I would be interested to find out the legal age for different things, and how they vary from country to country,
here in the uk here are some legal ages

To ride a moped 16 years old
To have hetrosexual sex 16 years old
To smoke 16 years old
To get married with parent consent 16 years old
To play the national lottery 16 years old
To drive a car 17 years old
To watch an x-rated film 18 years
To get married (no consent) 18 years
To buy alcohol 18 years
To have a credit card/debit card 18 years old
To gamble / place bets 18 years old
To vote 18 years old
To apply for an adult passport 18 years old
That's just a few examples,

So by the uk legal age limit's
A 17 year old uk female could be married, (but can't watch an x-rated movie) drive a car, smoke,(but not buy alcohol) could have a baby herself ( but still has to have a child passport for herself) and can't have a credit/debit card, and dispite being a wife and a mother,she still couldn't vote or place a bet/gamble.

I found it weird when I was 19 , after having been legally drinking in the uk for 1 year, I went to new york where I wasn't allowed to drink.
I believe in certain countries people are allowed to marry at 14, so if they then moved to the uk, as husband and wife they wouldnt be legally allowed to have sex, although I'm not certain if the uk would accepted their marriage as legal.

What are the legal ages where you live ?
do you feel the age limits should be the same world wide ?
Are some of the uk age limit's too young/old ?

My son is 13 and has debit card

(as far as i know)

CANADA
To ride a moped 16
To have sex (homo, hetero, other) 14 (not criminalized if both do it consentually and both are minors. Now, if one of the couple is over the province's age of majority, you win a 9 year prison stay and a complimentary record on the paedophile registry for life, which is public and tracks your movements across canada)

To smoke 18 or 19, depending on province
To get married with parent consent over 16 under 18
To gamble (lottery, casino, horse races, etc) 19
To drive a car 16 with a G1 licence (at least in ontario)
To watch an x-rated film depends on rating, NC-17: 17, X rated 18
To get married 18 years
To buy alcohol 18 or 19, depends on the province
To have a credit card/debit card: not sure, i think there's no age restriction, just money restrictions.
To vote 18
To apply for an adult passport 18

VENEZUELA:
To ride a moped 14 years old
To have sex 14 (same as canada, 14 if the partner is under 18. If partner is over 18 it's statutory rape and off you go, but there's no padeo registry here)

To smoke 18 (not really enforced)
To get married with parental consent 16 boys, 14 girls
To drive a car 16 on a restricted minor's permit, 18 normally
To watch an x-rated film 16
To get married 18
To buy alcohol 18 (it's more of a suggestion, i've seen kids as young as 13 buying alcohol at supermarkets, nobody enforces it)
To have a credit card/debit card: no age on accounts, but if under 16 you need a parent to co-sign the account. No credit cards under 18, only parent's extensions.
To gamble / place bets 18 (again, more of a suggestion)
To vote 18
To apply for a passport: anybody over 9 gets the same passport everybody else does. Under 9 they travel with the parent's passport.

And get this: In GERMANY citizens have to renew their passports every 5 years if under 26. Once you're 26 it's 10 years.

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In USA
Depends on the state for each age of driving a car or moped
In Montana to drive a car is 15, In Colorado 16
Lottery, gambling, etc.- age 18
x-rated movie- 18
r-rated movie- 17 or look like you are
Drinking alcohol- 21
Voting- 18
Passport-18
Smoking-18 and they will card anyone who looks 27 or younger (seriously!)
Sex- not sure, but sex with minors by an adult is not allowed unless the two are within 2 years of age

Marriage is also a state area, so it depends on the state. I think West Virginia still has it at age 13 for girls with consent. I know Colorado is 16 with consent.

