Originally posted by Cleo671
We can get all academic here and argue until the cows come home about the concept of 'what is a child' when the reality is 'common sense usually prevails'
It's a nice thought, but I find that, more often than not, common sense is in short supply. Especially when it comes to things which do not directly affect ourselves. There is nothing so uncommon as common sense.

What is a child? Well I have a child, and I know what a child is, but I also observe children playing and it ought to be simple as to what a 'child' is. Just like other people have children, whether in 'here' or out there.
I tend to agree with you, at least under what we would consider normal conditions. But some children in this world, even in this country, grow up faster than others. Some are forced to grow up due to abuse, as you noted. Some due to economic conditions. A young person in a 3rd world country, or perhaps in Appalachia, who has had to work, and work hard, almost from the time they are able to walk, is going to be emotionally more mature than a child who is free to play the days away. This is not a pleasant thought, but it happens all the time. And a young person growing up in a one-room shack, watching his parents engaging in sexual activity because they have no room for privacy, can become sexually mature at an earlier age, even without being abused.


If we all lived say, four hundred years ago, or even two hundred years ago, say in France, and not in Edwardian or Victorian England, the society being in a different time and place our opinions would slant toward the more 'libertine' way of thinking, however we live in the age we live in now. Things are different.
If things were truly different we wouldn't be having this discussion. The biggest difference between now and 100 years ago is the speed at which information is disseminated through society. That and the fact that things like sexual predators and child abusers/molesters are no longer protected by the "silent majority". 100 years ago people did not want to hear about things like child abuse and molestation, or about rape or spousal abuse, or almost any other sexual matter. Parents could literally beat their children to death in the name of discipline and more often than not get away with it. (Now, of course, a parent who slaps a child's hand in a supermarket can wind up being arrested and losing custody of that child. The pendulum has swung too far!)

All that being said, I must say that, in general, I agree with Cleo671. We all know what a child is, and I think we all know that those who can even fantasize about abusing a child might need to seek out some help. To my mind, the only possible reason for focusing on children sexually is because you are afraid of relationships with adults, or you are an emotional child yourself. Either way, get help.

For those out there who would abuse children (or spouses, for that matter), you are cowards, capable only of attacking those weaker than yourselves. The only help for you would be to put a .45 caliber hole in your head. But that would take more courage than you have.