Is 14 too young for gf/bf?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 types of parents - those who understand their kids are growing up and yes are dating at 14/15 and those who stick their heads in the sand.

Yes, they are growing and it's not sticking their heads in the sand. It's just trying to ensure that they don't grow up before they need to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 types of parents - those who understand their kids are growing up and yes are dating at 14/15 and those who stick their heads in the sand.

Yes, they are growing and it's not sticking their heads in the sand. It's just trying to ensure that they don't grow up before they need to.

I don’t get this argument. If your kid is expressing an interest in someone romantically, it’s not like you can wave a magic wand and say oh don’t grow up so fast and then poof the feeling goes away. Your kid is still going to like this other person, all you are doing by forbidding that they spend even monitored one on one time together is fanning the flames and further romanticizing it. You can’t un-ring this bell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 types of parents - those who understand their kids are growing up and yes are dating at 14/15 and those who stick their heads in the sand.

Yes, they are growing and it's not sticking their heads in the sand. It's just trying to ensure that they don't grow up before they need to.

I don’t get this argument. If your kid is expressing an interest in someone romantically, it’s not like you can wave a magic wand and say oh don’t grow up so fast and then poof the feeling goes away. Your kid is still going to like this other person, all you are doing by forbidding that they spend even monitored one on one time together is fanning the flames and further romanticizing it. You can’t un-ring this bell.

Maybe I can't do anything about it, still don't think kids this young need bf/gf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too immature, yes, but I do think it's important to practice and get some experience. Limited experience with dating leads college students and young adults to move too fast or settle too quick for the first person that comes along.

Definitely get your child on BC and normalize condom use.

No thanks. We prefer to not encourage sexual behavior during high school. We promote abstinence on our household.

omg lol

My parents did too and I just snuck around and participated in risky behavior. Please equip your children and help them navigate this time in their life.

My parents did too and I didn’t participate in any risky behavior.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

[Anonymous]

Kids start dating in high school. Isn’t this kid in 9th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems pointless. Even dating at 16 seems pointless.

Agree. Girls get setup for drama and heartbreak. Why encourage that?

Allowing and encouraging are two different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

Where are you getting this??! College students rarely date? They have way more opportunities to date and hang out. In fact, many marriages are college sweethearts. A college relationship is way more lasting than some dumb high school fling which definitely won’t last.

Parents don’t need to “monitor” dating LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

Maybe you are taking your experience and thinking that’s everyone’s. Not a single one of my close college friends had dated in high school. Some didn’t even date in college. But not one of my friends was having tons of sex and random hookups. Those weren’t my types of friends in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

Maybe you are taking your experience and thinking that’s everyone’s. Not a single one of my close college friends had dated in high school. Some didn’t even date in college. But not one of my friends was having tons of sex and random hookups. Those weren’t my types of friends in college.

You ran in an extremely unusual crowd. None of your college friends dated in HS? Was it a Mennonite college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

Maybe you are taking your experience and thinking that’s everyone’s. Not a single one of my close college friends had dated in high school. Some didn’t even date in college. But not one of my friends was having tons of sex and random hookups. Those weren’t my types of friends in college.

You ran in an extremely unusual crowd. None of your college friends dated in HS? Was it a Mennonite college?

I stand corrected. One dated. This was not a Mennonite college. It was a very academically rigorous, liberal arts college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 14 yo son has a girlfriend. He just turned 14 in late Sept too so I feel this is on the young side. They FT each other and meet up at cafes or coffee shops near our house. Today is the first time she’s coming over to our house.

Is this what age it usually starts?? I had crushes but didn’t start dating seriously until 17!

17?!?!? I was a freshman in college at 17.

14 is normal

I was a freshman in college at 17 too. That is a good time to start dating, when you are out of the house.

Absolutely NOT. That is terrible advice. Dating while at home and monitoring their beginning relationships and giving advice, helping with heartache, etc.... is incredibly important.

College kids rarely date and definitely do NOT date slowly. Tons of sex and girls brand new to dating would have a terrible time navigating, have confidence and really no emotional support.

Maybe you are taking your experience and thinking that’s everyone’s. Not a single one of my close college friends had dated in high school. Some didn’t even date in college. But not one of my friends was having tons of sex and random hookups. Those weren’t my types of friends in college.

You ran in an extremely unusual crowd. None of your college friends dated in HS? Was it a Mennonite college?

No, it wasn’t an unusual crowd. It was not the typical frat crowd though.