I got shipped a Visa Electron debit card around my 16th

w00t for the UK

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Australia (NSW) some age restrictions vary from State to State

Apply for Drivers Licence – 16 years (I reckon it should be 30)
Apply for Motorcycle Learner’s Permit - 16 years and 9 months (Same again)
Purchase Alcohol – 18 years
Purchase Cigarettes – 18 years
Enrol to vote – 18 years
Lesbian and heterosexual sex - 16 years
Male homosexual sex - 18 years
Purchase a can of Spray Paint – 18 years
Purchase a knife – 16 years – this even prohibits particularly hirsute pubescent teens from buying razors LOL!
Apply for Firearms Licence – 18 years
Apply for Minor’s Firearms Permit (authorises adult supervised possession & use but not ownership) – 12 years
Play Paintball (Skirmish) – 18 years (16 years with signed parental consent)
Rent a car – 21 years
Gamble (Casino, Club, Pub, Racecourse, Tote) – 18 years
Apply for a Helicopter Pilot Licence – 16 years
Get married – 18 years -only certain empowered Courts can make orders for younger ages (should be 50 years)

Film ratings -
G – General
PG – Parental Guidance Recommended - PG rated material cannot be screened between 6am and 10am, and also cannot be screened between 4pm and 6:30 pm on weekdays. It can be screened on weekends without restriction
M – Recommended for Mature Audiences - M rated material can be screened any time between 8:30pm and 5:00am, and may also be screened during the day between 12:00pm and 3:00pm, but only on schooldays. Many films are edited to M ratings for commercial reasons as it allows them to air at 8:30pm rather than a later 9:00pm timeslot, and some M-rated films are actually edited in order to keep their M rating due to television not being regulated by the OFLC.
MA15+ - Under 15’s must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian
R18+ - Restricted to 18 and over
X18+ - Restricted to 18 and over

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also: you have to renew your passport every five years. it used to be 10, but it changed.

as for the credit/debit card: there's no age restriction on the debit card, but your legal guardian has to consent. for credit cards, the company decides whether or not they want to give you one. so it depends on whether you have a job, how reliable you are, etc.

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Sorry I meant without having parental consent/guarantor (perhaps it's changed sinced we applied for our son)

Wow this does shock me, firstly I personally feel 14 is far to young, so by the age of 28 a woman could legally been a grandmother.
re: VENEZUELA so if a 14 year old girl was having a relationship with a 171/2 year old male thats legal, but what would then happen in 6 months time, she will be 14 1/2 but he would have turned 18 , would that then be considered as rape ? or would it be legal as they were already in a relationship ?

RE: Driving, due to personally experiences, I would like the legal driving age to be at least 18 years old world wide.

I think driving ages should be increased to at least 25. Crash statistics show that young people are over-represented as drivers and motorcycle riders in fatal crashes. Young drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes at night and when they are carrying passengers.

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Wow! What an interesting thread! I definately think 14 is too young to be having sex.

I agree that the driving age should be made 18 - or at least have some kind of age agreed on for such things, right now it's too complicated.

BM - that's interesting about the driving statistics. Do you think it's due to age, or due to inexperience? Do you think if the age was highered to 25 that we'd then see a lot of 25-30 year olds having those accidents?

Actually, I think maybe the driving age should be made a lot higher, and public transport improved - less cars on the road would be nice.

I also think the voting age should be lowered in the UK to 16. I think with 16 a lot of young people are perfectly capable of making up their minds on who to vote for. A lot of criticism is aimed at teenages and falling education standards, but I think todays teens have never been so well informed.

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Yup, crime. But usually happens with girls and only when the girl's parent's are pissed off that a boy had sex with her, and report him.

It's a bit of an inside joke too. The horse races are called the 5&6 here, and so's the fact of having sex with a minor merely because it's 5 minutes of pleasure, 6 years in jail.

Surely inexperience is also at fault in these crashes? Indeed a 25 year old is more responsible than an 18 or 16 year old, but inexperience can kill whether you're 25 or 16...

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Not sure if it's changed but when I learnt to drive this is how is was, a learner driver who isn't allowed on a motorway , even with an driving instructor, can take their test, pass, then the same day go on your own straight on to a motorway total madness

Personally, for the UK (and hopefully worldwide if they don't do so already) I think all new drivers should have a statutory period (similiar to what the do in Ireland) whereby for the first year they have to display green P plates, as opposed to the Red L plates. If they were to commit any driving offences during this time, then they could be more severely punished.

