In cases where children have sexual urges and act on their sexual urges, child marriages should be legally allowed

1. Marriage is very different from having a partner. Partnership is essentially just two people living together, while marriage is a union in which the couple agrees to love and serve each other for their entire lives.

In marriage they make a promise, and if they divorce, they break that promise.

Young children are not old enough to fully comprehend the significance of such a decision, and even if teens do, they are not as likely to have good judgement and more likely to divorce.

2. Children should not act on their sexual urges.

 Pro mentioned happiness in his argument, but does giving in to your urges really result in happiness?

Of course it gives you momentary pleasure, but you will never find yourself truly free because you are a slave to your urges.

And although it is terrible for this to happen to adults, it is so much worse for children. Children, especially those under 12, are very easily molded, and if they don't learn self-discipline enough to control their urges, it will be much harder for them as adults.

Children cannot fully understand marriage, and so should not get married

, but they should also control their urges and not give in

Giving in does not lead anywhere and it certainly does not lead to happiness (this is basically the moral of every Disney princess movie).

I challenge everyone reading this to give something up for 40 days,  like a food or tv show or social media, and see if you are happier then than you are now. Happiness does not come from freedom of choice, but from freedom of the mind

1. Sexual urges dont start at age 18. In fact, they sometimes start as young as 7 or 8.

Some children masturbate as young as 4.

In USA, 30% of children had sex before age 16. 50% of children watched porn before age 13. Children have sexual urges.

2. Children struggle to control their sexual urges. There is simply no way from preventing children from acting on their urges. Children have urges. Children need a safe outlet for their urges. Children have problems in controlling sexual urges.

3. Having multiple sexual partners is harmful. However, children will act on their urges. Marrying to a person and committing to that person is the best for those children who have problems with urges.

If children dont marry, then they will have more sexual partners.

If children do marry, then they will have less sexual partners.

Marriage will allow them to have stable relationship before they reach adulthood.

It will help them avoid making risky choices later on in life due to loneliness or restlessness.

Marriage is the best way to control urges.

4. Legalization would help protect children from exploitation by ensuring they have legal protection under the law, and that relationships are regulated by the law. Without marriage, children will still have sexual urges and will still act on them. They will do so with much more partners. They will change lots of partners and increase risk of STI and STD. Having lots of partners throughout life increases depression and suicide rates. Marriage would make it so that child has only one partner and is committed to one partner, and not separated from the partner by others. If there is stigma, stigma causes harm to everyone in adult-child relationships. If child marriages are banned, then there is stigma on adult-child relationships. Legalizing child marriage would help to reduce the number of people who resort to sex work in order to earn money. People who resort to sex work are often those with failed relationships early in life. Child marriage helps protect relationships. If there is no child marriage, there is harm.

5. Torture is a very serious problem in prison. Prisons are, in most cases, forms of torture. Prisoners are often treated poorly, abused and violated. Decreasing prison population would improve lives. It would also improve economy, with less people in prison there is more available workforce for buisnesses. Banning child marriages increases prison population and torture in prisons

6. Removing stigma would help children who are in sexual relationships. It would allow them to marry the person that makes them happy. Children in foster care would also have opportunity to marry and be saved from foster care. Child marriages save children from poverty. They make it possible for children from poor families to marry and live in a wealthier, better family. This helps those children, as well as their families who no longer have to provide for the child by themselves. Allowing child marriage increases child's happiness.

7. Most of children who are in relationship with an adult dont want for that adult to go to prison. Sending that adult to prison would destroy child's happiness. It is better to let them marry. Society cannot decide what child does with own body. Child's body belongs to the child, not to society. Children have autonomy. By law of autonomy, you cannot use someone else's body without consent.  Allowing young people to make decisions about own bodies without fear of judgement creates safe environment. In such environment, everyone feels that their decisions are respected no matter what kind of a relationship they  are involved in. This promotes overall sense of autonomy among all population. Giving children ability to choose allows them to decide about their relationship which they are involved in, as opposed to adults making those decisions instead of them. Society should listen to child's voice.

8. If child has a parter, if child is in love with that partner and if that partner makes child happy, to separate them would cause trauma for the child. They should be allowed to love each other and give each other happiness. Banning child marriages causes trauma for the child.

9. In countries where child marriages are legal and where marriage is valued, there is much less STI, STD, and much less suicides.

