Is High School Dating a Good Idea?

Posted on February 11, 2014 Updated on February 11, 2014

I wrote this essay for a contest on Fanstory.  The topic was write an argument against something controversial.

Love is something that is displayed constantly and in a variety of ways. From the earliest age, people are exposed to stories that focus heavily on romantic love. This glorification of romance puts love as the highest ideal. Because of this, teens feel pressure to enter into dating during high school. This has become the norm, but, is high school romance a good idea?

A relationship is a huge load for a high schooler to bear. The dictionary definition of love is this: A decision to commit oneself to another and to work through conflicts instead of giving up. The love between a man and a woman is a sacred and beautiful thing. The purpose of this love is marriage. Marriage means sacrifice, responsibility and a family. What high-schooler is able to realistically commit on this level? Because a high school romance cannot lead to marriage for about 4-8 years, they often end in breakup. During high school, a teenager may end up having a broken heart multiple times. This is giving teens practice only in failed relationships, rather than practice in maintaining a healthy relationship. Lastly, teenage relationships are physically tempting. This often leads to pre-marital sex, birth control and possibly abortion. High school is not the time to enter into these roles because a teen has neither the skills nor the resources to marry and provide for another.

A romance requires time and energy. It can be exhausting maintaining a teenage relationship, academic demands and extracurricular activities. Several aspects in a teen’s life are impacted by dating. The tendency to communicate constantly through various electronic methods is hugely distracting. Secondly, a relationship consumes much of a teen’s precious time, which is usually already overscheduled with academics and extracurricular activities. Thirdly, it’s emotionally exhausting. Maintaining a happy relationship, working out conflict and making wise decisions can drain their mental and emotional resources. There are only four years of high school, and romance is not the best way to use these formative years.

High school can be a wonderful time of personal growth and development of hobbies and skills. This is prevented when the majority of a teen’s time is taken up by the opposite sex. Imagine how much more ready for the world a teen would be if they had spent all of their high school years developing himself/herself as a person, rather than spending it jumping in and out of relationships. Romance also takes time away from developing friendships. Friendship is a skill that will be needed throughout one’s entire life. Lastly, it takes from the time that should be used for learning and studying, which affects a person’s future career. Romance is an unnecessary demand to place in a teen’s life.

Though our society has chosen to make teen dating the norm, this doesn’t have to be the case. Love is at the heart of human nature, and because of this, it’s something that we’re all looking for. Romance is a good and beautiful thing, but it is important to wait until the right time. Hearts need to be guarded and protected, which becomes harder when a high-schooler is involved in a romantic relationship. The self-restraint that is exercised when a teen withholds a romance from himself/herself is a valuable skill that will serve him/her for the rest of their life. Before entering into a teenage relationship, carefully consider if it’s a wise choice.