Should sex between an 18 year old and someone younger than a specified age always be illegal?

[LadyHawkAZ]

48. But those not ready before 18 generally aren't having sex before 18

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

•Although only 13% of teens have had sex by age 15, most initiate sex in their later teen years. By their 19th birthday, seven in 10 female and male teens have had intercourse.[1]

•Among sexually experienced teens, 70% of females and 56% of males report that their first sexual experience was with a steady partner, while 16% of females and 28% of males report first having sex with someone they had just met or who was just a friend.[5]

•Seven percent of young women aged 18–24 who had had sex before age 20 report that their first sexual experience was nonvoluntary. Those whose first partner was three or more years their senior were more likely to report this than were other women in the same age-group.[1]

•Teens in the United States and Europe have similar levels of sexual activity. However, European teens are more likely than U.S. teens to use contraceptives generally and to use the most effective methods; they therefore have substantially lower pregnancy rates.[6]

The lack of maturity, as demonstrated by the comparison with European pregnancy rates, is a lack of maturity on the part of parents who refuse to either teach or allow proper contraception. Simply put, we prefer to pretend that our teens are pure, chaste and sexually immature until their 18th birthday, and our teens pay the price for it. I'm not willing to consign other teenagers to the corrections system because the adults in this country aren't mature.