Dating and Relationships - Long-distance Relationships Work

Long-distance Relationships Work

Do long-distance relationships work? That has been the question I have been asking myself since I left for college this past fall. It's one thing to leave behind your friends and family when you go away to school. However, what happens when you leave behind your high-school sweetheart? Is there any hope your relationship could last? Doesn't everyone eventually grow apart? What about the loneliness that you will feel while being away? Won't one eventually cheat or lose interest in the other? It's inevitable, or is it?

"Long Distance Relationships have never been easy, especially for the young at heart," says Dr. Charles Madinson, a psychologist from the University of Virginia. He did his study on college students from state colleges in the eastern coast. He asked one hundred and fifty students at random from each school what their opinion on long distance relationships was and why. This study proved that 98% of college relationships do not last. He states that there are certain stresses on long distance relationships that regular relationships do not have. He says, for eighteen and nineteen year olds, it's not worth putting ourselves through all this trouble. We have the rest of our lives for a serious relationship. I find all this information hard to believe because of my own personal feelings.

I am currently in a Long Distance Relationship and what bothers me most is that practically every article that I have read or adult I have spoken to has a negative point of view. They are offering no hope, not even a chance. My high school guidance counselor, Mr. Schuart said, "Honey what's the point in trying? It's not going to work. There have been ...

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...t you really have to want this relationship work. Do not listen to what others tell you; they're not in your relationship. Listen to your heart. It won't steer you wrong.

Bibliography

Stephen Blake and Kimberli Bryan, Still Loving Your Long-Distance Relationship. 1998 by Anton Publishing Inc; New York, New York.

Dr. Charles Madinson (1997) Coping with Moral Commitment to Long Distance Dating Relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73 (1) 104,113.

Mr. Bob Schuart, high school guidance counselor. Interview at West Mifflin Area High School, on November 20, 1999 at 2:30pm.

Dr. Bill Wyatt a professor of psychiatry. Long Distance Relationships,http://www.umr.edu./~counsel/long.htm

bell hooks,Learning Dynamics, "Keeping close to home; class and education." 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company.