BOY AND GIRL MARRIAGES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17066, 20 August 1917, Page 6

BOY AND GIRL MARRIAGES.

THE DANGER OF GfIETTING MARRIED TOO YOUNG.

Boys of fourteen and girls of twelve can b & legally married a s the law of England stands at present. It is not, of course, suggested that children of suck tender years often take advantage of the privilege allowed them by our out-of-date, laws, but a sad numbctr of youngsters of fifteen and upwards are married in Britain every year. ■ '•-• ... . Also, the consent of parents or guardians is not necessary to legalise these boy and girl marriages. In London alone there are something like 15,000 married couples whose ages are, in the case of husbands, between seventeen and nineteen; and in the case of the wives, from .sixteen to nineteen. Well over 2,003 of these boy-husbands and girl-wives arc living apart from each other.

The question of boy and girl marriages forms one of our pressing social problems. These immature unions are a constant danger to the individuals concerned, to the State, and to th c . future generation. Many times it has been suggested, by men and women who have fully studied the subject, that bay and girl marriages shouLl be forbidden by law. Failing this, they say, at least there should be a law to make necessary the..consent of the -pinents or guardians of all prospective h'isbands and wives who are under igs.

Think for a moment of the possible perils consequent upon the unions of young people under the age of twenty. As theso articles are intended as guides to girls who are ignorant of the facts of life, and who, through their unsuspecting innocence, are likely to be trapped by, one or another of matrimony's pitfalls, let us consider the present subject; from their standpoint. First, then, no one will surely disagree with the statement that a young girl cannot be, trusted to know her own mind thoroughly when her emotions are aroused and slhe "falls in love." Again, a girl under twenty is too immature1 — both physically. and mentally— to be a perfect mother.

With regard to the mental unfitness of young girls for wifehood and motherhood, it is an established fact that a juvenile mother soon ages beyond her years owing to her responsibilities and cares. This, again, adversely affects her children; also sl.e is not capable, try as hard as she may, of training her children in the best way, simplrv because her own character is as yet unformed—she is but a child herself.

Such disabilities, then, tend to lead to domestic unhappiness, for, because she has too much "on her shoulders" the very young wife is apt to mismanage her household; things do not run as smoothly as they would under the care of a grown woman, 'and consequently the husband may suffer.

One more outstanding argument against youthful marriages presents itself : One of the ciiief factors in a successful marriage is friendship — true, understanding comradeship. But, when two people marry, at a. time when both of th€an are growing, mentally as well as physically, there is every likelihood of them growing apart in interests, because one may develop more than the other or in difterent directions, and consequently that tragedy of nine unhappy marriages out of ten—-lack of a satisfactory companionship—-usually asserts itself. Then, the husband or wife, or bothj realise that, had they waited ■•. few years, they certainly never would have fallen in love with, each other at alt! ■ ■ .

Sufficient has-been written to prove the perils that hirk in the paths of very young girls who. get married to youths. Cases out of number could be described to illustrate the points already made, and they all tell the same tragic story—a hasty boy and girl marridge, rapid disillusion, and consequent unhappiness.

No girl under twenty years of age at least should dream, of consenting even to a tentative engagement until she has consulted with her parents or guardians, and they have met and questioned the "would-be husband. To follow the sweet call of romance at an age when mind and body are as yet undeveloped, is to court grave disaster.

Tito game of love is not for children