By the time most teens are in high school, they’re starting to look for a more serious relationship. They begin searching for something that’s at least a couple steps up from the cheesy dramas of the middle school relationships that they were used to: the bashful hand holding in the hallway, maybe seeing a movie together, with their parents a few rows back, and other incredibly awkward yet incredibly common practices. Having reached high school, a new milestone in their lives, is a romantic relationship really a smart or necessary thing for them to be pursuing? In reality, high school dating is distracting and destructively pointless.

        While teens should be spending their high school days laying a strong educational foundation for the rest of their lives, they often times get distracted by the pain of overly dramatic and intrinsically doomed relationships. They are brought down by problems that should really be postponed until there’s more of a potential for a lasting, mature relationship. Instead, they willingly sacrifice their time and sanity for a cause that almost everyone but them knows isn’t going to pay off in the long run. What are the odds of a high school relationship lasting forever? 

If I had a dollar for all the drama that I have overheard from my heartbroken peers, I’d quit this whole high school thing and head straight to my own private island. Unfortunately, the heartbroken haven’t paid me in cash, but I’ve been reimbursed by the wealth of dating knowledge I’ve acquired over time. Seeing kids that should be careless and enjoying their childhood crying their mascara off over some video game addict with a 9:00P.M. curfew really put a sour taste in my mouth about the whole high school dating concept as a whole. 

 In conclusion, I wish kids today would be able to see that they will have time to date people in the future. Now is the time that they should appreciate their freedom and bask in the privilege of being allowed to be carefree. There will come a time in their lives when they will have to start worrying about grownup things: mortgages, doctor appointments, car insurance, grocery shopping, etc., so why fast forward to the worrying days? If kids in high school focus on building strong friendships and laying solid future foundations instead of fretting over unnecessary relationships, they could set a good tone for the rest of their days. I say, kiss dating goodbye until you’re ready to invest seriously in it as a fixture of your future. Until then, enjoy your freedom.