It made me think - rather quickly - of the principles we should adopt in offering an appropriate response on proposals for any public policy affecting the young. I identified four.
First, that any policy should seek to build the capacity of the young for autonomous action, rather than seek to prevent it, however benignly.
Second, that it should encourage in the minds of the young the sense of a consequential mentality - "if I do this, then that may follow".
Third, that it should be based on the concept of informed consent - that a young person should be enabled to explore the issues involved before he or she agrees to a particular course of action. This principle would extend to, for example, having their personal details recorded or passed on to another.
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