Recently, student organization Pulse released a statement about lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16. As reported by the Times of Malta (http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150115/local/pulse-in-favour-of-lower-age-of-consent.551995), Malta has the most conservative age of consent, along with The Vatican and Turkey.
Speaking as a University student, who has reached the age of consent 3 years ago, this matter does not concern me personally. However, if we think about it, isn’t there a reason why the age of consent is 18 in the first place?
Psychologically, full maturity isn’t reached until around the ages of 18-20, in both males and females. While teenage bodies may be physically ready to make decisions based on whether they want to have sex or not, their mentality may not have matured to the point where they are making these decisions logically, and this can result in serious repercussions.
That being said, it is of course an individual’s personal decision whether they want to have sex or not, and this should be left up to them. If they feel that they are mature enough to have sex before the age of consent, without breaking any statutory laws, than they should be permitted to do so. However, not all individuals, at 16, are able to make this decision safely.
In order for the age of consent to be lowered to 16, the first thing that must be done is the beginning of a proper sex education in Maltese schools.
While the Internet is a vast and wonderful thing, isn’t it a bit twisted that we only ever learn things if we have to actively search for them? Most of us have probably gotten a half-assed talk from our parents about The Birds and The Bees, and heard in school that having sex is something filthy that only married, heterosexual people can have and that it’s all about having babies, rather than an act of love or something to enjoy (because, let’s face it, most people just want to have sex for the fun of it).
The lack of sexual education in Malta is disturbing, and if the age of consent is to be 16, then we need to start doing something about it immediately. In Form 5, at least three hours in the entire scholastic year should be devoted to sex education — STIs, protection, testing, the proper use of condoms (can you believe that 1 in 5 people have no idea how to actually put a condom on?) for both men and women, and other alternatives besides abstinence. Things to be addressed should also be proper care of vaginas and penises, such as keeping genitals clean.
The next step in proper sexeducation should be targeted towards members of the LGBTQ+ community. Normally, sexual education is exclusively directed towards heterosexual relationships, leaving teenagers who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum without any knowledge or help. Issues such as discovery of sexual orientation, STI risks in the LGBTQ+ community and even addressing proper use of protection should be included in these talks.
The mentality, however, should not be changed only in education. Most people, even those past the age of consent, are still embarrassed to buy condoms from the pharmacy, because of the looks that they receive over the counter from other customers or the pharmacist themselves. Females cannot buy the pill or visit a gynaecologist without parental consent, which isn’t fair if the individual in question wants to keep certain things private from her parents. Therefore, after reaching out in schools to the people we’re trying to educate about safe sex, we should also reach out to society in general to not shame people for doing something they feel they are mature enough to do.
In short, while there must be some serious consideration taken into the thought of lowering the age of consent, if this does go through, we mustn’t just lower the age and leave it at that. We must educate people, specifically teenagers, in making sure that if they are to make decisions, they are well informed ones, and that they won’t be looked down upon for making them.