Are relationships in high school truly worth the potential heartache? Answers to this question vary, ranging from the enthusiastic “yes!” to the skeptical view of which cutting off one’s own third toe makes more sense to indifference. Yet, how can the value of a relationship be determined when the tumult of everyday teenage life may result in the potential loss or gain of a new relationship every week? One view may be relationships teenagers enter into are valuable practice for later in life, teaching those which engage in them how to interact with members of the opposite sex in a way which leads to marriage or family. Others, however, state the truism being a significantly low percentage of high school romances result in marriage. Although some may say the benefits outweigh the risks, relationships in high school are not feasible for many and may not be worth the effort put into them. On average, of all high school romances, only an estimated eight to 11 percent result in matrimony (WikiAnswers 1). To me, this renders those useless relationships, the other eighty-nine to ninety-two percent, just passing time. From these statistics, it would appear romance in high school is not only stressful, but also relatively useless. Rather than devoting large amounts of time to one person, high school students should be out with a group of friends, having fun and doing whatever it is teens do. This brings up another concern for high school relationships: time.
The time some students put into a relationship can become absurd. In this way, we come across the student who never seems to have their work done or never has time to work on their work. This free time would normally be used to do important tasks for school, but rather is us...
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...lly prepared for such life experiences. Though not always negative, high school relationships are also not likely to have a drastically positive impact on students either. Levels of stress in life can be at their peak during years of development, though it may seem daunting, not all are incapable of balancing a relationship and life. Nevertheless, having a relationship, the stress to succeed in within the relationship, and the stress to not become the main topic of gossip for their peers in what should have been a private matter may magnify the pressures of everyday life.
Works Cited
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “Pathways to Adulthood and Marriage: Teenagers’ Attitudes, Expectations, and Relationship Patterns” Aspe.hhs.gov Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
WikiAnswers. “What are the statistics on high school relationships?” Answers.com Web. 30 Nov. 2010.
Belongingness is an emotion that everyone longs to feel throughout the course of their lives. Starting in adolescence, we as humans are naturally attracted to others in a romantic way. Girls in junior high start wearing make-up and dressing nice in order to impress the boys and get their attention. During this time, both girls and boys want a boyfriend or girlfriend, and are interested in this idea of “dating.” As boys and girls progress into high school, dating becomes even more of the thing to do. As a young teenager, I wanted to date, but my parents were against it. Many parents have a negative outlook about dating because of the consequences it may lead to, mainly sexual activity. Some believe that dating has changed drastically for the worse, but Beth Bailey believes differently. In Bailey’s article entitled “From Front Porch to Backseat: A History of the Date,” she analyzes the history of dating and how numerous people have not conceptualized this idea correctly. By showing authority, evidence, and values, Bailey presents an effective argument about the history of dating.
According to the article “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse,’” “People used to meet their partners through proximity, through family and friends, but now Internet meeting is surpassing every other form” (Sales). Jo Sales’ point is that the Internet is overtaking other ways of meeting a partner. In the past, the way of finding one’s potential partner was through family members, but now society is moving in the direction of using the Internet as a way to find their partners. Students in college provided a great amount of information regarding hookup culture, which supported Jo Sales arguments. According to Martin Monto and Anna Carey, “Current research and the popular media have claimed that the hookup culture is a widespread phenomenon that has replaced traditional dating...” (Monto and Carey 606). In making this comment, traditional relationships that were once said to be loving and caring have moved to sexual activity called hookups. Research shows how hookup culture has overtaken the roots of traditional dating and will continue to expand in the future. The study shows how college students were involved in one-night stands frequently knowing that they do not want to build a long lasting relationship. Traditional dating in the past formed stable relationships, and the idea of hookup culture was not even a topic of discussion. Questions
For some students, the time they have in the classroom is not enough for them to grasp the topic. While teachers usually offer a period for students to see them for extra help, some students do not have time for this. Most students have commitments outside of the classroom, such as m...
There has recently been an increase in casual sex and promiscuity throughout millennials. Although millennials have fewer partners, they are having more casual hookups. Today, “a large generation gap in both attitudes toward premarital sex and number of sexual partners” is greatly affecting our society (Kaplan). Promiscuity is increasing and close relationships are fading. Many are worried the world of dating will soon disappear. This promiscuity “creates a sense that hooking up has replaced traditional dating as the primary means of developing and maintaining relationships among young people, especially college students” (“Is Casual Sex on The Rise in America”). People are not marrying until later in life. They spend much of their younger years single, but not alone. They jump around from person to person, such as in Huxley’s dystopia. Although, unlike Huxley’s dystopia, relationships still exist. Many eventually find their partner and become married later on in
It is not a new thought that today’s young Americans are facing issues, problems and difficult decisions that past generations never had to question. In a world of technology, media, and a rough economy, many young adults in America are influenced by a tidal wave of opinions and life choices without much relevant advice from older generations. The Generation Y, or Millennial, group are coming of age in a confusing and mixed-message society. One of these messages that bombard young Americans is the choice of premarital cohabitation. Premarital cohabitation, or living together without being married (Jose, O’Leary & Moyer, 2010), has increased significantly in the past couple of decades and is now a “natural” life choice before taking the plunge into marriage. Kennedy and Bumpass (2008) state that, “The increase in cohabitation is well documented,such that nearly two thirds of newlyweds have cohabited prior to their first marriage”(as cited in Harvey, 2011, p. 10), this is a striking contrast compared with statistics of our grandparents, or even parents, generations. It is such an increasing social behavior that people in society consider cohabitation “necessary” before entering into marriage. Even more, young Americans who choose not to cohabitate, for many different reasons, are looked upon as being “old-fashioned”, “naive”, or “unintelligent”. This pressure for young people to cohabitate before marriage is a serious “modern-day” challenge; especially when given research that states, “... most empirical studies find that couples who cohabited prior to marriage experience significantly higher odds of marital dissolution than their counterparts who did not cohabit before marriage”, stated by Jose (2010) and colleagues (as c...
