Marriages for 16 year olds
Do you think that children should be able to marry at the age of 16? Even if they have their parents’ consent. Do you think that at that age they should be making choices that will affect the rest of their lives? My opinion is no. I do not think that people should be able to marry at the age of 16.
Marriage at the age of 16 is a reckless decision. I do not think that it should happen. Marriage is a binding contract, an important decision that will affect you for the rest of your life. How is it that you can marry at 16, yet you are unable to drink until you are 18 and unable to drive until your 17 (in the UK). The decision to marry at 16 is still reckless even with your parents’ consent.
Another reason you should not marry at 16 is that you are still a child. Children are still developing at 16 and are in no position to decide what they are going to do for the rest of their life. Most marriages at 16 are likely to end in divorce.
The decision to marry at 16 comes from in the past where people had to marry and have children young because their life expectancy was shorter. At the time of the play Romeo and Juliet it was considered perfectly natural for people to marry at 16 and often younger.
Finally, I do not think that people should marry at the age of 16 because it is easy to exploit someone at that age. The ability to marry at 16 reinforces ‘forced marriages.’ Children may be forced into a marriage they do not want to happen. They may feel like they have no other option. It is easier to force a child to do something especially if it is the parents forcing them into it.
I do not think that marriage at the age of 16 is right. I do not believe that they should decide what to do for the rest of their lives at that age.
Currently, the legal age at which you can marry in the UK is 16, as long as you have parental consent.
You probably know at least one person who was involved with a divorce scenario. According to recent divorce statistics, 42% of marriages in England and Wales end in divorce. 50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce. What if divorce didn’t exist?
Marriage is a major life decision for which, in my opinion, people of the ages of 16-25 are not emotionally or physically ready. I think that in order to end divorce, to wipe it out of existence, we need to raise the national minimum age to at least 18 years of age. A minimum age of 18 will also help to ensure that children are able to give their free and full consent to marry and have the minimum level of maturity needed before marrying.
Furthermore, setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 safeguards a child from being married when they are not physically, mentally or emotionally ready and legally protects children from abuse, harm, violence and exploitation (especially sexual exploitation). Why allow children to marry at an age when, for example, they do not have the right to vote or enter into other contracts recognised in law? The UK recognised that child marriages resulted in early pregnancy and girls facing social isolation, interrupted schooling, limited career and vocational opportunities as well as increased risk of domestic violence. An increase of the minimum age forbids this.
Additionally, another dilemma that occurs in consequence of a low minimum age is child marriage. Child marriage is a complex issue. Poverty, lack of education, cultural practices, and insecurity fuel and sustain the practice. Child marriage is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
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