[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by Livia

While I agree with everything you say, Annie, I am not a parent. Being a parent doesn't give you a special insight into right and wrong, as many parents who beat and even kill their own children prove. Everyone on this forum has a link to a 13 year old inasmuch as we all used to be one and can look back and see how terribly childlike we were at that age, although at the time we thought we were very grown up.

I'm sure all 13 year old think that they're very sophisticated. You've only got to walk past a secondary school emptying out and see the girls dressed up like street walkers to know that. Many young teenage girls are very provocative, but they are not adult enough to make informed choices and that's why the law must protect them. The barrister involved in this is an idiot.

Yeah, I agree Livia, my point about whether she was a parent was to see if she had thought of an old man touching her 13 year old daughter and still thinking it was ok but I agree with your point that being a parent doesn't make that insight special but I always try to put myself in a position where I think of how I would feel if certain things happened to my loved ones. Her comments leave me in no doubt that I would probably inflict some pretty serious damage if anyone touched my child inappropriately at the age of 6, 9, 15 or older I guess but you really don't have to be a parent to work that out either I guess.