Should child marriage be legalized?

[shailbpl]

REASONS FOR:
1. govt got no business poking their noses in children's affairs.
2. no. of. rapes will come down.
3. both sexes become sexually active at 13 - 14 years of age.
4. relationships starts at schools these days.
5. children can go to school as husband/wife.
6. children can do combined study as family.

7. lowers incidence of STD's.
8. child marriages were part of our culture.
9. lesser distraction from members of opposite sex. students will perform better.
10. children will lose interest in sex as soon as they graduate. after which, they will be of better use to the society.
11. smoking/drinking/drug abuse incidence will come down because of constant monitoring by partners.
12. the right age for sex rule is bullshit. nature never enforced any such rules.

what are your views?

[ZammaJann]

I appreciate the time and thought that went into creating this thread. I think the poster makes some very real points. I'm not sure I agree with him, but it is something to think about. If we are talking about a culture where individuals are married based on the recommendations of their parents anyway, then really I can see that there may be some benefit to marrying as a teenager with the argument being that it will keep them from becoming promiscuous. This may make me very unpopular, but I really don't have a problem with a child of 14 getting married but any younger than that makes me uncomfortable.

[Kofi]

The title of this thread may sound "stupid" at first but the contents are not that stupid as you read on. I am a Christian and also an African and I think no matter what and no matter how, Child marriage is a very bad practice. In my country Ghana for example, there used to be this practice even though not exactly as described here long time ago. Once a girl child was born, any qualified man from any family could come forward to ask for the hand of the new born child in marriage.. the Akans called this "ASIWA".. According to tradition, the man in question here was responsible for the general well-being of the child and sometimes the parents of the child as well. He was responsible for the feeding, medical bills, and all other expenses. In the villages where no formal education was required, the man in question was required to help in the farms of his in-laws. The girl child in this case was not given to the man in question. The child continued to live and develop with her parents until about twenty years old when she became ready for marriage. After the twenty years of service, the man in question needed not pay any bride price again because he might have suffered a lot in the upbringing of the child already.

Sometimes, the man in question might have died long before the child reached the age of marriage. In such a case, the child was free in making her own choices. Unlike the African way, I think the Asian way just goes to the extreme. The child in question here is given to the man in question and the child looses all the parental love and care which is very bad. Some are being forced into early marital intercourse while others are beaten and forced to do what a child is not supposed to be doing. The African way wasn't that bad because the child lived/grew up with her parents until she was ready for marriage (when she was about twenty) and one advantage here was that, the child in question did not lack anything because it was the duty of the man in question to provide all the needs of the child.

[azee11]

this seems to be a great topic to be included. child marriage may be banned but its predominantly being practiced in many parts of the world specially in small villages. in earlier days, when a girl child was born her parents used to fix her marriage. now also many people practice it under the name of their customs and tradition.

[sham]

very nice thread .... i like the way shailbpl has posted it. just reading on the points bring a difference & the cause of child marriage. it is likely to be accepted but when we go deep into the causes it makes us serious. today also in some villages they undergo child marriage. child marriage is done for many reasons but one main reason is due the uncivilized people & due to financial crisis too. it is also concludes with the promising of vow between two people . Bringing up girl children is a hectic job . this child marriage helps them to leave without the crisis.

[Ami69]

why don't we hear cases of child marriages if any at all in the developed countries? these are due to illiteracy. We need to educate these people in the third world countries. Most of them are illiterates and most of them don't even know the consequences of these practices.

[clise]

It’s not in my culture for children to be married in such young age, therefore I am not to understand why they should let alone legalized it. For me, let the children grow up first and then they should decide when they want to get married.

[ThatGirl]

I don't agree with the OP at all. First of all, legalized child marriage will NOT decrease rapes. Rape happens in marriage all the time, usually unreported. And what about before the age of 13 - 14? Will it stop rape in earlier ages as well? No.

I was married at 16 years of age. It has worked alright for me, but I would not recommend it for other teens. I would CERTAINLY not recommend it for children younger.

As for the governments role in 'sticking their noses' in a child's business, yes it is there place. Look at the horrible stories coming out the last few weeks in the UK..should those have been ignored? Was the torture done to those children OK? How about their deaths?

I think you have a very disturbing image of what is natural in children.

