So, is Jamie Spears allowed on the adult grid now?

...or should we continue to pretend 16 year olds don't have sex? Just curious who we're protecting from what. And since her boyfriend seems to be age of majority, in my state that means, by definition, statutory rape. Is HE allowed on the adult grid, or would he be kicked, as a known pedophile? Hey, this whole "identity verification" is meant to protect poor innocent dears like Jamie, right?

Something tells me early 21st century definitions of the taboo need a little reality check. We like people to live in an adolescent state far beyond what biology insists.

EDIT: My god, I am in a rare grumpy mood, lol. My apologies....still am curious.

Jamie Spears is perfectly able to come onto the grid. He is her father.

Jamie Lynn Spears, however, is physically capable of having sex but may not be mature enough to handle being a mother at such a young age. The ability to procreate doesn't make one an adult.

You could be right. My mother, however, MARRIED at 16 (my father was 22!), and had a nice happy marriage until she died of cancer. *shrugs* Doesn't prove anything.. but....pesky reality.

depending on what state it is in age of consent is different but im not sure how it is handled when one is of age of consent and one is over 18 some places differ on how they would handle it

she may be havin a momma but that doenst make her responsible enough to be considered and adult

Unfortunately, neither does circling the sun 18 times. (or 30+ for some people)

Sadly, this is too true.

Mother Nature disagree's... often... and vehemently...

“[...]Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, quite intelligent enough.” -Aldous Huxley

Mother Nature is also about quantity and not quality when it comes to life. But I'll agree with the quote.

Age does not magically grant experience or maturity.. it just grants age and possibly ego.

Just look at her sister...

Yeah, that 12 year old that gets knocked up is an adult.

Er, what the heck are you talking about????

Dunno. Who's Jamie Spears?

Who is Jamie Spears?

/me is confused by this thread

then I am not the only one totally confused

must be a friday thread

Jamie Lynn Spears = Britney Spears' younger sister, actress on Nickelodeon kids' network, and only 16. Pregnant, too. So much for that virginal thing.

Thank you for the information Cristalle. I guess I need to watch television and read the tabloids to keep up on such important matters. If Jamie appears at my SL home I will welcome her, give her birth control information and advise her that she needs to go to the teen grid.

ZOMG! Okay....For all you people who have more important things to think about than the latest celebrity gossip.... allow me to enlighten you. The big news of the last 24 hours in the superficial world has been that Britney Spears' little sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, is pregnant. She's 16. See here that oh-so-importanto-gossip-rag http://omg.yahoo.com/who-is-casey-aldridge/news/4996 hehe

My god, do you ever feel yourself slipping into an obnoxious mood? Okay, probably just me.

Since it is Christmas season, here's another bit to chew on. Most Biblical scholars say Mary would have been 12-14 years old when she had Jesus. References attached, just because. And throughout most of history, to be a woman and UNMARRIED at 16 would have been unusual, to say the least. In many many parts of the world, that is still the case. This notion that emotional maturity is a relatively late development is a rather new idea, in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps it is because we understand child development better now. But it could also be that there is something about modern Western culture that stunts our emotional growth, keeping us infantile much longer. I know a lot of men in their 40s who are still emotionally immature and self-centered. It could be forces "at play" in our culture which keep us "at play" longer and longer, maybe stemming from the very strong belief in our society that to be old is to be unattractive. Certainly the concept of "entertainment" as an important daily activity is quite recent.

There was my serious thought of the day! Only tangentially related to SL, probably lock-worthy. Still, it is an opportunity to point out that the very basis of our "save teh childrens" campaign is a rather new idea, historically, and not one universally attested to by any stretch of the imagination. Only in the post-modern West would a 15yr old need "protection" from "adulthood." In >95% of any culture which ever existed, 15 yrs old is prime child-bearing years.... and rather close to middle-aged!