In Afghanistan, child marriages are common. Marriage is encouraged and divorce is discouraged. Afghanistan has less suicides, less STI, and less STD than USA. Child marriage also increases care between people, as it strengthens ties between families. Historical proof of valuing marriage and valuing child marriage working for the benefit of children tells us that child marriage isnt bad.

10. Woman will give birth to most children if she starts giving birth as early as possible. The longer she waits, the less children she can give birth to. Allowing child marriages makes it possible to raise more children. Allowing child marriages lowers the cost of raising children, as children no longer have to be provided by the parents until 18. Allowing child marriages increases birth rates.

11. There is a significant amount of people who are sexually attracted to children. If society condemns child marriages, and calls those people monsters, then those people feel bad from their teenage years when they realize that they are attracted to children. Allowing child marriages would help them satisfy their urges in a way that is safer. About 15% of minor attracted persons are children and teenagers who feel pressure because of society's judgment. Allowing child marriages helps adults, teenagers and children who are attracted to children.

12. Most of adult-child relationships are never discovered. Both adults and children in such relationships have no one to guide them or to set rules of behavior. Adult has no guide on how to better treat a child. Child has no guide which could explain to a child how adult-child relationships are supposed to work. Allowing adult-child relationships changes that. Allowing adult-child relationships by allowing marriage would mean that both adult and a child would get more advice from others, and child would be better protected. Allowing child marriages allows society to better regulate adult-child relationships.

13. In great majority of adult-child relationships, adult never used force or threat against a child, and never caused pain to a child. In great majority of cases, adult didnt have real sex with a child, but only did gentle sexual activities. Great majority of adult-child relationships are not violent.

14. Relationship with an adult in most cases causes happiness to a child. Children know what happiness is. Children can consent to be happy.

15. Allowing children to marry gives them more control over their lives. If two young people have known each other since childhood and decide they want to get married before reaching adulthood, then this would give them more stability in their relationship than if they were not allowed to marry until 18. This would also lead to better financial security. Marriages provide more wealth than if person lived alone, while they cut down on expenses. Child marriage increases relationship stability.

16. Child will have much better education if married, since then both the partner and parents can provide for the education. That is more resources than having parents alone. This especially helps single parents. Allowing child marriages also removes stigma from sexual education, allowing children to be better educated about their rights in a relationship. Child marriage improves education for children.

17. Pregnant teens often have their reputation ruined by pregnancy. Sometimes the father of the child leaves the pregnant teen due to society's judgment. Sometimes a teen is forced to have an abortion due to stigma, and due to lack of marriage that is needed to have economical stability and support to raise a child. Allowing child marriages would prevent this. Being allowed to marry, and father being made responsible for his child would help pregnant teens and unborn children. Child marriage protects pregnant teens and unborn children.

18. We cannot say that children arent accountable for their actions. If a child commits a crime, child goes to prison. If child behaves bad, child gets punished. In the same way child is held accountable for bad behavior, the decisions that child makes are also to be considered important. We cannot say that child is only accountable when doing something bad, but not accountable when consenting to marriage. The decision of a child to enter marriage should be respected. Children are held accountable for their actions.

19. By legalizing child marriage, we can preserve cultural heritages that have been passed down from generation-to-generation since ancient times.

Our ancestors married sometimes very young, at age 12 or 11. The age of consent 1000 years ago was usually 12, but it was not enforced and people married even younger.

Indigenous cultures around the world rely heavily upon early marriages between partners so that family lines remain intact. It also serves as strengthening of ties between clans through intermarriage agreements made prior birth. This becomes difficult without legal recognition. Allowing these practices legally ensures continuity within societies. It gives people freedom to express themselves culturally regardless of external pressures placed upon them by society.

20. If child is treated badly by her own family, allowing child marriages would allow that child to leave family and marry for someone who will treat her better. Allowing child marriage gives child a choice.

In marriage they make a promise, and if they divorce, they break that promise.

Less likely to separate if married.

 Pro mentioned happiness in his argument, but does giving in to your urges really result in happiness?

The argument was that children are happy in relationships with adults, not specifically for giving in to urges. There is also attachment involved.

Of course it gives you momentary pleasure, but you will never find yourself truly free because you are a slave to your urges.

By this logic, you should own nothing.

And although it is terrible for this to happen to adults, it is so much worse for children. Children, especially those under 12, are very easily molded, and if they don't learn self-discipline enough to control their urges, it will be much harder for them as adults.

