Can you feel the love tonight?

Another article written for newspaper this time it is about high school relationships, written not long after being dumped by someone who I thought was 'the one'.

by Seraph Valentine

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High school, aside from the academic part, it’s one giant pursuit for love, or, in most cases, lust. Not to say that love is impossible in high school, just rare, and even rarer for someone to find true or lasting love. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not hormones, it’s not maturity and it’s not necessarily lack of experience. At this age, most teenagers don’t get out as much as those out of high school and college, and generally don’t have as much time to date, or as much of a selection.

So it could be said that teenagers don’t find love because of their limited selection, but what does that imply? That there are only certain people one can fall in love with? The simple answer is no. “I don’t believe there are such things as soul mates, you can choose who you fall in love with, it’s just that there are certain people that you CAN’T fall in love with.” Said an anonymous sophomore. Which is true, because there will always be people that no matter how hard you try, they always rub you the wrong way, so to speak.

Love is a touchy subject with a lot of teenagers, no one wants to hear “it’s just a high school relationship, it won’t last”, whether the odds are against them on it or not. It may be love, lust or infatuation but no teenager wants to hear that they’re wrong about their love life, that it won’t last. “Only 10 of high school relationships last beyond high school, and even fewer people marry their high school sweetheart,” Said an anonymous senior.

It can last, however, but it takes a lot more hard work than most teenagers are willing (or perhaps able) to put into it. “Strong relationships don’t develop overnight, or even in a month or two, it takes a lot more time than people want to believe.” Said sophomore Jenna Hensdell. The trick is understanding, trust and honesty. It sounds like some cheesy after school special, but it’s true. If there isn’t trust in a relationship, then love can’t blossom, it ends up only being infatuation. That’s the problem though, a lot of high school students, whether they’re experienced or not, don’t feel comfortable taking the risk of putting their trust in someone for fear of getting hurt or rejected. It may be hard, and it can cause a lot of pain for someone if their trust is betrayed, but if someone really wants love, they have to learn to trust.

So does this mean that high school relationships are destined to fail? Not at all! Not that all relationships can be saved either, but if more teenagers would be willing to forgive and forget simple mistakes and move past them, then adults would not be able to say ‘It’s just a high school relationship, it’s not going to last’, at least not without credible argument. The moral of this story? Don’t stop dating during high school because ‘it’s not going to work’, but be careful with what you give up to someone who you think is ‘the one’.