My Personal Opinion Regarding Age-Related Laws

I agree with the laws regarding age that could potentially harm other innocent beings such as the drinking age and the driving age. These laws were established not to be unfair but because of the brain development and maturity at the specified age. The drinking age is so “high” because of responsibility issues as well as potential health risks on underdeveloped brains and bodies. The driving age could arguably be higher in order to ensure the complete development of motor skills and decision-making abilities. However, with my personal experience with law and my peers, regardless of age restrictions or laws in general, the laws will always be broken and teens will always find a way to do what they want especially in modern society. Once they finally reach the age restricted by the law, the sense of rebellion declines and they seek fun and interest in other motives.


I also agree that 18 is a sensible age to become a legal individual and therefore entitles that person to their own body specifically referring to tattoos and piercings. Again, people will always find ways to ignore the law whether doing it him or herself or faking parental consent. This is also true with sexual consent because once a teenager becomes a legal adult; they may choose to treat their bodies in any way that might please them. Therefore, I do not agree with the legal age of consent being only 16 in Georgia, even though most individuals have started to begin intercourse at much younger ages.

Age classification laws define a person and their legal transition from child to adult at age 18. The other laws regarding age are typically for the own good and development of the young individuals. There are many specific reasons behind each decision to set a legal age limit that define each persons’ capabilities and maturity. The only definitions laws provide outside of the adult law are definitions of allowance.  It determines nothing about the person besides their choice to participate or abstain in activities such as consuming alcohol or giving sexual consent, which are matters or personality interpretation or individual reputation.

Legal Age of Consent for Tattoos and Piercings

The legal age of consent for tattoos and piercings is 18 (in Georgia.) There are specifics about parental consent that vary across the country, but the minimum age for an individual to obtain these bodily changes independently is 18. This is an example of one of the basic adult privileges that is developed in the Constitution where an adult is defined as 18 years of age. There are immense legal responsibilities placed on a new adult, so making changes to one’s body is made legal at that age as well. Tattoos and piercings are forms of expression and are especially popular in modern culture. Strong, beautiful idols like Kat Von D have become common across pop culture and are respected among the younger generations.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/kat+von+d/Fav54ver/FP9475Kat-Von-D-Posters.jpg

Older generations hardly accept the idea of marking one’s body permanently or piercing one’s body whether for religious or moral reasons, but it seems as if their opinion fails to matter anymore to the current generation. Everyone is their own person and can consider other’s opinions but in the end make the final decision as to how they treat their body. This law affects me because I was able to legally acquire both a piercing and a tattoo without parental permission. The feeling of signing a paper allowing one to do something most likely not approved of by their parents is empowering and allows for a strong desire and feeling of independence. There are many issues regarding this law and states have been increasing the restrictions. For example, in Arkansas the parent must now be present for the body modification. A concern with this overkilling law is that minors will instead do the markings themselves in less sanitary and more dangerous manner.


The law defines a person by letting individuals define themselves. Each tattoo or piercing makes each person different and unique and allows for differences among the broad definition of a person that tends to include and generalize among all citizens. In Citizens United v. FEC, there was dispute among what defines a company as well as how to include just one definition of person (corporation) when each component was so different on so many levels. Once the court reached a decision of whether a corporation was an individual, they would immediately have to work on a definition that would include and define all people. Just as people are so different in appearance, corporations vary in several ways. Overall, the law regarding a minimum age of 18 to sign for tattoos and piercings seems to accommodate all eligible individuals by including a clause that requires parental consent, making it seemingly fair all around.

This is the piercing that I decided to get the day after my 18^th birthday.

