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Risky business: Dating in high school
Photo Credit: Veronica Wyman
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Written by Chanel Zadeh, Staff Writer
High school students dive into various risks from texting while driving to drinking and driving. Although seemingly safer, dating while in high school can be risky as well, especially long-term relationships.
Dating in high school does not commonly lead to death, but is known to kill GPAs. Choosing between gazing into your lover’s eyes for hours or squinting into a biology text book all night isn’t a hard decision. A relationship can be a major distraction from schoolwork. Whether you’re guilty of blowing off homework to spend time with the boo or not concentrating during class due to another fight, a relationship seriously hinders education.
Having a boyfriend or girlfriend not only affects school but can lead to the downfall of friendships. Prioritizing correctly doesn’t come easily in high school, and not just in the classroom. Spending too much time with a significant other while putting off spending time with friends will affect the neglected friends. Lack of a balance can stir up some serious drama and feuds. Even though unintentional, the abandoned friends feel hurt and even betrayed. Countless students let go of strong friendships after being too distracted with a love life.
Similar to choosing the “right” friends, it is equally important to choose the right boyfriend or girlfriend. Once in a relationship, former life-styles and sets of morals change to match the new significant other. When so infatuated with someone, it’s easy to let his or her ideas and personality transform old ways. Relationships can lead to regrettable decisions with life-long consequences.
Although not very many high school relationships make it past graduation, high school sweet hearts that eventually wed prove that dating in high school can be worth the risks. It is also true that dating can be beneficial, not just the downfall of grades, friends and life-styles. However, due to young age and under-development of the brain, students who date in high school are less successful.
No dating until after graduating college. Parents across America discourage dating in high school. And for once, our parents may actually be right.
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December 15th, 2009 at 11:26 am
You stated some good points on the negative but what about the positive? No relationship is the same. I have been in a relationship for about 14 Months, in my relationship there is no argueing, and all around helping. We know when its time to study and when it’s time to hang out. Before my relationship started I didn’t have the best of grades because I didn’t have prioties. When my relationship started I knew I had to get my act together if I wanted to go forward with him. I never wanted to hold him back from anything. My grades improved and so did my social life because I wasn’t a negative influence. So…not all relationships are bad…in my opinion.
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