Effects of the age of consent on minors

Some harmful effects of the age of consent on minors include:

• Encouraging kids to instead have intimate relations with fellow minors, who have less to offer them
• Deterring adults, especially adult men, from associating with minors lest they be accused of child grooming
• Making adults afraid to offer minors non-sexual affection; for example, daycare staff are typically trained to not return or even accept hugs offered by children
• Imposing lifelong consequences on kids who are convicted of having sex with significantly younger kids
• Inflicting poverty and social ostracism on kids with a parent who is on the sex offender registry for AoC violations
• Separating kids from parents who have been convicted of an AoC violation or who are considered by a court to be at risk of committing an AoC violation in the future