Right, wrong, and who decides?

Another news story has had widespread coverage in the past few days, of a 15 year old girl who appears to have 'eloped', to use an old fashioned word, to France with her maths teacher. Several issues seem to be raised by the case. There are obvious ones such as the age of consent and 'positions of trust', and these have and will be discussed at length, no doubt, but less superficial aspects have also come to my mind. If the girl was substantially younger, say 11 or 12, there would be very little moral ambiguity, but, to judge by the photograph I've seen of her on a news website this morning, this is far more a young woman than a child, certainly in a biological sense - I'd be very surprised indeed if she's not of 'child-bearing age'. And that reproductive maturity would have been enough, for much of human history, and, indeed, would still be in many contemporary societies, to legitimise the relationship. By the standards of this society, 21st century Britain, though, the relationship, even if completely consensual, is judged to be 'wrong', and I have very little doubt that if the man returns to the UK, he will be imprisoned in pretty short order, and probably dubbed a 'paedophile' to boot, even if that word bears no resemblance to the physiological realities of the situation. There is always talk of 'protecting children' in connection with this kind of case, and I have no reservation in saying that young people should be protected from unwanted sexual approaches, and certainly from anything non-consensual, but I often wonder how much of the 'outrage' expressed is really to do with protection - I rather think a lot of it, with young people of this age, is far more to do with control, with lèse-majesté, the parents' and other authority figures' assumed 'right' to dictate how their offspring/charges should live their lives. When I was in Norfolk the other weekend, and discussing the implications of my being a boylover with my friend, one of the arguments he put forward to support his assertion that my attractions, if expressed, were 'wrong' was of how I would feel if my daughter became involved with an older person. 'You would be livid' was his take on the matter. Well, no actually, certainly not automatically. While I would be furious if my daughter was subjected to anything to which she hadn't given consent - and equally furious if she instigated anything non-consensual herself, for example with someone younger - at her current age, closer to 15 than 14, and possessed of a considerable degree of maturity for that age, I have no doubt that she would be able, in many circumstances, to decide for herself what she wanted, and be able to say 'yes' or 'no' accordingly. I'm not suggesting for a moment that I would encourage her to have a sexual relationship at her age, but if it was clear that that was what she was intending to do, I would consider my duty of care to comprise not of locking her in her room in a chastity belt, but of trying to ensure that anything that did happen was undertaken as safely as possible. Yes, I would go and buy condoms, or whatever, for her, if that was what she needed. Ultimately, she's an individual, an autonomous person, and I view my parental role as that of caretaker, not dictator.
So, once again, a topic without easy answers, in my opinion. Whatever else, I hope that this young woman, and her older partner, end by being both safe, as a first priority, and happy. The latter, though, is much more doubtful, sadly.

Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B