Actually, the countries that taught abstinence, such as USA, are some of the most sexually immoral countries on Earth. You cannot teach children to control their urges.

Children cannot fully understand marriage, and so should not get married

That argument makes no sense, since such argument applies to everything. Example: Children shouldnt be vaccinated. Children cannot fully understand vaccinations. Children should not be born. Children cannot understand life.

, but they should also control their urges and not give in

Method that never worked anywhere.

4 is below the age of reason, so what they are doing is purely innocent and not at all sexual, and children of 7 or 8 would only have urges that young if they were taught that it is okay to have them.

Yes, but if they were raised believing that sex before marriage is bad, they wouldn't.

As I said in my earlier argument, children are very easily molded. If they have always been taught that having urges is okay, it will be hard for them to control them. But even if they haven't been taught self-discipline, it is never impossible for them to control their urges

People who get married are less likely to have multiple sexual partners. But anyone who marries purely for sexual reasons is not likely to stay together, and it is worse for someone to get married and divorce than for someone to have multiple partners.

Between 70 and 80 percent of child marriages end in divorce. That is twice as much as the average divorce rate in the US. Girls under 18 who marry are also twice as likely to drop out of school, twice as likely to live in poverty, and three times likely to get beaten by their husband. (Forbes.com) Child marriage does not reduce depression.

If torture is a problem in prisons, then we should reform the them. Legalizing child marriages  would decrease prison population, but all that means is that there are less people in the prisons, and more people with the freedom to do what they want with children. Obviously not all child marriages would be forced, but it would be so much easier for people to take advantage of children, especially if they were already living in abusive situations.

But children are not mature enough to make a decision that will affect them for life, and so more likely to get a divorce and be less happy than before.

Very true. The reason of this, however, is because child marriages in the past and in most other countries have nothing to do with sexual urges. I think 100 years ago I would have agreed with child marriage at a certain age but teenagers now are not as mature as they were then. And in other countries, such as Afghanistan, it is the cultural norm to get married young. The marriages are usually arranged by parents to ensure their child's financial and social well being. In Afghanistan, between 60 and 80 percent of all marriages are arranged.

It also increases death rates. Girls between 15 and 19 are twice as likely to die during child birth than those over 20, and girls under 15 are five times more likely.

There is no evidence here for this.

Children are shown to consistently make bad decisions.

Would they still be happy then if they were not able to have sex?

America is just about the worst country in dealing with abstinence. Everything is immediate and there is practically no delayed gratification. Afghanistan would actually be a better example, as they celebrate Ramadan.

These examples are not the same. Children do not need to understand vaccinations or being born because their parents do, and they trust them. But in getting married, the child is completely on their own, and even if they have their parents do advise them, they still ultimately make their own decisions.

Google "stories of people who gave up sexual pleasures". There are hundreds of them.

21. There is no doubt that there are innocent people in prison. Some people didnt commit the crime, but the witnesses lied about them and put them in prison. If someone is put in prison for having a relationship with a child, but is in fact innocent and didnt do that, he would still be beaten and abused in prison. Banning child marriages harms innocent people who are in prison.

22. There are plenty of benefits of sexual activities and orgasms. The benefits include living longer, being less likely to get ill, having better mood and improved reasoning. There is no reason to believe that only adults receieve benefits from sexual activities. Children receieve same benefits. Sexual activities make children happy when they are desired by children themselves. There are plenty of examples of children engaging in sexual activities with other children. Sexual activities are safest in marriage. Sexual activities in marriage are healthy for children.

28. We see that it is not possible to prevent children from knowing about sex, with all the movies containing sex, and with child's curiosity to discover themselves, and with regular community talk which informs children, and with people who seek to inform children to build a relationship with them. You cant teach children not to have an urge. Entire history shows that controlling sexual urges is impossible to implement. It is also harmful and causes mental pain and discomfort, along with losing health benefits of sex, along with those who cant control their urges be judged by everyone and therefore, harmed. No country was able to stop children from acting on their urges, or adults from being with children.

• Does freedom of sex and being able to make their own decisions really make children happy? If they are completely in charge of their lives, why should they have parents at all?
  
• A lot of pro's arguments center around the well-being of children. He says that marrying improves the child's life because they are in a loving relationship, ect. but what if they are not in a loving relationship? I know I have said this before, but it would be so easy for an adult to abuse a child. Pro said that with child marriages it would be easier for abusive relationships to be discovered and stopped, but why would they necessarily be easier to discover?