A relationship between humans commonly refers to two people getting to know one another, going on a series of dates, becoming “boyfriend and girlfriend” and seeing if, perhaps, they could be someone to share a lifetime with. Dating, a common synonym of being in a relationship, begins as young as preschool or kindergarten. The young children sit on a reading carpet kissing one another on the cheek; innocently mocking what the adult society has shown them. These simple relations progress to elementary age interactions, such as chasing each other around the playground in a game of “boys-chase-girls” or “girls-chase-boys”. Middle school relationships take the deepest plunge toward adult relationships as first kisses are shared, hands are held and the pre-teens get in and out of as many relationships as possible. The last stage before the committed and mature adult relationship is the high school relationship. Although, these can be anything but committed and mature the high school relationship is the transition into adulthood, and when you really find who you are. There are many forms and variations of this classification of this stage of relational development.
The first type of High School relationship is the “week-ling”. The most common high school relationship among freshmen and sophomores; but, can be seen among some juniors and seniors. Week-lings tend to chase after a multitude of people, and when they catch them after about a week them they are ready to set them free again. They are the predators ready to pounce on their unsuspecting prey at any given moment. Females, who are usually the prey in this situation, commonly fall in “love” with their partner after about a day or two. After the week is up their Facebook statuses will share quite the parallel of that. The relationship generally tends to be based off of infatuation, and more of an “oh, I think you are kind of pretty, and I haven’t dated you yet this month” rather than full blown love. Males are in the relationship to “get some”, and to seem like a bigger man. They tend to receive the term “player” after about a month or two of dating multiple girls. You may think, and hope, that the girls would eventually wise up when they hear the man they are flirting with has been called this name by most likely every one of their friends; but, they never seem to do so as he has always “changed his ways” and “learned from his mistakes”. After the ticking time bomb of the week long relationship explodes, the couple is rarely seen talking again, unless they wish to reset the timer for another week.
Another relationship that seems to be an explosion waiting to happen is the “physical relationship”. This type of relationship is very common around the end of sophomore year and into junior year. The two partners are more in lust rather than love, and see the physical attributes of the relationship as holding the most importance in the partnership. Forming a physical relationship usually begins, once again, from aesthetics. It progresses past the formalities of being a week long; however, one party seems to be more invested in the relationship than the other who is simply compensating from the benefits. A down side to the pairing is mainly for the public around the two involved in a physical relationship rather than themselves. It does not seem to matter where they are, or who is watching, if they can have some type of contact with their partner than they will. Whether it is a back rub, or kissing, and even some things that are too raunchy for even the bedroom if they can get away with it, then they will. Physical relationships tend to last anywhere from one to three months. They can end because the more invested party realizes that what they are donating is not being reciprocated, or the benefiting party gets bored of the relationship. The end generally brings no peaceful resolution; rather, a few negative terms thrown around about the relationship or the people involved, and nasty looks from across the hall every time they walk past each other, if they are even civil enough to do that.
The ideal relationship or the “high school sweethearts”, is more of a positive correlation within the extensive workings of a high school community. Everyone hears the tales from the few adults, whose eyes locked across the classroom and at that very moment they knew they could not ever look at any other person in the same way, this is the epitome of the sweethearts in high school. Being sweethearts involves having a mature mind set while getting yourself into one as it is the most mature relationship in high school. The high school sweethearts can begin dating anywhere from freshmen to senior year, but mostly occur within the junior year. When seen around campus eyes avert towards the aura of happiness that encompasses the two. The relationship is symbiotic, both are on the same page, and they can fall helplessly in love simultaneously. This form of relationship is what most high school girls strive to find, yet it is very rarely discovered. For this reason desiring girls can easily fall into the ploy that is the “week-ling” or “physical” relationship. They believe it is their fairytale come true that after all the years of yearning for their fantasy of Prince Charming sitting upon his white horse ready to ride them off into the sunset, he has finally come to their rescue. High School Sweethearts last for at least the remainder of high school, and if they ever break up it is as if the world is shifting off its axis.
High School affairs, both the virtuous and the depraved, pave the way for the imminent relationships they have ahead of them. They instill teenagers with the knowledge of what they like or dislike in a partner and also how important a successful and meaningful relationship is to them in their lives. The relationships he/she has within high school, whether they have multiple week lings or they are with their soul mate from the start of freshmen year, do not necessarily determine what kind of relationship they will end up with in the future, it is all about learning and growing as a person. Stages of relationships begin at such a young age, so that when the time comes we are ready to take that leap in to love, as our society encourages. Essentially, the more relationships people have, the more they will learn about themselves.