Program for Failure: Teen-age Marriage - Patrick A Parnell - February 1972

Patrick A Parnell

Why do half of all teenage marriages end in divorce within five years? This article gives seven basic reasons that often con tribute to the high failure rate among teen - age marriages. A teen-age couple - we will call them Richard and Susan – were very much in love. At least they thought they were. But their marriage did not work out as they had hoped. Their tragic story is told by Susan: "He was seventeen and I was sixteen when we met," she wrote. "We had both dated before, but when I saw him it was different. It was love at first sight. He seemed like the most handsome man I'd ever met. "We dated steadily weekend after weekend, entertaining and being entertained. By the time we were high school seniors we both knew it was love. We wanted to get married. "I originally planned to attend the university, but the thought of more school away from him discouraged me. I wanted to get married right away, but he wanted to wait. I won out. "We knew our parents expected us to go to college, but after talking it over with my boyfriend, we decided I should become pregnant! It was the only way our parents would allow us to get married. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library