Why are kids dating at such a young age now?

Question

I mean, come on, its ridiculous. I see on tv 11-16 year olds getting sexually active, I hear my friend from another school saying everyone's hooked up(middle), hell, I even see sex/ dating questions on Yahoo Answers involving 11-16 year olds.I see all my friends saying in their profile "Love you ______","Sex buddies,"love poems, and even "Single." (Why the hell would you call yourself single? I mean, it's like calling a toddler single...God I don't get it.)

Why do they start dating at such a young age when they always end up breaking up sooner or later? Arent people supposed to learn from others? I don't know about you people, but I think it's a great waste of a childhood.

Answer 1

I've had this conversation before. The problem is in this society today, kids are learning about everything good and bad in this world that is beyond their age maturity level. When people above my generation were growing up they were more sheltered from the harsher things in life. I mean just watching TV or a movie a kids/young teens see all kinds teen/adult couples who are suppose to be in love and end up wanting that same thing because they see it all the time. The world isn't as innocent as it use to be and kids are being introduced to things earlier and earlier. Especially in school and at home. The younger their peers learn it and act upon it, the younger they do. I learned things at a much younger age then my parents or grandparents ever thought. Some good, a lot bad. A lot more is acceptable in these days then it use to be.

Answer 2

I have no idea, I completely agree with you, I had my first girlfriend in 7th grade, but hell, that was one girl. I'm a freshman now and I've dated 4 (it complicated, 5) girls. One of the ones I dated, had been with at least 15 guys and made out for the first time in second grade. When I was in second grade, I didn't know what sex was, let alone making out. I think it's cultural peer pressure though, they see it everywhere, movies, TV so they need to do it too. It may seem a bit over the top, but you need to remember how young these kids are, if they are that young and exposed to such a need to date, they don't have the mental and emotional ability to say, "Hey, I'm gonna wait until I'm older." They're too young, and their role models need to alert them that they shouldn't be dating so young.

Answer 3

Well, we live in a society that sexualizes youth. It's pervasive, everywhere you look. Girls 10, 11, 12, dressing like they are in their 30s, skimpy clothes, the whole bit. Unfortunately, the attitudes about sex in our society are just plain schizophrenic. We have Victorian underpinnings historically, but we are mass-marketed sex 24/7.

I agree with you - I think it's tragic. I'm 47, and back when I was a pre-teen, 11, 12 years old, I was busy playing sports, doing homework (if I even remember having any homework back then), and just being a normal girl. I don't remember having fancy clothes or wanting to dress a certain way.

I don't have an answer, but I think it starts in the home with the parenting and putting controls on the kids. And kids want boundaries. They need them. That's why they push the envelope with their behavior. They are looking for boundaries.

Answer 4

You think it's a waste? Hm... I see it as a learning experience, the dating part, not the sex part. It's one of those experiences that every kid goes through. When they eventually break up, they learn from their mistakes, or at least some of them do. The rest go back, wanting more, and breaking up again, and again, and again. The ones who learn choose wisely next time about doing what with whom or going out with whoever it is.

I'm under 16, yes, spewing these words. But still, I mean, I'm not so outgoing as to having a girlfriend every single week. I don't even have one, nor have I had one. And I'm sure as hell not thinking about sex. I mean, I'd like to have a girlfriend, but I don't need one. So, if I have a girlfriend and break up, I'm probably gonna not date for a while, and learn from my mistakes.

Answer 5

Think I can give you two reasons.

1. They are tired of talking and spending time with their friends that they hang out the with most so they look for a boyfriend or a girlfriend. They find a boyfriend or a girlfriend because they don't want to find new friends. That will just break their other friends' hearts.

2. They have dreams and fantasies about finding their first true love. So they go out and try to make them happen by getting a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

P.S. I'm 11 and dated this one guy 4 the first time in my life. It was kinda O.K. I got this information from me and many of my friends' experiences.

Answer 6

When I was fourteen(sixteen years ago) I always had a girlfriend. I did not have sex until I was 16. Back then kids were dating at 12 and up. I really don't think much has changed in the past couple decades.

Answer 7

I'm 13...i have had 4 boyfriends...one of them was a joke, one last only a day because he started being a total jerk, one lasted a week and then out of nowhere he had to move b/c of issues w/ dad and one lasted a month and a week but then i dumped him b/c we were better off as friends.
I too think it is crazy that people my age are sexually active b/c look at all the risk, u could get pregnant, get a AIDS, ect.
I think it is alright to have a boyfriend and go to the movies with, sit by at lunch, go the dances w/, ect.

Answer 8

its called bad parenting and sadly in alot of cases it goes back to how the parents were raised. if someone would tell these idiots the consiquences of letting little sally do her thing and the effects it will have on every relationship she has for the rest of her life maybe just maybe some of them would care. someone should them about the countless studies that have been done about the emotional damage that sexual relations do to pre and young teens. a girl under 16 yrs old will develop very a unhealthy attatchment to a sexual partner that at that age could have no idea how to handle. and i hate to say this but sex in the media doesnt help. we broadcast sexuality to everyone and expect not to affect the most impressionable of audiences. all i know is that i have a baby girl and i imagine im gonna have my hands full.

Answer 9

Breaking up has nothing to do with it...that occurs at any age...but yes, the kids today do seem to be in a hurry to grow up...part of it is their parent's fault and some the media and some just that no one has shown them how great it is to be a kid with only kid thoughts and only kid worries...

Kids are being force fed so much "junk" that causes them to grow up too fast or want to grow up faster than they should, that dating becomes a part of that...I didn't even start to like boys until I was in the 8th grade and was a junior in high school before I got my first kiss..

Slow down kids...you'll be an adult forever, but you can't get back your childhood - enjoy it while it lasts...

Answer 10

I agree, although me and my boyfriend have been dating for two years and I am currently 17. But when we're together we still act like kids.
However, I have a younger sister and brother who are in 4th and 5th grade who talk about their friends making out and dating and "susie" broke up with "robert".
It's pretty rediculous if you ask me because I wasn't even thinking about dating when I was in 4th or 5th grade. And I think the younger you are, the wrse it is, and the bigger emotional effect it has on you, because you take it too serious and it could be often times to hard for kids to take. Emotional pain is the worst