“High school students should not be dating.” This is commonly said among the community of parents in HK. They often tell us not to date before university but, are relationships really harmful for us teenagers? Well, yes and no. Let me explain.
The biggest Pro of having a relationship is that we learn to think for others. In a relationship, there are a lot of negotiations going on. Couples are dedicated to make each other happy in order to make the relationship last long otherwise, it will end up as a so called “toxic” relationship. To achieve this, surprise gifts, keeping distance with opposite sex friends, making good use and reserve time for your partner and more are required to be done. A relationship lively demonstrate and train us to have commitment to things we desire, not only restricted to getting a boyfriend/girlfriend. When we grow up, commitment is essential in life to make achievements in both working life and spiritual growth and, a relationship during high school is one of the most effective ways to prepare us(as we do not have legal obligations and restrictions, lifelong/large degree of impact can be prevented).
As for Cons, the most obvious one is that maintaining a relationship is time-consuming. This takes away most of our freedom to explore our interests in this early stage of life and to expand our social networks to meet more new people. We are often dragged behind by the connections and thoughts of our partner such that we might feel pulled down, dragged down, unable to do the things we want to. This is very common among teens as they start various relationships during their high school school life. In the worst cases, teens may end up suffering from depression, anxiety and other psychological conditions resulted from the high pressure given by their partners. The side effects may include being afraid of the opposite sex and not being able to trust others.
Being said, I would actually disagree that high school teens are unsuitable for relationships given two conditions. I would say the time-consumingness(made up a word but I think you get what I mean) of a relationship can be alleviated with proper communication between the two person involved. Plus, not being afraid to speak up definitely can ameliorate the relationship. Bring out your points and speak up so the other person may understand you more and make adjustments in their plans. High school adolescents can definitely manage a relationship if they have tolerance and always speak up for themselves. Go get some boys/girls and don’t be afraid to seek help from grown-ups, you will find out you get more from a relationship than you lost in it.