[Buah]

Originally Posted by ThatGirl

I don't agree with the OP at all. First of all, legalized child marriage will NOT decrease rapes....

Why force the innocent kid into early marriage just because the parents of these children benefit financially. This is just crazy and these people must be eliminated from the surface of this earth because they do not belong here.

[0099]

i really don't understand how marriage can be a solution to a problem related to psychology and adolescence. i don't think restricting children with the chains of marriage is going to help anyways. as far as drugs, rapes, relationships are concerned i think that the changing morals, values, priorities of both children and their parents are responsible for it. and don't you know that a girl child if married before 18 is prone to so many health impairments. she is not ripe enough to carry a child or even have sex. as far as rape is concerned, i have never seen a 13 year lod guy raping his age mate girl and those who commit this crime are sick and can't be stopped even if the girl is married.

[BlueSword]

I don't believed that legalizing child marriages could help solved society's problems, it might even worsen it. These kids are not mature enough for this purpose, the marriage would just be broken after a few years or months. And how would their young minds cope with that. And what if they have kids, could they feed the kids when they, themselves, still need to be feed also.

[r1superman]

Sorry but I have to disagree. No child should be able to marry. They can't hold jobs and take care of a family. Also that will also lead to child pregnancy, which is already a big problem is this world. No offense meant to you but I just think this wouldn't be very smart at all!

[jessika]

this whole concept of marrying a child is absurd. by definition of child he/she is some one whose mind and body is not ready and developed enough to have sex and understand the practicalities of life. how could someone possibly justify marrying a child be it any reason. as far as crime and relationships are concerned, its a matter of morals and changing mindset.

[nishant20]

i would like to oppose this topic saying child marriage should be legalized
as rightly said above, a child's body whether boy or girl is not ready for physical sex and if it forced to do so, it can lead to severe problems in future
there is a reason behind not legalizing child marriages that's why government hasn't legalized them yet
after all,our Indian government ain't so "stupid" also

[getnitin15]

Shailbpl z got some crazy but a reasonable idea.
The reasons given make you think about it for a minute :P
well cases of rape not coming down anyway
people who commit such a heinous crime are not stopping due to this
it is their.............. you know what
and the thought that people become sexually active early nowadays is true but not a reason for legalizing child marriage

[Bigpixy]

I don't think they should legalize it simply because I don't think that the children have a mature state of mind at that age. I also think that's the way that gypsy do it right? I mean I heard this one gypsy girl got married at the age of 13 or something and got pregnant. She lives with her parents and her parents have 7 children. They barely have any money for food alone. How the hell would they dress their children, clean them when they don't have running water it's ridiculous.

[squintoo]

OH man, when i saw the title i was like what the hell??

but only after opening the thread i realized that this post seriously has many positive points but one bad thing of this will be that the girl would get pregnant at a very early age and that might harm her health and future

[rmholla]

Getting married at 14 was fine when life expectancy was only 30 years of age. Now that we are living longer there is no reason to marry young.

Children should grow up and become productive members of society before being burdened with marriage and children.

I don't think men understand just how dangerous pregnancy is for a woman at any age and even in technologically advanced countries. Women die every day giving birth.

The marriage / rape issue is mind boggling, how anyone can possible fathom a connection between the two is completely illogical.

[BCRoller]

Well, I usually try and stay away from topics such as this because of the risk of offending anyone unintentionally but, this time, I'm going to bite the bullet and put in my two cents. However, if you do not agree with what I say please (please, please, please) don't take offense to it, I'm simply stating my OPINION and nothing more.

No I do not, in anyway whatsoever, agree with child marriages (let alone legalizing them). I find it astounding that any parent would even so much as "consider" allowing such a thing to happen. To be completely honest with you, I don't see much of a difference between those children who are forced into marriage then those who are forced into the sex trade; it all comes down to money being made from selling off an innocent child who has no say in the matter. Frankly, the only real difference I can even come up with is that with legalized child marriages, those people involved in it may actually have a marriage certificate to prove the sell.

[DaughterUK]

I completely disagree with the original poster. Child marriage should always remain illegal because children are not ready for married life, much as they aren't ready to go to work for a living and pay the bills...etc. Children are children, not adults in little bodies.

