I'd like to add my perspective.
The system is broken. it's broken in several places, and I've many systems it is irreparable. That being said, SOME system is better than none
Our shared Human history is filled with Adults expecting and forcing children to make decisions or participate in things they are ready for, be that emotional or physical.
in much of the world, the concept of "preteens / teenagers " wasn't a thing before the 1950's And 50 years before that, what we would consider "Minors" , especially female minors were already mothers with children, long before they could understand any of the kind of maturity that is supposed to exist today.
I find it screwed up that children can be indoctrinated into "national service" an war mongering, before they are taught about body auto omy, body positivity, real and true consent and yes even sex.
In my country of the US a Teen trained to fight and die on a god forsaken battlefield before they can legally.... Smoke, drink alcohol, be sexually active with a partner they choose, Rent an apartment, rent a car. Vote. and there are people that want to raise the voting age to keep young people from voting to change the establishment
Only recently was Sentencing a child to a life term with no parole or to execution outlawed, and with the hard conservative lean in our highest court, that decision can be overturned at any moment.
That shit is insane.
When I was a child I was a victim. I was raped repeatedly by a group of scum sucking bastards. The line began with my own father and didn't end until I tasted Puberty. I was photographed, videos and passed around, sometimes for nothing more than a drink for my old man. I wasn't alone. many kids in my neighborhood went through this, and I don't know how I wasn't Poz before I was 10 It was a dark and scary time.
For years the only way I could stop myself from canceling my subscription to breathing, I had to recoceptualize my experiences to ones where I had the power I didn't have. I had to be outside of my body and accept the involuntary pleasure forced upon me.
Because yes, a kid is human. yes a kid can feel pleasure, yes a kid can learn rewards are better than punishments.
when I was in my teens I became a predator. I put adult men in situations that got me the attention I sought, because it was the attention I had been conditioned to value. I sold myself, I blackmailed, I begged , I pleaded and put myself into dangerous situations to get thevsexual satisfaction I craved in my teens. itvwas easy. Farveasier than it is no that I am Overweight, Scarred and Poz
Do I have dark fantasies you bet I do have I seen some things that disgust me with myself upon post nut clarity. yes.
But even if I am a dumpster fire, I want to see more protection. and a new system built, to protect the weakest and most easily exploited among us.
I hope I've constructively added to the discussion with my perspective.