Re: Depends on the child

The problem with the testing regime is simply that it is unwieldy. It does not reflect how child naturally learn, and does not fit well with how children naturally learn and mature.

Perhaps, but it's better than what we have and, taking everything into consideration, probably the best we'll ever get.

All that said, I think our society overestimates the seriousness of this issue. As long as the child feels they have consented and reasonable precautions are taken to prevent disease and physical harm, the benefits (including benefits to children) will far exceed the chances of harm.

I don't know about overestimating the seriousness, but they certainly overestimate the harm in most cases. The problem I have with the laissez faire approach to child sex/relationships is that sex is something that in our culture comes with a lot of baggage. You can argue that the baggage is unnecessary at best and often harmful in itself (and I do), but it's something that has been developing throughout the entire history of Western civilization at least and probably a good deal before that. In short, there's just no way to turn that train back at this point. We're stuck with it. What we can do is go with the flow, so to speak, and build into the social matrix something like the Epstein system. In other words, to use an admittedly awkward sci-fi analogy, rather than stand in the line of an oncoming giant sandworm and try to stop it (which would be nigh impossible), we can hitch a ride on it and make it work for us. It will take skill and finesse, but I think it can be done.