Poll of the Day > Children at the age of ELEVEN dating?

(+) Yeah! (+)

As anyone else noticed that children these days start 'Dating' at the age of eleven? Anyone else think this is messed up? I mean like seriously. WAYYYYY to young, in my opinion.
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too*

Sry, too. Thanks for the correction!
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depends on the nature of said dating. Don't you have pictures of like when you were 6 and you kissed a neighbour girl on the cheek and both groups of parents are like "awwwwwww"

But if they're like "yo, here's some flowers lets sex" - that's WAEY 2 YUNG
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Depends on if your definition of "dating" is the same as my ex gfs or not.
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Kids dated around 10 or 11 when i was young but it wasn't actual dating. Nothing sexual as far as i could tell.

Depends on dating. Like, in third or fourth grade, I took a girl out for pizza and a movie. It wasnt like we were making out or having sex. Even holding hands at that age was like a big thing. So, it depends...
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Well, I Kno kids who actually have their parents pick their gf up, take them to a fancy restaurant, and literally have a table for themselves.
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I think its cute. Just because you didnt date at that age doesnt mean kids these days cant. Kids get emotionally mature these days much faster than they used to.

Haven't kids been fucking like disgusting gremlins since the beginning of time
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Blorfenburger posted...

Haven't kids been fucking like disgusting gremlins since the beginning of time

Kids were quite clean in antiquity (ancient Egypt specifically) as they were considered a precious resource, especially the firstborn male.
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argonautweakend posted...

Kids dated around 10 or 11 when i was young but it wasn't actual dating. Nothing sexual as far as i could tell.

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I see no issue in this. Kids would go to a roller rink at 10, 11, 12 together when I was younger. It's not like like they are hooking up at these ages. It's just 2 kids having fun together is all. No issue with it.

Now if it's some 10-12 with a 16 yo that can drive or something then you might have to worry.
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This topic title and OP are just another example among many where people ignore, forget, or retcon what being a kid is like.

We see it all the time among all sorts of people. As most people grow older, they lose touch with, lets just call it, their "childhood." I don't mean things like jobs or such either. I mean they literally just forget more and more about what its like to be young until they only see childhood as being a stupid little know-nothing brat who is ignorant of everything that actually matters.

This sort of concept is why many parents get so incredibly amazed every time their kids prove that they are NOT in fact idiots, and then proceed to self-support an opinion that their kid is the one rare one that is actually smart. No, that is not how it works. People like that are just confusing "dumb" with "naive." Very big difference between the two, actually.

That little rant aside, what was I actually going to comment on originally?

Ah, yes. In this case, its a little bit of the reverse. Someone looks at the word "dating" and just associates all the older versions of dating with it, and imaging two small children doing those things instead.

A better term would generally be "play dating" when talking about kids who do things that the kids themselves call "dating." After all, they are naive. They have witnessed and know that older people who are boy and girl may go out together for fun of some sort. But obviously, societal concerns and cultural whatnot mean that nothing else is told to them, so they naturally will put the 2 and 2 they DO have together to figure that a date involves doing things that are fun. And to insert things that THEY find fun into that interpretation. They will even see that their deduction is supported, as parents or other older people will typically tell them of their own dates while only mentioning the part of it that IS "normal fun," like meeting each other at a restaurant, and seeing a movie or going skating or whatever else they happened to do.

Ok, I'd best wind down or I'll just go back into rant mode again, but you get the point I am making about what I think of children. Children are not stupid. They are naive. And naive is a lot different from stupid.
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miki_sauvester posted...

I think its cute. Just because you didnt date at that age doesnt mean kids these days cant. Kids get emotionally mature these days much faster than they used to.

Explains why in that other topic you condoned having sex with children.

CacciatoPart3 posted...

miki_sauvester posted...

I think its cute. Just because you didnt date at that age doesnt mean kids these days cant. Kids get emotionally mature these days much faster than they used to.

Explains why in that other topic you condoned having sex with children.

I, too, saw that comment. Just so ya know, he's not lying.
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I "dated" a girl when I was 5. think holding hands (and that only happened once or twice) was the biggest thing we did. funny part was she didn't give me a choice and back then I didn't have a backbone to say no. was just trying to fucking take a nap during recess and this girl snatches me up by the hand and says "your my boyfriend now" and then it turned out she lived on my grandmothers street so I ended up seeing her not only at school, but quite regularly even on weekends.
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Haven't we all heard of stories of kids bangin' that young when we were in school?
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LuciusLatios posted...

Well, I Kno kids who actually have their parents pick their gf up, take them to a fancy restaurant, and literally have a table for themselves.

I doubt this story.
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ever heard of play dates?

things don't have to be sexual.

and yes, children do "like" other children at that age, and enjoy spending time with them. nothing wrong with that.

I don't know about you, but I was definitely having feelings of attraction at that age. Dating simply means acting on those feelings, not necessarily banging.
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Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

LuciusLatios posted...

Well, I Kno kids who actually have their parents pick their gf up, take them to a fancy restaurant, and literally have a table for themselves.

I doubt this story.

I mean, its not that weird. Especially in the family was rich. Or well off. I mean, when I went on my date in their grade, we had our own table. It was just a pizza place, though. And our parent were there talking at like another table. Haha.
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Trialia posted...

Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.

That what I was getting at with one of my comments. Mostly because I was talking to a co-worker about it. Things seem normal because thats how we grew up. If someone grew up in an age where people were having sex younger and they were use to it, then it would seem strange. We grew up in an era where normal AoC to have sex with everyone was 18. Though there are exceptions. So, its just normal to us to be older, I guess...
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I can see it if, say, they go on a double-date with an older couple (like an older sibling and their boyfriend/girlfriend)
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Trialia posted...

Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.

And I thought m friends parents getting it on at 14 was young...
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LuciusLatios posted...

Anyone else think this is messed up?

Kids "dating" isn't the same as adults so no. I myself had several "GF's" when growing up. The most we did was kiss and one time I "humped"(clothed) a girl behind some cars. It's harmless enough.
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LinkPizza posted...

Trialia posted...

Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.

That what I was getting at with one of my comments. Mostly because I was talking to a co-worker about it. Things seem normal because thats how we grew up. If someone grew up in an age where people were having sex younger and they were use to it, then it would seem strange. We grew up in an era where normal AoC to have sex with everyone was 18. Though there are exceptions. So, its just normal to us to be older, I guess...

AoC hasn't been 18 in a lot of places for a long time. In Britain it's 16, has been so for decades, and it's only a handful of years since parts of the US had it set at 12 or 14.
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Trialia posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Trialia posted...

Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.

That what I was getting at with one of my comments. Mostly because I was talking to a co-worker about it. Things seem normal because thats how we grew up. If someone grew up in an age where people were having sex younger and they were use to it, then it would seem strange. We grew up in an era where normal AoC to have sex with everyone was 18. Though there are exceptions. So, its just normal to us to be older, I guess...

AoC hasn't been 18 in a lot of places for a long time. In Britain it's 16, has been so for decades, and it's only a handful of years since parts of the US had it set at 12 or 14.

even with it being 16 in a lot of places here in the states, there is a difference between what the law says and what society itself considers taboo. a lot of people think under 18 is bad. not everyone but a sizeable enough group.
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Trialia posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Trialia posted...

Dating means different things to different people, and even more so among differing generational groups.

My dad first had sex aged 12 (he was bizarrely proud of it, disturbing as it is that I know this!), and he claims to have had 10 girlfriends by the time he left school at 14 - granted, this *was* around 1970. Whereas for my generation (I'm mid-30s), most of the people I know started dating less physically when they were 12-13, and the physical stuff came later. That said, the average age of a girl's first time in my country has been 17 for decades. So maybe things don't always change that much. Maybe it's more about how we see them.

That what I was getting at with one of my comments. Mostly because I was talking to a co-worker about it. Things seem normal because thats how we grew up. If someone grew up in an age where people were having sex younger and they were use to it, then it would seem strange. We grew up in an era where normal AoC to have sex with everyone was 18. Though there are exceptions. So, its just normal to us to be older, I guess...

AoC hasn't been 18 in a lot of places for a long time. In Britain it's 16, has been so for decades, and it's only a handful of years since parts of the US had it set at 12 or 14.

I mentioned that to a friend, as well... When that was more normal, people didnt really think much of it. And those same people wouldnt understand why people had to wait until they were 18 to have sex with people over 18... most likely...
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It depends on what the outcome is. My childhood was SUPER sheltered as I socialized with nobody. No friends until high school and even then that was just a D&D group where we didn't socialize -_-. Never went to college. My childhood isn't typical. Blame single mom using video games as a baby sitter. (anyway...)

The norm is holding hands as younger kids and having sex at high school around prom or so.

The odd thing was when I was 10-11 years old I answered the question a couple of kids around my age on how to have sex and then they actually try to in public at an apartment complex. I think my response was "stick it in back there" or something along those lines. Just had to throw that out there for the "wild stuff kids do" thing.
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At age 11 I was probably so covered with mud and scratches that no boy would have been interested and I was fine with that. The only way I was interested in a boy was if he wanted to go ride bikes and horses, see who could climb a tree the highest or jump the widest part of a creek. I knew childhood was fleeting, even then and wanted to be a kid for as long as possible.

Maybe it was because I was the baby of the family and I watched my older sisters do the older girl stuff. I wasn't envious.
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I definitely dated at age 11 and before. Then again, this was also at the time where even getting to touch or see boobs in-person was considered the pinnacle of success, so...

But yeah, at that age I definitely took girls on dates, was physically romantic, and whatnot. Just at a PG-13 level more or less.
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I remember back in like 5th or 6th grade kids were "dating."
Some girl said she was in love with a guy and I was like "you're twelve, you don't know what being in love means."
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Zareth posted...

"you're twelve, you don't know what being in love means."

I've never understood this phrase as everyone loves differently.
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Zareth posted...

I remember back in like 5th or 6th grade kids were "dating."
Some girl said she was in love with a guy and I was like "you're twelve, you don't know what being in love means."

Frankly, that depends on their level of maturity. Don't forget that it has only been a couple of centuries since 12-year-old girls were expected to be married and sent off to live with their spouse as a matter of course in *most* countries. Maturity is more relevant than chronological age, but unfortunately harder to measure.
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Trialia posted...

Zareth posted...

I remember back in like 5th or 6th grade kids were "dating."
Some girl said she was in love with a guy and I was like "you're twelve, you don't know what being in love means."

Frankly, that depends on their level of maturity. Don't forget that it has only been a couple of centuries since 12-year-old girls were expected to be married and sent off to live with their spouse as a matter of course in *most* countries. Maturity is more relevant than chronological age, but unfortunately harder to measure.

Yea but people back then were so poor you'd trade your daughter for a wagon
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I mean, she basically said that she would love her boyfriend forever and I said they'd be broken up in less than a year. Which they ended up doing. Of course.
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Zareth posted...

I mean, she basically said that she would love her boyfriend forever and I said they'd be broken up in less than a year. Which they ended up doing. Of course.

Yeah, but that doesn't automatically mean it was her fault. Two people and all that.
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It depends. If they are under the supervision of responsible adults, I see no problem.
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