Stories...Smith

Amity Smith

Princeton Comm. HS - Ind.
July 15-19, 2001

That Loving Feeling

Your heart starts to race and your palms start to sweat. You are running around trying to make sure that every last hair is in its place and your nerves are on end. Then you hear the doorbell ring. It is your big date and you are so worried but excited at the same time. The car door closes, and you are off on your adventure.

"Having a guy pick me up with flowers, going to a nice dinner and then going to swing at the park under the stars is my idea of the perfect date," said Meaghan Marrett, 17, senior at Assumption HS in Louisville, Ky. Dating seems to be something that every high school teen-ager can relate with: the horror stories of those awful dates, the great excitement of the first date and all those experiences in between.

When high school students compare the way that they feel about dating at this point in their lives compared to when they were younger, a lot of their opinions differ. Some take it less seriously now, while others see it as a bigger issue. "You used to be dating someone if you held hands; now we take things too seriously and get upset too much," Marrett said. Whatever the opinion, most high school students seem to agree that their views on dating have changed over the years.

One debatable issue that comes up often is girls asking guys out. Jason Bradfield 16, junior said, "I think girls shouldn't be afraid to ask guys out because it shows that they are self-confident and that can be a very attractive thing." When asked, most high school students agreed that it was perfectly fine for girls to take the initiative in dating.

Although dating does seem to be a big part of the high school atmosphere, not everyone sees it as overly important. High school's supposed to be fun, and sometimes dating may take away from that or may affect you negatively in some other ways, Becky Anders, 18, senior from Portage High School in Indiana, said, "I used to want to start dating as soon as I could because it was portrayed as so cool, and now I realize that in order to make the right decision, it is necessary first to mature and grow independently."

High school is a time to grow and learn new things. This can be incorporated into all aspects of your life - and especially in dating. You learn more about yourself through dating and that can help you in the future. Whether you date often or rarely is not the issue. The issue is what you learn and the memories that you can take away from every person and every situation that you put yourself in.