How do you feel about age difference in high school relationships?
Of course, it depends on the individuals, although it’s a given that teenage girls tend to mature at a faster rate than boys and thus are more likely to be drawn to upper classmen. But as adolescence is a period of impulsivity, instant gratification, and intense but often short-lived feelings, dating should ideally be between relative equals in age and levels of maturity. For instance, a freshman girl may indeed be drawn to a 17 or even 18 year old senior, but she must realize there is an inherent power imbalance in an age difference that is considered relatively minor between two adults. The older boy may pressure the younger girl for intimacy that she is not ready for. (I use the older boy/younger girl dyad because it’s relatively rare in high school for senior girls to be interested in freshman or sophomore boys.) For high school daters, I and many others would recommend no greater than a two year (at most) age difference. The most important things for youthful relationships as well as adult ones are mutual honesty, trust, and maturity to be open about what each partner expects out of the romance.
As you get older its not as big of a deal, but in highschool it can be. Sometimes it can work out. There can be a huge difference in maturity between freshman and senior year. There is an even bigger difference from highschool to college. Don’t be afraid to give it a shot, but don’t be surprised if you have problems with maturity differences and lifestyle difference. Things change a lot when you make the jump to college. It can work though if you both want it to!
