Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, baby-blue-eyes  +, writes (29 August 2011):
firstly no its not illegal unless hes in a position of trust or has been her teacher within the last two years. secondly if shes mature enough to handle the relationship i dont see anything wrong wtih it its only a 7 year age gap would you be like this is he was 32 and her 25?
i know personally at 16 im probably as mature as most men in their early twenties maybe even maturer in some cases because ive always been brought up around older people and also ive been through a lot that made me more responsible and mature.
i think they should go for it :) if it doesnt work out it doesnt work out but nothing is stopping them legally and if they have similar outlooks and interests and stuff then they have every chance of working it out
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female
reader, angelDlite +, writes (10 August 2011):
 your mate is the one who should decide if this is right for HIM. i suppose it depends on the individuals - lots of 17 year old girls are very very childish and giggly, others are very grown up and likewise some 24 year old guys are more mature than others. do they get on? are they interested in the same stuff? have they got similar outlooks and opinions on life and what they want out of the relationship and life in general? i think all they can do is give things a go and if its not working out call it a day. that's what dating is supposed to be about - trying things out and knowing when to quit if its going nowhere
x
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A
male
reader, madant +, writes (10 August 2011):
madant is verified as being by the original poster of the questionAgain thank you all for your advice.
I’m not jealous of their situation and not nosing into their lives, but my friend (24 years old male) asked me in confidence what I think and because I’ve not been in this situation then I can’t comment, All I’m trying to do is look out for my friend that has confided in me with confidence.
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female
reader, celtic_tiger +, writes (10 August 2011):
 As long as he is not in a position of trust over this girl, then it is perfectly legal.
It is also none of your business, so regardless of what you think, you should keep your feelings to yourself. It is his/her choice to have this relationship, and if it all goes wrong, then they take that risk.
She may well be mature for her age, in which case the 5 yr age gap might not be any problem.
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female
reader, dmartin89 +, writes (10 August 2011):
 I really don't see what is wrong if they are treating eachother right and are in it for the same reasons! Its not a that big age gap!
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female
reader, angelDlite +, writes (9 August 2011):
its legal, sorry! so stop being jealous and don't say anything to them ;)
x
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female
reader, YouWish  +, writes (9 August 2011):
 It's not morally wrong! She's not a child according to the UK's laws, and it's only a 5 year age difference! Think of it this way -- when she's 25, he'll be 30. Nothing wrong whatsoever.
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female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (9 August 2011):
 why is this morally wrong???
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A
male
reader, madant +, writes (9 August 2011):
madant is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThank you all for your answers and i'll let him know that personally it is morally wrong and try to get him to see sense.But the only thing is that i have spoken to this female before and from what i can tell by speaking to her is that she is one of the most grown up females for her age and the same as my friend that i know, Also i've heard from her parents that " She needs to find someone that will treat her with respect and dignety and not just a peice of meat like the rest of her age group do, maybe she needs to go for someone older than her ". This is the exact words of the females parents.
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A
female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (9 August 2011):
In the United States this might be a problem until the 17 yr old is 18 and the 24 yr old is 25 then it's perfectly fine..
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female
reader, k_c100 +, writes (9 August 2011):
 It is legal as the age of consent is 16, therefore technically because she is over 16 she can do what she likes.
Whether it is 'right' or 'wrong' is a different matter - it is questionable what a 24 year old man sees in a 17 year old girl, and I'm sure to many people 'morally' it would be wrong. But in the eyes of the law there is nothing wrong with this relationship.
I hope this helps and good luck!
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A
female
reader, YouWish +, writes (9 August 2011):
I assume your friend is in the UK the same as you? In that case, yes, it is legal as the age of consent there is 16.
In the US, the age of consent is 18, so therefore it gets dicier. I know individual states have marriage laws that make some exceptions, but 18 is the universal age there.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (9 August 2011): My first relationship was like this- he was 24 and I was 17. I dumped him after 3 weeks together. It won't last long.
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female
reader, person12345 +, writes (9 August 2011):
 It's legal so long as he's not in a position of trust over her (like a teacher, doctor, etc...). It's a little strange, but you can't really say anything about it. They won't listen and it will just make your relationship with your friend awkward.
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