Also some children could end up being sexually abused... especially in countries where women are second class citizens anyway. The only thing child marriages will satisfy is the perverts who want legal access to molest minors.

This is one stupid ideology! Anybody who suggests the practice of child marriages isn't that normal in my sense of judgment. How could think that Child marriage is the right way to go under normal circumstances? If child marriage is the right way then are we to accept child molestation as something good?

[unikk]

everything will be like child like ! the word is to bad ! i think this will be fine to ! thnx !

[INTELLECT]

Seriously what I think is, it is really a nightmare for some children.
The Governament would not have just put it up like that.
Our previous generations might really have the reason for the thing to be setup like a act or a rule.

I truly agree with what author have said but still there are some real drawbacks for that here is just one:
child marriages may involve the child beingg married at very little age that he/she might not really know of the PURPOSE of marriage.
espescially in case of girls,they may not become that matured to bear pregnancy or give birth.
so i really donot think we should immediately think of banning the child marriage prevention law.

[Kofi]

This used to be very common in the olden days especially in Africa. In my country, we used to call it "Asiwa" meaning, married from birth. Parents could give their girl child to some wealthy or hardworking men whom they thought could take care of the child when they the parents were gone but the thing was that, sometimes before the girl reached adolescent age, the supposed husband might have died long time ago which did not make sense at all but in some other ways, it protected the children from unwanted pregnancies because boys kept away from such girls and hence protected the girls in this case. This is no longer the case in Africa though it is still practiced in some parts of India, In Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world.

In the Muslim world, this is a very good practice because even the Holy Prophet Muhammad married a six year old kid and had sex with her at the age of nine.

Originally Posted by Kofi

.... even the Holy Prophet Muhammad married a six year old kid and had sex with her at the age of nine.

???

wow! it is the first time I'm hearing this. It sound strange so I googled it and lo and behold you are right. No wonder these people support child marriages. I will share this with my friends today in school. thanks very much for sharing.

I don't mean to insult anyone but what do we call those people who have sexual intercourse with young children? Are they not pedophiles? if so then can we say Prophet Mohammad was a pedophile? I know this might sound offensive to my Muslim friends out there but I don't mean it that way. I just need a little explanation. I apologize if this sounds offensive to you.

[thegamevg]

Unbelievable!! I can't imagine the thought of child marriage being legalized !!! I read all your points and ,to be fair, I see the logic in some of your points as in education...
But children are not meant to be sexually active ! They do not have the physical or emotional maturity to be a part of such a commitment...
Let children remain children for God's sake...don't push them over the edge!

[Kofi]

Originally Posted by thegamevg

Unbelievable!! I can't imagine the thought of child marriage being legalized !!! I read all your points and ,to be fair, I see the logic in some of your points as in education...
But children are not meant to be sexually active ! They do not have the physical or emotional maturity to be a part of such a commitment...
Let children remain children for God's sake...don't push them over the edge!

I wish all could reason like you and I wish all could see your point. What makes a child a child is the fact that he or she is not matured both physically and spiritually. Marriage is an agreement between a matured man and a matured woman who can think and reason as matured people, to live together as husband and wife. I watched a video on youtube recently in which a father in Bangladesh was forcing her 8 year old daughter into early marriage. When asked why? he said that will protect the child and that it is part of their tradition and culture to give their young girls out into marriage as young as possible and that he was just trying to go by tradition. some of these things happen due to ignorance and the unwillingness of some people to accept new ideas. Tradition was meant for man and not man for tradition. Tradition is good but tradition do change with time and that is what most people are missing.

[DaughterUK]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

???

wow! it is the first time I'm hearing this. It sound strange so I googled it and lo and behold you are right. No wonder these people support child marriages. I will share this with my friends today in school. thanks very much for sharing.

Yep, Mohammed was a sick child molester... and a slave trader, rapist, misogynist, thief, warlord, mass murderer and to top it off a transparantly false prophet.

Google 'Prophet of Doom', it will tell you all you need to know about Islam.

[AltMvz]

Legalising child marriage is like giving a green light to paedophilia. It would be like the greatest bloody birthday present to those sick F***s. No, i enjoyed my childhood, cushooned away from adult life until i was old enough to participate. Don't take childhood away from children.