The Romantic Feelings In Teenagers - A Natural Process

The teens today face considerable pressures while getting involved in a romantic relationship.

To say that a romantic relationship is one that consists of only emotional responses is not true. It involves deep feelings of attraction combined with a sense of friendship and physical feelings. As per statistics, it is believed that more than half the teens in the U S believe to be dating regularly (to be specific, casual dates with one or more partners at different intervals). To top it off there is another category of teens who believe to have a steady dating or an exclusive partner.

Generally, young teenagers hang out or go out with people from their age group and most likely from the same gender as they are. However, as they approach around 14 to 15 years, they begin to start having relationships with the opposite sex. Although most such relationships could likely be just friendships, some of them could be due to physical attractions. As per statistics, most romantic relationships among 12- to 14-year-olds last around 6 months, although for those aged 16 relationships could last an average of around 2 years

In the early teen years dating is more superficial, that is to say, it is more for fun and recreation, sort of a status among peers, and trying to explore attractiveness and sexuality. But as the youth approach the older teen years. They are seeking a bit of intimacy, affection and companionship in addition to social support.

Infatuation or the need for a romantic partner during adolescence is a natural process. However, this should not lead to a serious or exclusive romantic relationship in the preteen years, in which case, it can cause problems. The fact that true romantic relationships are built on intimacy, or involved communicating personal information in a verbal manner and which involves physical contact and closeness.

Most people, at least the teens themselves rely on the belief that they first need to have some form of an identity, and know who she or he really is, before pursuing an intimate relationship. Infact, most experts are of the belief that teen-romantic relationships are some form of a path for teens to learn more about themselves. Hence, in a sense most young teens are still in the process of defining themselves, and their romantic relationships may be based on a false sense of intimacy. That is to say that most teens still don’t know themselves well so as to share their feelings and who they are with someone else.

Having a crush or being a bit infatuated over someone is a perfectly normal process during the early school years as it signifies and symbolizes the biological changes of puberty taking place. Before we can note any of puberty’s physical changes, preteens (aged 8-10) experience an increase in sex-hormones. And a greater level of sex hormones naturally influences the preteen’s initial romantic feelings.

However, it is to be noted that having a crush is not a problem as it is an accepted normal process. But, responding and acting to early romantic feelings, especially when a teen is not emotionally or socially ready could lead to problems for early daters.