• Ostrakon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    edit-2
    6 days ago

    I would generally describe a 17 year old as a young adult. Not defending Gaetz, who is a colossal turd, but I think it’s disingenuous to call a 17 year old a “child”.

    Edit for posterity: Yeah, Gaetz sucks, no I am not trying to say it’s okay for a grown man to have any kind of sexual relationship with a 17 year old. I’m just saying that using the same term to describe a 5 year old as someone literally months away from being able to vote is just… I dunno. Imprecise. For a community called “Fediverse vs. Disinformation” calling Gaetz a pedo for having sex with a 17 year old doesn’t feel correct to me.

    • atlas
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      6 days ago

      it’s not though? if we’re talking about their emotional or even academic performance, sure I’d say it might be a bit of a stretch as your brain continues development well into your mid-late 20s but yeah why not, it’s pretty innocuous.

      but when the topic is getting paid for sex…you still wanna call them young adults? why not 16 y/o as well? 15 is only two years away, that’s a young adult too, no?

      fuck outta here with that shit. she’s under 18, she’s legally a child. there is nothing disingenuous about that, it’s literally the law.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      It’s a trip because physically they’re pretty close to adulthood, although they still have some more maturing to do. Mentally and emotionally they’re close to adulthood in some regards, and still very much children in others. Their brains literally haven’t developed certain processing areas yet, so they’re not as capable as actual adults at processing things like long-term consequences. Lastly, to anyone who is an actual full-blown adult, 17 year olds are full-on kids. The only people who don’t think they are, are other kids around their age, and apparently dudes like Gaetz.