OK, then, how about this one: At what age are you allowed to have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Well, if that was your answer, then, even though you aced the first question, you missed the second one.
For decades, prophets have preached that youth who are in no position to marry should not pair off exclusively. When you reach an age where you think of marriage, then is the time to become so involved. So what does this counsel really mean, and what are the reasons for it? To begin with, the general term dating may be a little confusing, since nowadays it sometimes seems to imply something a little more serious than what we intend it to mean in relation to youth in the Church.
There are two different types of dating: casual dating and steady or serious dating. The distinction between the two has to do with exclusivity. Casual Dating. With casual dating, there is no exclusivity. People who are casually dating are simply friends. This is the kind of dating the Church encourages you to do after you turn You have fun; you do a variety of things with a variety of people.
Steady Dating. On the other hand, steady dating means the couple is exclusive with one another. They expect each other not to date anyone else or to be emotionally or physically close with other people. Couples who date seriously consider the future, because there is a real possibility they could stay together. As President Boyd K. The problem is, a lot of teenagers jump the gun.
They think these friendship-type relationships are only for younger kids, and they plunge into romantic relationships more appropriate for young adults people in their 20s , who are in a position to think about marriage. These romantic relationships have two components: physical and emotional. Generally speaking, boys crave the physical part more than girls do, and girls crave the emotional part more than boys do. Because boys have less of a desire for emotional closeness, they are usually in control of how deep this aspect of the relationship will become.
