Age gaps

When is old too old, when it comes to dating?
As we get older age gaps become less important, its more about who we are as people. But at what age does this become appropriate? As teenagers in high school we tend to date people in the same classes as ourselves so they are about the same age as us. But when is it ok to widen the gap?

At 16 here in New Zealand we become considered adults, in the fact we are legally allowed to have sex, for many of us this is the point when the dating rules change. It becomes socially acceptable for us to date older people, but at the same time it is no longer acceptable to date any one younger than a year younger or under 16. Is this because of the assumption that once you turn 16 you automatically have the mentality of an adult? Or is it because of something else?

From 16 onwards you are no longer considered a child when it comes to sexual acts and actions, and legally you are treated as such. But on the other hand the criminal age is 17 so where is the line and who has the power of discretion? At this stage the police and Children's Social services do. They decide what course of action will be taken, prosecution or counseling be the two most common options. This all depends on the age gap and the maturity of the teenagers.

While at 16 it seems ok to date older people, sometimes socially it is still isn't, all depending on the persons situation in life, are you working or are you still in school? While a 16 year old and a 19 year old is not much of a gap, their life situations create a different gap, the same could be said for a 40 year old and a 20 year old what is it that make it work?
So as we get older its not the age that creates the diffulties in reality its the life situations that does. Or in other words the generational differences. What things in our lives have made us who we are or what things do we do that define us. Hobbies, media, events all help widen and lessen social gaps

From personal experience I was once a 17 year old still at high school dating a 23 year old, and as I was still at school this created a social gap between us, yet when I was 19 and repeating my senior year I dated a 16 year old and as we were both at school there was no such gap. Now as an almost 24 year old my husband is 30. years ago some that age would have seemed ancient but that is not the case now. My parents have 8 years between them, my dad being the older, yet on most days of the week its my mum who seems to have all the maturity.

So when dose age really stop being an issue, legally its 16, but we all know some kid out there who was or is more mature at 14 than some of the adults we know.
At the same time I guess we have to look at what a person wants to get out of the relationship, is it companionship, sex or a combination of the two. Because as I see it, its not who or how old they are but its what a person gets up to on a date that should mater. As its that level of maturity that should mater. Not every adult wants to have sex but at the same time not every teenager just wants to hang out, with a maximum "action" of a kiss and cuddle.