Dating at Young Age (Essay Sample)

Dating at Young Age
Name
Institution
Dating at young age
Dating presents people with an opportunity to learn valuable social skills, honesty, mutual respect, trust, and compromise. Various factors influence children and adolescents to start relationships with members of the opposite sex. For example, videos aired on television, and multiple websites portray dating as "cool, " hence convince boys and girls to begin relationships (Guo et al., 2002). However, when people indulge in bonds at a young age when their brains are not sufficiently mature to handle the challenges that underpin dating, trouble is inevitable (Davis & Friel, 2001).
When teenagers date older partners, they get influenced to indulge in sex before they are physically and emotionally ready. As such, these young people find themselves getting unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Girls are likelier to date older partners than boys (Davis & Friel, 2001). Unfortunately, teenagers do not have adequate knowledge of the risks of underage sexual activity and the methods of playing safe sex. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 9% of girls and 5% of boys have their first sex before they get to the age of fifteen years. In these cases, the opposite sex partner involved is usually more than three years older than the teenager. In many jurisdictions, the education system emphasizes abstinence-only until marriage (Guo et al., 2002).
Young people enter the dating scene with unrealistic ideals and expectations. For instance, many expect relationships to be the panacea to all their emotional needs. Moreover, they anticipate that their relationships should follow specific predefined paths, including transitions from acquaintances to marriage (Guo et al., 2002). However, such trails in many relationships fail and this causes depression and suicide at times. Many incidences of young partners killing each other occur across the globe. When teenagers encounter various dating challenges, they handle them emotionally instead of allowing logic and mutual understanding (Davis & Friel, 2001).