Does anyone agree with me?

[Drews]

So I have a different outlook on dating.
I think that dating is pretty pointless up until at least 16 at the earliest.

Maybe its just me, but if your dating someone you have to be with them and you cant hang out with just other friends of the other sex or else your girlfriend (or boyfriend) gets all jealous. So basically your sacrificing all your, in my case, girl friends to have a relationship. kinda blows....

but dont get me wrong. I'm not completely against it at all its just kinda pointless when your really young.

but leave your opinion on dating when your younger below!

[CalicoCat]

I agree that it can go that way often with younger love but with time all things change. When I was 16 I had my first love and we met online.. He lived far away but I got to fly over and see him a lot and eventually lived there for a while when I was 18. Its true though that I did diminish quite a few of my close friendships because all of my energy went into the relationship (trying to be the source of another person's happiness), to be honest though it probably had more to do with the fact of it being long distance, regardless people do change indefinitely and now a couple years down the road, I live with my new partner and we have a variety of different challenges than I had with my previous relationship but its a lot more mature. I don't generally have a desire to constantly keep up the happiness of one person over my own, we constantly generate our own happiness and together we are happy.. just like the saying goes 'if you can't love yourself than you won't be able to properly love someone else yet'.. that and he's 7 years older than me so he's helped me grow out of some pretty ugly habits.

[LatinaVivit]

Oh you're so true. Kids that age don't really have a grasp on life--I'm not saying teens do either--and dating seems more of an adult, or at least high school activity. Personally, I don't really understand relationships and what they have to offer for the high school experience. I guess one should date to help get them ready for the adult world and to increase their maturity, but other wise I see having a boyfriend/girlfriend and kind of pointless.

[dontfiguremeout]

I agree with you. I tried to date when I was younger, but felt I was like too young to date and that it will be more fun when I get older. And especially when all my attention has to be given to the girl (trying not to make this sound bad), but I want to experience my teen years and get to know myself even more before I start dating.

[Thunderstorm]

I totally agree. It's not even a real relationship at that age. It's very hard to find love. You're sacrificing hang out time with friends for some stupid person you'll have a bad relationship with after you drift awa from each other. It's pointless until around the time you go to prom.

[Jacketh]

I agree that the majority of times it doesn't work out, and when things don't work out your outlook of it can easily become ''that was pointless''

But when you're growing up and feel physically attracted to people and spend every day during school with them; then perhaps go onto date them, you can enjoy good moments too.

I do agree that its important to try and not get distracted from your Education and most importantly enjoying your childhood by spending time with friends, of course having a relationship can easily effect this.

[Fame and Fortune]

Dude I'm younger than 16 and happily dating a great girl. It's not pointless its the best experience ever. People say teens don't have a grasp on life bull*hit alarm we understand in our own way dating at less than 16 has a point. If you break up you'll see who the friends to keep are cuz they will help you out

[RedViper]

It can depend on the person too and their level of maturity, but yeah pretty much 16. Although for me it was fifteen, which even shocked me when i began to feel the way i did about a girl

[yblehsspot]

I think alot of it has to do with their level of maturity. I know people who are 19, but are in no way ready for a legit relationship. I feel younger people often get confused on the reasons why they want a relationship. Maybe they see their friends "dating" other people, or they get teased for being single. But their heads aren't quite on right about the reasons or about the reality of it. Too many people think of it more as a game or as a way to pass the time, than an actual committed relationship.
I think people should wait till they are older, and are more mature and capable of handling it..

[CrossingtheCourtyard]

I came to a rather similar realization in grade seven or eight--I one day just thought to myself that young relationships are doomed to failure, and often lack the depth that a real relationship would bring. I found crushes pointless and futile and from then on actually just stopped having crushes and romantic feelings for people and decided not to bother with relationships until I was older.

To this day I generally stand by that belief.

[heeysamantha]

I personally think dating in highs school is pointless.. everyone is still growing and maturing.. meaning.. everyone is still very immature. of course theres always the exception...but I mean you have other more important things to worry about than dating in high school. And people tend to throw themselves into their relationships and end up messing everything else up.. just my opinion.

[LouBerry]

My Daddy didn't let me date until sixteen. I turned out okay(:

[rockNroll]

I agree, but I think it's good to get "practice" so you get to know how a relationship works before it really matters.

[FreeFall]

I agree. All of my relationships before 17 were shallow, superficial and meaningless. After 17, with more maturity, they were fulfilling and actual relationships.
It's amazing how much changed from 16 to 17 for me and the guys I dated, and one year later it still holds true.

[Chaos42]

You're all wrong. Just wrong. ;)

But really, I think you guys are generalizing way too much here. I do agree that what you've all said is true with most people and couples, but please do not forget that there has been, are, and always will be that small amount of people who are mature/smart/whatever it is enough to start a relationship at a very young age and end up with that other person forever.
Because of this, I personally believe you should go into/have a relationship based off a simple rule- do your best, and take it as far as you can take it, as long as you're both happy. Hell, maybe "as far as you can" IS to death. You never know.

And as for losing all your female friends after getting into a relationship, that's totally not always true. It really depends on the girl. If she isn't okay with you having other female friends, then you guys should sit down and seriously re-evaluate your relationship. As long as you're nothing more than friends, and you spend time with and show you love your partner, I don't see why the girl shouldn't let you have other female friends. And if she doesn't give you time to hand out with same-gender friends, or go out and "have fun" w/o her, then, once again, you two may have some discussion to do, and she is doing something wrong, it's not the relationship-at-a-young-age being wrong.

/rant

[Kirsi]

I am 13 almost 14 and my boyfriend is 15 we have been together for about 15 months already and we plan to be together a lot longer. We really care about each other and have fun together and feel comfortable together. I don't feel that our relationship is pointless in the least. We still spend time with our friends separately and even spend time with friends together sometimes and still manage to find plenty of time to be alone together. I am not jealous of any friends that are girls that he has (not that he has many) and he isn't jealous of my guy friends either (not that I have many more). So I think things can work out when your young and it isn't pointless at all. I think it depends on who it is because everyone is different and some people mature at different levels. I have many friends that seem way to immature to be in a relationship and they never last so I don't really think it has too much to do with age weather or not relationships are pointless but more to do with how seriously you take it no matter what the age.

[ashdyn]

You just have to have the right amount of maturity to date. That could be at 14 for some and 16 for others. If you can't be in a relationship and trust the person to not cheat on you with every member of the opposite sex then you obviously aren't ready for a relationship.

Of course there's rules to play by and it's different from person to person. For example, my girlfriend and I have two pretty separate groups of friends so it's cool if we hang out once in a while apart from one another. There's a girl that I hang out with that likes me and everyone knows it. I know it would make my gf uncomfortable if I just hung out with the girl one on one so I tend to avoid it, she wouldn't mind if everyone in the group was there.

You'll know when you're ready though. I do agree though that there's no rush to get into dating. Enjoy single/young life, when you find the right person don't be afraid to date lol