Sean D. Foster
Bellevue University
The biggest threat about teenage dating is their inability to maintain a relationship. Teenagers mostly, do not understand the necessity of sustaining a relationship over a period of time. Therefore, frequent break ups and arguments lead to attempts of suicide, teenage pregnancy, STD’s, teen violence, and substance abuse. This happens due to lack of experience and a broader understanding of what relationships are (Dasgupta, 2011).
The problems of teen dating involving violence, sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide are primarily caused by stressful life events, peer influence, and failure of parents to take their children away from harmful activities.
Teenage dating deals more with exploring their new-found youthfulness than exploring the extent of love. This makes them reduce a relationship to the concept of possessing a boyfriend or a girlfriend making them lose sight of what is important. This is why we have more cases of teenage dating than cases of everlasting friendship. Most teenagers lack the proper understanding of balancing friendship and dating causing even best friends to grow apart. This also implies increasing isolation with their new found boyfriends or girlfriends making them further unavailable and unexposed to potential friends in their immediate circle (Dasgupta, 2011).
Teenagers experience pressures every day. Not only are they undergoing unnerving biological changes, but they also are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Dating teenagers experience even more pressure as they focus on building a relationship in the mist of all these changes (Armsden and Greenberg, 1987).
Substance Abuse:
A link exists between teen dating and substance abuse, according to a 2004 study conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The study found that teenagers who spend 25 or more hours a week with a girlfriend or boyfriend are more
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