Often, particular people end up friends because of simple proximity. People who are in close proximity can get the rewards of friendship (companionship, social approval, and the occasional helping hand) without much cost. For young adults entering the college years, intimacy-versus-isolation is a very real concern. College students are unique in that their first year of school can cause a cluster of psychological symptoms including loneliness, anxiety, and depression. However, being in close proximity to other students and developing and maintaining intimacy with others can lead to improvement of these symptoms. Technological advancements in the world today has made proximity a relative term. Cell phones, email, and social networking sites allowing young adults to maintain relationships from their past, while forming new relati...
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, relationships are a complete contrast compared to relationships in America’s society. In Brave New World relationships are just as complex as America’s society, but without the societal pressures. Relationships in Brave New World are never anything serious, so others aren’t hurt by other people having any type of relationship with someone they’ve also had a relationship with. However, America’s society places such strong meaning onto relationships that everything becomes a lot more complicated.
Advice I would give to next years freshman is do not go boy-crazy or girl-crazy during the first semester at least because you need to focus on what you really came here for is higher education. It’s hard enough to get adjusted to the college life, with different methods of teaching to all of the homework. The only emotional distress one should have, not that one should, is just stressing over school. Stressing over being in a relationship isn’t worth it. A second piece of advice I would love to give is studying or doing homework in your dorm room is not effective, you get distracted easily. Go out to the library, and get your homework done faster in a peaceful and quiet environment. I didn’t learn this until the ending of the semester, I wish I had gone to the library earlier, then maybe my grades would be better than they are this semester.
...ana. “Dating Among College Student Is All But Dead, Survey Finds.” The Chronicle of Higher Education Aug. 10, 2001: 51. Academic Universe. Lexis Nexis. EBSCO Publishing. Colorado State University Lib. Apr. 2003 http://lib.colostate.edu/databases/>
“Long-distance relationships in college.” Does that sound frightening, or does it sound like a poorly stated joke? Many people believe that long distance relationships are the sole thing that you do not get yourself into when going off to college. You choose your university, you choose your sorority or fraternity, you choose your classes, and you chose your major, but whatever you do you should never choose to be in a long-distance relationship when pursuing higher education. For many newly dubbed “adults,” college life entails a world full of partying, studying, hooking up, and experimenting (whatever that may entail). College is the place where both guys and girls get a chance to possibly escape from their home towns, and relocate themselves to a new setting they can call home for the next four years; a place filled with students just like them, eager to meet new people. With this said, in a scenario where a couple just so happens to end up going to different schools, is it simply inevitable that they are bound to break up? Should they not even bother to try long distance? Do they say, “See you never,” or “See you later”? Although, thousands of people believe that long distance college relationships are simply a prelude to a definite break up, there is no doubt that they can succeed and flourish.
There has recently been an increase in casual sex and promiscuity throughout millennials. Although millennials have fewer partners, they are having more casual hookups. Today “a large generation gap in both attitudes toward premarital sex and number of sexual partners” is greatly affecting our society (Kaplan). Promiscuity is increasing and close relationships are fading. Many are worried the world of dating will soon disappear. This promiscuity “creates a sense that hooking up has replaced traditional dating as the primary means of developing and maintaining relationships among young people, especially college students” (“Is Casual Sex on The Rise in America”). People are not marrying until later in life. They spend much of their younger years single, but not alone. They jump around from person to person, such as in Huxley’s dystopia. Although, unlike Huxley’s dystopia, relationships still exist. Many eventually find their partner and become married later on in
A lot of college students regret the relationships they had in college. A large amount of people who were in a serious relationship regret that it was too early to get into a relationship, while those who missed out because of studies regret that they were deprived of the charm of keeping a relationship in their college days.
Dating use to be simple. Two people get to know each other, go on a few dates, and then one day they decide to be boyfriend and girlfriend. However, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. The term “Dating” is getting used less every day. Dating is a thing of the past because it takes a longer process for two people to determine if they are ready to commit, the term “talking” has replaced the word dating, and because people don't stay fully committed to one person anymore.
Relationships, especially close and trusting relationships, are very important for the positive, social and psychological growth of the individuals involved in the relationship. In our world, people in close relationships desire physical contact, emotional support, acceptance, and love. These traits and feelings are part of human nature, and people strive for these types of interpersonal relationships in order to fulfill the void in people’s lives and, above all, to make sense of live through trust, sharing, and caring. During my high school experience, I have met many interesting people in the classroom, as well as in sporting events. I made many new friends in sporting events and during school. Although none of these relationship ever turned into an intimate relationship, each relationship had different turning points. Mark Knapp suggest that interpersonal relationships develop through several stages. My relationship with my best friend, Sisalee, has gone through the coming together stages initiating, experimenting, intensifying, and integrating.
Statistics show that in 1998, 2,256,000 couples became married, and 1,135,000 couples became divorced (Fast 1,2). For every two couples getting married, there is one that is getting divorced. In fact, half of ALL marriages end in divorce (Ayer 41). That is a sad reality to face. Those percentage rates increase as the age of the participant’s decrease. It seems these days, fewer and fewer teens between the ages of 14 and 18 are getting married. This is a change for the better. Teens are usually not prepared for marriage. Marriage comes with many responsibilities; most of which teens are not prepared to handle. “Early marriage, though possessing certain inherent dangers, is widely practiced in contemporary America” (Teenage 1). Even if teens feel they have the potential for a lasting marriage, they should still wait to become married.