Students should not be dating in high school

Love is a fascinating concept. We’ve all grown up with Disney fairytales that romanticize romance, so when we get to high school, we want to try it out for ourselves. The truth of the matter is that love and relationships are extremely complicated, and we are going about it all wrong. Social media, talking stages and situationships take the meaning out of true and authentic love.

For one thing, you are not meeting your soulmate on Snapchat quick-adds and you most definitely won’t know if they’re the one after five months of decoding mixed signals and liking Instagram stories.

The truth of the matter is that no one in high school is mature enough for everything that comes with a real relationship. Having to meet another person’s emotional and physical needs is difficult, exhausting and can get extremely time-consuming. This is a time that is crucial for us to spend on brightening our future through academics, extracurriculars, and introspection and self improvement.

To love someone else, we must first learn to love ourselves, and high school is the prime of when we get to grow and explore our academic, artistic and social interests freely. An anonymous senior points out that, “High school is the time when a lot of people really find themselves. If I look back to freshman year I can list dozens of things that have changed… I’m certain I wouldn’t have grown into the person I am today, [because] I’d be too stuck in trying to stay the same in fear of losing connection in that relationship. There’s certain doors that I would never would’ve walked through, including academically in terms of taking uncommon paths. But in freshman year I didn’t need comfort, I needed to be pushed out of my comfort zone.”

Everyone is on TikTok and/or Instagram where we are constantly being fed cute couples content that creates a void we desperately try to fill. On the other side, our young minds are exposed to all these extremes that skew our perception of what a healthy relationship looks like. Having a roster, ghosting, “as you should” mentality, and “bare minimum”, place unrealistic standards and expectations on teenagers.

In high school, everyone is connected and your business is rarely ever yours, especially when you’re in a relationship. Screenshots get sent around, stories get twisted and suddenly everyone has an opinion on your life. A view of you that the world wasn’t meant to see. This is especially dangerous when it comes to physical acts. A romantic relationship usually comes with a desire for something more intimate than flowers and love letters. Oftentimes, one can even feel pressured to do something they might not be ready for, to keep their partner. Before you know it the relationship becomes shallow and secrets get held above your head. Just avoid all the heartbreak, regrets and pain. Don’t date till after highschool.