Should a Fifteen Year Old Girl Be Allowed to Get Married?

There are several states that are now in the process of trying to make it legal for a fifteen year old girl to get married. This is something that really does not make any sense. A fifteen year old girl is still in the bloom of youth. They are still learning about themselves and trying to figure out what their lives are going to be. The entire purpose of marriage is for two people to bond together as one.

People who get married are usually adults who have made a decision to spend the rest of their lives with the other person. Someone as young as fifteen is bound to change their minds dozens of times, before they reach the age of twenty. Think back to when you were fifteen years old. What were you thinking about? Was settling down and getting married on your mind? Most likely it was not. Another issue that this raises is that it promotes teenage pregnancy.

There are those that argue however, many years ago fourteen and fifteen was the age to get married. But wasn’t this before women were allowed to educate themselves? At that time women were expected to stay home and take care of the kids, cook the food, and that’s it. But in our society today that is no longer possible. Most married women need to work in order to help support the family. It is just no longer possible for one family member to support everyone. In some families this may still be possible.

But if you look at the overall percentage in the United States, you will see that about 80% of women need to work to help their families make ends meet. It really does seem disturbing that their are law makers who are willing to help make this happen. Would you really want your fifteen year old daughter to get married? If this does happen than the high school drop out rate is sure to increase. You can not expect a married fifteen year old girl to stay in school and work. Some might but realistically about 99% will not. Encouraging or helping a child to give up their childhood is unfair.

Children should be encouraged to finish their education and focus on having fun. This article is really something that all parents should think about, before they decide to make it legal for fifteen year old girls to get married. There is also currently a blog on this very topic posted at www.huffingtonpost.com. Why not take the time and read through it. You can read the opinions of others, and you may be surprised by some of what you read. Currently in most states a teenager can get married but they will need parental consent. But if lawmakers are allowed to pass this law, parental consent will no longer be needed.