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You're not really allowed to drive until you've received your licence. This can take anything up to 10 days. Even though this makes no real difference; as driving on the motorway on the day you passed or 10 days later is pretty much the same thing.

(I'm not sure if this actual LAW or not, but you SHOULDN'T be driving around alone on the day you passed)

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Intresting thread Jewels, that just shows how messed up the UK is

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Quiksilver

You can have a debit card, providing it doesn't have credit facilities. Due to the nature of the transaction when purchasing with a debit card, the money is not taken from your account directly and you could spend beyond your available balance. This would make you overdrawn, which is bad. Trust me.. lol. Anyhoo... cards like the VISA electron have to be electronically verified that the funds are available, which is why some shops don't take them - their card hardware couldn't offer that technology, before the transaction is approved.

Wow... I am really boring...

Still... I think if they lowered the gambling and drinking ages, then all would be cool for the married 17yr old chain smoking mother :)

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To ride a moped 15 Years old
To have hetrosexual sex ...Not gonna answer =D
To smoke 16 years old
To get married with parent consent 16 years old
To play the national lottery 13 Years Old (I found a winning lottery ticket for 500,000 while 13 D=)
To drive a car 15 Years Old
To watch an x-rated film 16 Years Old
To get married (no consent) 18 years
To buy alcohol 18 years
To have a credit card/debit card 18 years old
To gamble / place bets 16 Years Old
To vote 16 Years Old
To apply for an adult passport 18 years old

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Well since reading some of the others I don't think the uk limits are too bad.
This one I really can't get my head round.

lol ches
5 minutes ?

At a push.

:O

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I hate the goverment ruleings in this country they are so thick.
Like familys on low low incomes haveing to pay the same rate of council tax as richer people.
Eg My sister isnt on benefits cause she works, she claims child tax credits and working tax credits, which are not seen as benefits.
She live in a rented house, rent being 1000, pounds a month.
Council tax pays for her just under 400 a month to help her low income.
So she has to find 600 a month, also pay councilt tax at full rate, which is 50 pounds a month, she gets paid 250 a week.
So shes left with 50 a week for food clothes, heating ect.
My point being her next door neighbour, runs his own bussiness, plus his wife is a magistrate, they earn big money.
And my sis pays the same council tax as them, so yes the 17 yr old marrige thing jewels pointed out dosent suprise me at all

Seeing how our society is evolving, i'm surprised you say this. I lost my virginity at 16 (back in 1997), and a girl in my class back then was giving birth a week after turning 15. And this is a trend, teens exploring their sexuality are younger and younger every year. And I think it's ok really for them to explore, as long as they're well informed of the risks, responsibilities and possible consequences associated with it. My parents did a good job i think, i did plenty of exploring, but always keeping it safe and well within the boundaries of my values. Now i'm married, no diseases, no trauma and no kids.

However in countries like venezuela, it's fairly common for a 14 year old to become a mother; it's so different here, girls get respect in their "barrio" (slum) as soon as they have kids, and the younger you have them the better. It's like a wolfpack, when there's no alpha female (for whatever reason) the next alpha is the one that is ready to breed first...

Quote:

5 minutes ?

oh you mean the average is longer than that?

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I'm far from being prudish or old fashioned, but I think thats appalling, mainly for the reason at 14 you're still a child yourself (although I'm sure they are good mothers) but at 14 do girls really have enough of lifes experiences to bring up a baby of their own, caring for a newborn baby is hard work, the thought of a 14 year old also having to go though child birth, it must be hard going as their bodies as they are still developing.

And as for you two
stop being so competitive not everthing in life is a race,
not everything is about who comes first.

Edit: opps wasn't meant to be a double entendre, but I may have got away with it

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Where do you live? I thought you were in Texas? You can't vote, smoke, or gamble at 16 in the US, and you can't buy alcohol until you are 21.

Am I missing something?

Perhaps teh.sickness was thinking rather wishfully...

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