Today's signal (another controversial one!) looks at the growing conversation around the age of consent - from everything from sex, surgery and abortion through to voting rights and childhood labour laws.
Is age just a number?
Should bodily autonomy be determined by age, parents or the state?
Do childhood labour laws still make sense in post-industrial age of AI?
Who has children's best interests at heart? Themselves? Their parents? or The State?
There are no easy answers here, but in times when children can start businesses and become influencers, this is not just a political issue, it's also a business decision.
Let me know you thoughts (and please read the primary sources I've found for you! I want to start conversations with you, not finish them.)
Read more:
UNAIDS outlines new thoughts about consent and bodily autonomy : https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8-MARCH-Principles-FINAL-printer-version-1-MARCH-2023.pdf
A shorter outline if you’re short on time : https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2023/march/20230308_new-legal-principles-decriminalization
Similar : https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Document/258374#toolbar=0&navpanes=0
It’s not child’s play : https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/24/its-not-play-if-youre-making-money-how-instagram-and-youtube-disrupted-child-labor-laws
The kids are OK to vote :
The age of disconsent (no that's not a typo)