Tuesday 12 August 2008

What's Love Got To Do With It?

It seems that younger and younger teenagers (when I say younger teenagers, I talk about teenagers under the age of 16) seem to be falling in and out of "love".
(Now before I say anything else, I just want to point out that me talking about this is in no way a "stab" or something like that against my school...I may or may not use a few examples of people from my school...but I'm talking about younger teenagers in general, not just from the school I go to; so if anyone who goes to my school is reading this, try not to take it personally...)

Why I have put the word love in speech marks like that I'll go on about later...
but now...I want to focus on how and why younger teens are all of a sudden wanting to have this kind of commitment more often these days, and what they are doing...now the exact reason for this I don't know, but I've seen it happen a lot before...and I still do. Whether it's messages/wall posts to each other on social networking sites such as Bebo or Facebook, going on "dates" outside of school hours, or just a few hugs in the school corridors (if to name a few), more young teenagers (and even some 12 year olds) find the need to be "in a relationship" these days; now while some of it can be cute [to an extent], it can at times be taken as far as to wanting to have sex with the person you're "in a relationship with" (well that's what the case was [and still is] in my previous country anyway...I'm not sure about Switzerland)

Now I don't know about you, but something about that just doesn't seem right to me; while I'm not saying that teenagers shouldn't even be attracted to each other like that (I mean, that's what happens at adolescence...) and shouldn't "date" if they wan
t to (if they feel they are ready for that sort of thing, that's their personal choice), but the whole "love" thing to me seems to be taking it a bit too far. Think about it...at that age do we really know what love is? I don't know...maybe doing things such as listening to certain songs from older artists about make ups, break ups and what not has given some of us the idea that maybe we do know what it is...Maybe because these usually grown up artists have these feelings about other people, it has led some of these younger teenagers to think that they too can have these feelings. . .to me, younger teenagers seem to be using the whole "I love you" term a bit too losely, I mean are they even sure that they really mean it?

And the issue about some 12 year olds going THAT far with each other...I'm just going to say this: THE MINIMUM AGE IS 16 FOR A REASON!!

It's 16 because before people reach that age, a majority of people aren't 100% ready for that sort of thing yet...not just physically, but mentally also. I'll be 16 myself
in just over a years time, and even when I am that age, I don't even think I'll be ready for that sort of thing then...so the thought of people at least 2-3 years younger than me doing that...well it kinda scares me a bit =S

Ok, that's me done on that point...but what I'm trying to say is that young teenagers shouldn't try to grow up too quickly trying to act more like an adult...because before you know it, you are an adult...and it's likely that you might just look back and regret not enjoying life just being a child in the past...

I think it's important that people just take those type of things slowly, because if you're just doing it to try and prove yourself to other people or raise your "status" in the school that you're in, than it's not worth doing at all...the best thing you ca
n be is yourself, why should anyone else matter when it comes to that?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't help reading what you write because I'm a great fan of physcology and social evolution and its interesting what other people think about it. Somethings you say I dont really agree with others I do. To a point.

This thing with young people having sex isn't new. It might seem that way but it isn't. And what you said about the law beeing 16 because of physical reasons is not true (though depending on how skinny girls are now a days that could be a factor, but its defenetly not age). A girl can concieve almost practacly right after her first menstruation. The Law is there more to stop adults from taking advantage of kids. That is what happened in the old days. That pointing out that sex at a young age isn't new. I know adults who had sex at 13 and younger that means that was more than 10 years ago.

sorry. I just wanted to point out to you that its not new, not to insult you in anyway. Just pointing it out. I am also not saying it is a smart thing, but as long as these kids are safe there really isn't anything horribly wrong in it especialy since such atractions come from instinct and not about wanting to be older. The fact that you feel you are not ready for it is a cultural matter, and a personal one.

You'll also find that kids will always say 'I love you' to eachother easier than adults because they actualy believe its love. (or because they do not know what it means?) and we cannot say we know what it means and they dont.

Billie Walker said...

Don't worry I'm not insulted at all...you're right, it probably isn't a new thing, maybe I've just realised it happening recently...dunno =S, but thanks for the long comment =]