Shaking hands is recommended for a first date

A majority of Morton East students went on their first date in 8th grade.

According to Google AI Overview, girls usually start dating at age 12 and boys start dating at age 13. Group dates are most common in the early teen years, and high school is when dating gets serious and becomes a one-on-one date. Some popular first dates are usually bowling, arcades, movies, going out to eat, or going to a local park. Twelve–fourteen-year-old relationships usually last 5–12 months, and 15–18-year-old relationships last about 1–2 years.

In a random survey of 105 Morton East students, 27 students went on their first date in 8th grade, 23 students in 9th grade, 17 students have not gone on a first date, 10 students in 11th grade, 9 students in 10th grade, 8 students in 12th grade, 8 students in 7th grade, 2 students in 5th grade, and 1 student in 6th grade.

“I believe 16–18 is a good age to start dating, with a lot of guidance from older people in their lives. A relationship is more than just being together; it’s about communication and understanding what a healthy relationship looks like. A big question for a lot of students is, how do we communicate? Teen relationships are appropriate with a lot of guidance. High school dating is a lot harder compared to dating at an older age. At a young age, we’re guided by our emotions, and our frontal lobe is not fully developed until someone is in their mid-20s to early 30s, and it’s easier to get into arguments in teen relationships. Some advice I would give to someone going on their first date would be to be honest and be yourself. What you don’t want to do is give the person an impression of what they want. In your first relationship, you’re learning as you’re going, and you need to start somewhere with it. In younger relationships, you’re still learning what you want in a relationship and learning what boundaries are, and it makes it easier to become easily influenced compared to being an adult, where you’re more sure of yourself and know what you want. At a younger age, depending on your access to the internet, what you see on the internet might not always be a healthy or perfect relationship. There are a lot of shows that people consume, and they believe that’s what a healthy relationship looks like, and it gets to reality and it’s not that,” said social worker Ms. Truong.

A lot of people may have similar opinions about what age somebody should start dating.

“I would say between 15 to 16 is a good age for someone to start dating because they’ll be a little more responsible. Advice I would give to someone going on their first date is to be yourself and make sure you have good hygiene; take care of yourself. You don’t want to have chapped lips during a first date. Over the years, I think dating has stayed the same; not much has changed. At a young age, a lot of teens aren’t smart and they are starting to explore, so they should be smart if they are being sexually active; you don’t want to have a baby at a young age while you’re still learning things about life,” said security guard Savannah.

While some people may think dating has not changed, some people believe that there has been a change in dating.

“I think 16 is a good age to start dating, but regardless, people are going to date in high school or maybe even younger to kind of prepare themselves. Some advice I would give to somebody going on their first date is be yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or eat your food, either; there are lots of couples who are too shy to eat in front of the other person. Dating is not as romantic as it used to be; guys don’t show up anymore with serenatas and flowers. It’s gotten less genuine, whereas those things used to be the standard. The chances of your relationship not working at a younger age are high, and people are still exploring and they’re less faithful when they’re younger,” said security guard Melanie.

While staff members provide an adult perspective on dating habits and expectations, some students offer a personal experience of what going on a date is like.

“I was 14 when I went on my first date. I went to the mall and shopped and took pictures in the photo booth. The mall was not a good date; it was a lot of walking, and I think now I would rather sit down for a picnic or go to an arcade. On the first date, I didn’t have a lot of hope. I enjoyed my time; it wasn’t boring. I got some cute clothes, and he bought me a stuffed animal,” said senior Melissa Castellanos.

While some enjoy dates that are more active, other students prefer to sit down to eat and get to know each other.

“I was 14 when I went on my first date. For my first date, we went to North Riverside Mall and were just walking around. We didn’t do a lot of shopping; we just walked and talked, and we went to Marshall’s after and just looked at stuff. We didn’t really eat because we weren’t comfortable eating in front of each other yet. It wasn’t really boring; I enjoyed it. We spent the time getting to know each other more. It went well — a lot of communication, a lot of getting to know each other. It helped us get to where we are now,” said senior Sergio Barragan.