Its important to consider your child as an individual. Consider their emotional maturity and sense of responsibility. For many kids, 16 seems to be an appropriate age, but it may be entirely suitable for a mature 15-year-old to go on a date, or to make your immature 16-year-old wait a year or two.

Is it OK to be dating a 16-year-old?

As mentioned above, a minors consent to sexual contact is irrelevant in the eyes of the law in California (in many other states, the age of consent is younger). “Dating” can certainly imply sexual contact, which is illegal between a fifteen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old. This obviously can be a big problem.