Georgia Laws

Legal Age of Alcohol Consumption in the United States

Another example of an age-defined law is the drinking age, which is nationally recognized as 21. The second part of this law states that individuals 18 years or older may serve alcohol. This law is a lot less controversial than most age-related issues because of many reasons including health, safety, and legal responsibilities. The following pictures are images that show potential health issues caused by alcohol abuse.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-2/146-152.htm

http://www.breakingthecycles.com/blog/2009/02/ 

Such brain damage can happen at any age but can be particularly detrimental when the brain is still developing at a younger age. The law is not designed to inhibit fun or exclude younger people; it is a health guideline because younger individuals tend to be more rebellious when it comes to authority and fail to recognize the harmful effects of alcohol on their growing bodies. Alcohol is a serious mind-altering depressant that kills innocent people daily in car wrecks and other alcohol related instances. The age 21 might even seem too young to some because of the maturity level and capacity of responsibility at that stage in life. This law has yet to affect me because my age is so far from 21. If someone my age was caught consuming or possessing alcohol, there would definitely be legal consequences but the public only aims to establish that there is so much fun to be had without being under the influence of alcohol.


The second aspect of the law states that individuals over 18 may serve alcohol in restaurants and bars. This, however, has affected my life because it limited a large amount of jobs because of my age. The reason the age is 18 is because of liability reasons. An individual that is 18 can be punished in court for alcohol serving mistakes such as serving to minors and the restaurant will recover whereas if a minor was to serve alcohol, the restaurant as a whole would be to blame ruining income, reputation, and even suspension of their alcohol license. This law has been altered in the Constitution under Amendment 21 and was a reoccurring issue in the development of the country, but now seems to take a steady course that has generally been successful. It defines a person by ensuring that only certain capable individuals may partake in such activities as consuming alcohol legally, regardless of purpose. The basic definition changes when a person turns 21 from not being legally able to drink or purchase alcohol, to being able to consume as desired, which seems to be of great value in the modern culture. 

Georgia Alcohol Laws

Georgia Laws 

The Legal Age of Sexual Consent in Georgia

One of the most controversial age-related laws is the sexual consent law, limiting sexual relations between people 16 to 18 years of age. There is not a national consensus because an agreeance cannot be met to accommodate the viewpoints of all 50 states. The state of Georgia defines the age for legal sexual consent to be 16 regardless of gender (some sates have specific guidelines concerning the age difference between guy and girl.) This law was recently altered because of the sudden and rapid increase in sexual activity at a young age. The current generation has “matured” so much faster than generations previous and has created new societal norms that seem irreversible at their current stage. 

Source

The law allows for teenagers to provide consent for sexual activity at just 16 years of age. Most elders argue it is way too soon in their young lives and that the decisions it allows for are irrational and irresponsible. Personally, I was unaware or uninterested in sex as a younger teen and concerned about more revolutionary things at the age of 16, such as driving. This law no longer has an affect on me or provides hindrance because I am a legal adult at 18 years old, which appears to be the uppermost limit for sexual consent nationwide. It does, however, affect people I know that are underage, such as my younger sibling. The main importance of this law is usually implemented in legal cases ranging from assault to statutory rape. Now, a young 16 year old can be sexually abused or raped without consent and therefore mentally scarred, but the perpetrator can potentially walk free without punishment (provided the inability to supply sufficient evidence or other stipulations in court.) It is viewed as morally incorrect for an immense age gap to be present between two individuals engaging in sex, as shown in the video provided in the following link.

http://wkrg.com/788915/ (The video is an example in Alabama whose age of consent is also 16.)           

Extreme cases like the one exemplified in the video make the law so controversial and allows for a broader acceptance of those who do not follow the moral standard in our country. This law defines a person by giving young children the ability to make decisions that could potentially be detrimental to their futures (unplanned pregnancies, diseases, etc.) It contradicts the legal definition of an adult in the United States, which allows for most legal decisions to be made at the age of 18.  The Constitution is not contradictory with every new age-related law; instead it continually refers back to the establishment of an adult as the basis for many of its choices. Another related text is A Vindication of the Rights of Men by Mary Wollstonecraft because it discusses desire characteristic of all men, including sex. The author believes in a utopian society that accommodates all people, similar to the intent of the U.S. government. 


The chart below provides the legal ages of consent for each state.

http://www.ageofconsent.com/comments/numberone.htm

Georgia Laws