Bathsheba,
We chose not to have our son done and have never regretted that decision. And I do agree with you about increased responsibility and consequences. This is one of the reasons I have left the decision up to my son. Not that Im afraid to make big decisions on his behalf but I just feel that if its not broken why fix it .Im sorry if my comment sounds flippant, that was not my intention.I just wanted to point out that we are given the privilege of choice and as you said we then have to live with the choices we make. It is our child's birthright that we as parents be as educated as possible when making a decision such as this, and excepting future ramifications if something was to go wrong.
My son is 15 and never had a problem and I hope it stays that way.