Adolescent Romantic Relationships
By: Vertrice Wilson
Intro To Adolescent Dating
The topic that I will be talking about is dating during adolescence. The main thing that I would like to strive for is to explain and give information to parents about their children starting to date during their youth. Most of the stuff that I will be discussing would be How it all starts, the pros and cons of dating at adolescence, and what may be a serious relationship or not. I also will be giving information about what parents can do to help their children in these types of situations as well.
What You Might Want To Know!
How Does It Start
Young adolescence mentions recreation and achieving peer status for dating. When dating starts, it actually starts by girl groups getting together with boys groups. They mix and mingle and that's when the individual couples start to break off from the main group.
Pros and Cons
The pros of adolescent dating, if it doesn't start too soon, provides lessons in cooperation, etiquette, and dealing with people in a wide range of situation. Older teenagers close romantic relationships promote sensitivity, empathy, self-esteem, social support, and identity development. The cons of adolescent dating would be related to drug use, delinquency, and poor academic achievement.
Will It Be Serious
Most of the time when they are at age 12 to 14, these relationships last only briefly, but at age 16 they continue to be longer and last for about two years. About half of romances do not survive high school graduation and sometimes if they do then they are not satisfying.
How Can Parents Help
Parents
Parents play a big role in their children's relationships. When a child is attached to his/her parents and their parents are very supportive, it would be known to say that this type of love is security of a romantic relationship. Uninvolved and aggressive parenting increases the likelihood of dating violence. In adolescent dating, it is very important to be involved with your child's lives because you play a huge role in their decisions and whether they are going towards the right path or the wrong path. It is always a good Idea for parents to talk to their children every now and then about romantic dating.
Parental Monitoring and Dating
Parental monitoring has been highlighted as exceptionally important in dating. Parental monitoring is basically being aware of were their children are at all times, and involving attention to their childrens activities. Studies have shown that if a parent is more aware of what their child is doing or monitoring their child enough, their child would not be as associated with sexual activity in adolescense. Parental monitoring may differ from boys than girls. Girls are monitered more closely than boys.
LGBT Dating
The LGBT youths face distinct challenges that others may not have to face when it comes to romances. Most LGBT youth are afraid of peer harassment and rejection, and this is why some youth's relationships are short lived. Another reason why it is hard for LGBT students to have romantic relationships is because most of the people that are gay or lesbian, seem to not have come out to the world yet and that's why it is hard for some LGBT romances.
Biological, Familial, and Peer Influences On Dating In Early Adolescence
Source: This article basically explains pubertal maturation, parental monitoring, involvement in older peer groups, peer dating, and peer delinquency on dating in a sample of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample that was taken place was 784 adolescents (394 boys, 390 girls) enrolled in grades 5, 6, and 7 who were followed for one year. The results indicated that it was the combination of pubertal maturation, peer delinquency, and peer dating that explained increases in early dating.
References
Friedlander, L. J., Connolly, J. A., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2007). Biological, familial, and peer influences on dating in early adolescence. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(6), 821-30. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9130-7