Dear Youth 85 - Youth Magazine Staff - June 1985

Youth Magazine Staff

Question: I'm 13 years old in about a week. A real cute boy in school asked me to a movie, but my parents say no - that I'm too young to date. I don't see how dating this boy can hurt anything. What do you think? Answer: Parents and teens often disagree about the best age to start dating. Ever wonder why? The reason is that parents and teens look at dating differently. Teens view dating simply as a chance to have fun at some activity in the company of someone of the opposite sex. Parents view dating as a complex social relationship, accompanied by emotions and physical pulls that require a great amount of maturity to be handled properly. To be frank, the parents' view is the more realistic one. Being alone with another young person on a date is much different than a little boy and girl building sand castles together on the beach while their parents watch from nearby. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library