Enough of that.... here's the Mary Mother of Jesus references for your pleasure, for you few poor diehard forum souls intent on having a bit of a frolic on this lovely Friday night in late December! And, hey, who am I to argue with God, if He decides a twelve-year old is mature enough to give birth to the Son of God?

http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=887
"We do know that Mary would have been in her early teenage years, most likely twelve to fourteen years old. We can tell her age because she was engaged, but not yet married, to a man named Joseph, and yet was physically mature enough to both have and rear God’s Son, something she did for at least a couple of years without much family support. While twelve to fourteen may seem very young to us, it was common in biblical times for women to be married at that age, and much older than fourteen would have been uncharacteristically old for marriage in her culture. We can better understand the great courage and faith Mary had when we realize that she was not a middle-aged and experienced woman of the world, but rather a young woman of faith who accepted the call to be the mother of the Christ."

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm
"Jewish maidens were considered marriageable at the age of twelve years and six months, though the actual age of the bride varied with circumstances. The marriage was preceded by the betrothal, after which the bride legally belonged to the bridegroom, though she did not live with him till about a year later, when the marriage used to be celebrated.....From the age at which Hebrew maidens became marriageable, it is possible that Mary gave birth to her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age"

http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_mary.htm
"In the Bible, we first meet Mary when she was a young girl of about thirteen. For us, that means we picture a budding young girl, perhaps in seventh or even eighth grade in school. In other words, Mary was just starting to become a young woman. She was just beginning to go through that change within her whereby she would be able to give birth to a child. This was a very exciting time for her. Women would come to Mary and say, “Mary, we hear that you have become a young woman. When are you going to get engaged, Mary?” Or “When is your father, Joachim, going to make arrangements for you?” Her older siblings and aunts would tease and taunt her because she had matured to that very delicate time in life when she became a young woman and eligible for engagement...............In my day and age, I have seen enough thirteen-year old girls running around this congregation, and I know how their feelings start to explode at this time. Their smiles; their inner radiance; their budding maturity as young women."

http://christianity.about.com/od/newtestamentpeople/p/marymotherjesus.htm
"Mary was a young girl, probably only about 12 or 13 years old when the angel Gabriel came to her. She had recently become engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. Mary was an ordinary Jewish girl, looking forward to marriage"

http://www.ancient-future.net/marynew.html
"3. How old was Mary when she gave birth to Jesus?
We cannot, of course, say for certain, but a likely conjecture is between 14 and 17 years old."

---------------------------------

And, of course, in terms of the adult grid, we aren't talking about HAVING SEX or being emotionally mature enough to raise babies.... We're talking about exposure to cartoon depictions of sex acts. Please no one take grave offense to this thread. I'm just in a silly mood and felt like, once more, pointing out our overall unreflective attitude about sex and maturity, at least in the U.S. This notion that one could set any baseline age and apply it wholesale is not supported very well by history, even very recent history.

Who's Jamie Spears and why does she have a man's christian name?

I'm going to Godwin this thread if I don't get answers!

Also....

We'd need to ask a biologist really to be sure, but I suspect that this is the actual definition, more or less, of what an adult is.

*bonks* Conan on the head! I even gave you a link!

Hitler would have tried to stop her at coming on the grid too. Is that what you want; the Nazis back?

actually the definition of adult is:
a·dult /əˈdʌlt, ˈædʌlt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-duhlt, ad-uhlt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective 1. having attained full size and strength; grown up; mature: an adult person, animal, or plant.
2. of, pertaining to, or befitting adults.
3. intended for adults; not suitable for children: adult entertainment.
–noun 4. a person who is fully grown or developed or of age.
5. a full-grown animal or plant.
6. a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law.

nowhere does it state that the ability to procreate makes you an adult

Jamie SPears is Britney Spears' little sister

and I believe that would be 'physically mature' or post-pubescent, not 'adult'

She looks "fully grown or developed" to me.

In fact the actual dictionary (i.e the Oxford Dictionary - the only real dictionary there is) words it subtley differently.

The two are the same; animals come in three stages - infant, juvenile, adult.