There we go a again, eschewing rigour and logic in search for the easy way out. So, now it is the turn of Major Richard Reese, the former Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) officer, who heads the prison services, to advocate that the age at which a girl can legally give consent to sexual intercourse should move from 16 to 18.

Major Reese apparently believes that such an adjustment to the law would reduce the amount of teenage sex, lower teenage pregnancies and act as a deterrent to the abuse of young girls by older men, including cases of incest. Incidentally, it was those same ideas that were posited over two decades ago when Edmund Bartlett, then the minister with responsibility for such social issues, piloted the legislation in Parliament to raise the age of consent to the current level.

The point is that while Major Reese and other advocates of the Bartlett solution may be correct in the need to raise the age of consent (we could even perhaps decree no sex for spinsters) that, fundamentally, is not the answer to the problems which they want to address. For if we understand the argument, most young girls are not emotionally, economically and, in some cases, physically ready for sex.

That is one thing. But the first response can't be the law, but empowerment via education and social support. We have to teach our young people, and more so our young women, how to effectively say no. This has to be part of a broader programme of sex and family life education, which should be part of a broader school curriculum that prepares people for success. Young women who believe that they have prospects for growth and advancement are more likely to postpone sex as a trade-off against future gains.

But there is another, and perhaps more critical point that was missed by Major Reese. Already, with this lower age of consent there is a great amount of abuse of young girls by older men. Indeed, the reported cases in recent years suggest that the problem has worsened.

What this suggests is that the age of consent is not the problem. A higher age is not by itself a deterrent. The failure of deterrence is, in part, the failure to bring the abusers to book; as is the case with other crimes. Except that this a far trickier, and definitely more sensitive issue, demanding a more nuanced intervention than the declarations of Major Reese.

Maybe, as the prison boss claimed, raising the age of consent to 18 may cause some girls to delay experimentation with sex. Some might even put it off until retirement. We might even try for a sexual temperance movement.

We, however, are in Children's Advocate Mary Clarke's corner. A further criminalisation of children such as would be the case of the major's utilisation of the Bartlett solution would more likely serve to push sexual behaviour among the young more deeply underground. Young people, in that regard, would be further removed from the support and assistance they so desperately need in this difficult period of their lives.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.