Can A 18 Year Old Legally Date A 16 Year Old?

They can date anytime they want, as long as the 16 year old's parent gives their permission.

It is having sex that is regulated by law. I will assume they do not plan on having sex ?

There are no laws on dating. If your parents are okay with it, you can date. Anything other than dating though, then he's in big trouble.

Oh, okay. Thanks.
Yeah sex was kinda in mind.

Well sex between a 16 year old and an 18 year old isn't legal. So that's a big no no. He would be convicted as a rapist, be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. It would ruin his life.

So I guess it depends on how much you care about him, and how much he cares about his future. I've never had sex that was good enough to risk my life on.

Well, I'll just wait till I'm 18 then, I don't want to ruin his life like that.

Good for you, and good idea.

No one should be engaging in sexual intercourse until they are physically, emotionally and financially prepared to have a child.

In regards to the above answer.... I think your answer sounds great... in theory. I do agree with the first two: physically & emotionally. Do you think that college students are financially prepared to have a child? Also... being financially prepared can be construed in two ways: sufficiency for survival and how you WANT your child to grow up. I'm sure most people in the world wish they had more money for their kids. You appear to be a bit ignorant in the sense that you truly believe people shouldn't have sex until they have all 3 factors going for them... did you live in a perfect world with rich parents? I think so, because all those tingly feelings people feel in their hoo-hahs and ding-dums aren't going to be restrained by the fact they aren't financially prepared, however they may view that. A much better rendition of your statement.... 'No one should be engaging in sexual intercourse until they are either physically & emotionally prepared to have a child or are financially prepared to purchase contraceptives.'

samazing, I do see your point. Also, I have to say that I didn't wait to have sex. I wasn't a virgin at 24 when I married. My husband wasn't my first, and when I first had sex, there was no way that I was ready to have a child. I got lucky. I never got pregnant before I chose to. But it was just that. Luck.

Now that I am married, have children of my own, I'm much more realistic, and I realize the risk I took back then.

I'm not expecting my kids to wait until marriage. But now that I know so much more than I did at 16, 17, 18....I do think that's it's incumbent on me to tell these teens the truth. If they come here asking for advice on sex, there's really no way I can say "You're 16? Go ahead! Nothing will happen, it's okay", because I know that's not true.

The fact is, if we give them an out, if we don't give them all the facts, all the worst case scenarios, then we're not doing them any good.

So yes, I do think you should be financially prepared to have a child. That doesn't mean that you have to be rich. But you should at least be working, be able to provide a roof over your head, food on the table, all the necessities you and a child will need. The fact is, in the US, just to give birth to a child will cost you $12,000, and that's if nothing goes wrong. Add to that diapers, formula, furniture, clothes, doctors bills, etc. etc. It's not cheap. I don't know one 16 year old that can afford to even give birth in the US, much less care for the child after it's born.

I think that's the point Scott is making. But I don't want to put words into his mouth. Just my point of view.

Also want to point out that contraceptives, they're not 100% effective. If I had a dollar for every person I know personally that got pregnant while on the pill, using a condom, etc. etc. I'd be very wealthy.