool teacher, married unhappily with two kids under 10. He was her 17 year student in his senior year of school. They never fooled around until he turned 18 and went to college, he would say with a wink and grin, clearly indicating otherwise. He got her pregnant when he was a Freshmen in college. She left her husband and two childeren and married him and he dropped out of school to get a job. They have been married now for over 25 years, have two grown kids and are clearly still maddly in love with each other. They now think the tale of how they met is kind of funny and readily share it, although it was all over the Tabloids at the time it happened. It seems to have ended happily for them, but truth to tell it still kind of creeps me out.

I'll agree with everyone who is saying that a teacher having sex with her 15 year old student is wrong, but there's more to this than just whether it is wrong. How wrong is it? Is it really as wrong as child abuse? Sexaul assualt on a minor? Is it really as bad whether the minor is 5 or 15? It isn't, it definitely isn't, and sending these teachers to jail is out of proportion to the harm that they're causing. A bright line rule may be easy, but injustice is injustice.

get the idea that they don't have to work for it. This is the harm that women so selflessly want to prevent, boys may resent it or complain later when they have to. Of course no one would seriously consider suggesting the rules should be different for boys and girls, can't be sending any of those messages.

This is an area that needs to be given shades of gray, much like how murder is handled. You have 1st degree, 2nd degree and manslaughter, etc. Why not 1st degree, 2nd degree and then degrees of Underage but Consensual offenses. Bottom line, it's best to draw the line somewhere between adults and minors where sex is concerned. But, degrees of punitive action need to be considered and structured into the system that do not completely ignore naivete and absence of malice on the part of the over 18 party.

That we do not have classes that touch on proper sexual conduct for teenagers so they can A. Better protect themselves and B. Grow up knowing that once they reach 18, there are some expectations about the propriety of their actions, is beyond me. That these young female teachers would throw away their lives over such ridiculous offenses wreaks of ignorance, rather than depravity or leachery. Teach young people what the potential punishment for sex with underaged people can be, and far more of them will be able to make a smart, informed choice should a potential situation with a minor, arise.