Sunday, February 04, 2007

Seventeen Year Olds - The Guardian Guide...

A seventeen year old is ...

A 'child' to be protected, if fighting for his country.

A 'man' if being sodomised.

A 'child' if engaging in prostitution. As the Association of Chief Police Officers point out "The Children’s Act makes it clear that young people are children if seventeen years or under".

A full adult capable of voting (but not of taking on any other adult responsibilities such as being imprisoned with adults if convicted of a crime, supporting oneself etc).

A child to be protected from the dreadful consequences of smoking.

I think there's some kind of pattern here. I just can't quite work out what it is.





UPDATE - and you can be a "youth" if you're 25 ! There was a time in our history when you could be a General at that age.

In 2003, Mr Westbury, who is based at Aberystwyth, received an award from then Home Secretary David Blunkett for his work in the community.

But he said he felt compelled to resign following the council's decision.

"This is a recipe for disaster," said Mr Westbury.

"A youth club is just that - a club for young people. There's a case for a club for 16-20-year-olds, but not those aged up to 25.

"I feel that people aged up to 25 would have a negative influence on impressionable younger people.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I discovered last month that vandals are 'boys' at the age of 21.

fountain.blogspot.com/2007/01/boys-to-men.html

Anonymous said...

Another glaring contradiction:

a girl under the age of consent may procure an abortion without medical practioners informing her parents. But if the same girl fails to attend school her parents will be held responsible for her non-attendance and charged accordingly to the letter of the law.

Bill Haydon said...

...and the same girl may not be given Calpol without clear parental consent either.

Anonymous said...

There's a case for a club for 16-20-year-olds, but not those aged up to 25.

Getting like the Young Conservatives - they'll be pairing off and having ante-anatal classes next

Anonymous said...

it was either this or the Young Conservatives. And, well, I'm not very good ping pong so here I am.

Wasn't Enoch Powell made professor of Greek aged 25? Impressive if somewhat nerdy.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Enoch Powell made professor of Greek aged 25? Impressive if somewhat nerdy.

It was Sydney University though and he did have to teach Gough Whitlam....

Anonymous said...

Enoch Powell was also the youngest brigadier in the British Army. My views on Mr Powell are somewhat ambiguous because of my cultural origins, but he was an undoubtedly brilliant and unique individual.

Anonymous said...

For sure.

And it makes him quite interesting but I guess most people only know of the headline stuff. His monetary ideas when he was at/resigning from the treasury during the Macmillan government predated the orthodoxy by 30 years, his views on the union - against the then situation where Northern Ireland had its own government and Prime Minister - certainly have present day resonance, and he spoke something like 7 languages including Greek, Latin, Urdu and Hebrew. But then, even around 1950 he was pestering an exhasperated Churchill with schemes on how to get India back!

I'm not a fan, just someone who's interested in the period and who's realised that there was more to him than you'd ever learn at school or through the mainstream.

Incidently, your image, well Pam Grier's - all big gun and big breasts - has long been my mobile phone wallpaper.

Anonymous said...

Blognor,

That's made my day, it's just a pity that I'm a bit flat-chested.

Anonymous said...

Now Shaft would be playing it cool, but me, well, flustered would be the word.

liketheroman said...

Some nerdy responses to J.Enoch

He was actually 24 not 25 when he became professor of Greek and he wrote the famous Lexicon of Herodutus at 17.

He was the youngest Brigadier even though he joined the army on day 1 of the war as a private. His ambition in life from the age of 12 was to die in the war he knew was coming. Trouble is he was far too intelligent to be allowed near the front line much as he tried (he was also a hopeless shot and worse driver)

He actually spoke 13 languages not 7 and learnt the last at 76.

He never tried to get India back. After it was lost he gave up on the Empire completely. He was in India for the last year of the war and he wrote a blue print for its future as an industrialised nation. He had ambitions to become the governor.

Contrary to popular belief he never railed against immigration as such and when in office encouraged it. His problem was lack of policy (still none) planning or forethought.

Two best political friends - Tony Benn and Michael Foot would you believe.

Finally, his name is Jack, he switched to J.Enoch before publishing the Lexicon when he found another Greek author called Jack Powell. He was many things, including a Poet but if you want a 'greatest' he was probably the greatest Greek scholar ever.