Features
Strange love
“They are more mature and don’t like to play games,” Anna* said.
This may be one of the things that attract some teenagers to dating someone who may be a lot younger or a lot older than them.
Senior Corey Lewis has never been in a relationship with a big age gap personally, but has seen them and has his own opinions about them and why they are happening.
“Girls probably like older guys because they are more experienced and of course a guy’s going to like a younger girl because the way they look or because they make them feel young,” Lewis said.
Nowadays a freshman with a senior is not a rare sight. But there are some who take it further, taking on a relationship with someone who is up to five years younger or older than them.
“I was fourteen when I started to date my longtime boyfriend. We were together for almost two years. He was five years older than me,” Anna* said.
Like with anything, being in a relationship with a big age difference, has its pros and its cons.
“I like older guys because they are more mature, they don’t play games. My boyfriend was very mature and nice to me,” Anna* said.
Some people can make the relationship work.
“It could work if they love each other.” Lewis said.
But age may not just be a number when it comes to young relationships, as there are also many cons to this.
“He was more mature, so I always had to act mature around him. Also, he looked older.”
Another problem is that not all parents would approve of this.
“At first my parents didn’t like it, but they kind of got to know him and it was ok,” Anna* said.
Like many high school relationships, these relationships don’t always work. There are different reasons for this but they may not all have to do with their maturity levels.
Some teenagers are highly influenced by their peers, and big age differences may not be so acceptable in society yet.
“An acceptable age difference, for me, is two years younger or older,” Lewis said.
Both girls and guys have some negative opinions on this.
“A lot of my friends didn’t say anything, but some of them told me he was too old,” Anna* said
But not all teenagers would care.
“I didn’t care though, if they didn’t like it, then forget them,” Anna* said.
Even though some teenagers can look past their differences and make it work for them, not all teenagers are ready to jump in the band wagon.
“It’s cool if they are into that, that’s just not me though,” Lewis said.
* Denotes name witheld from story