As parents we should carefully monitor and check everything that our teenagers are doing lest we might be caught by surprise one day that they might be pregnant or impregnated someone already. We need to teach them in a very particular way how to relate with others most especially with the opposite sex. How then should we talk to them about dating? Or how should we speak to them about courtship? Let’s see this matter in a parental perspective.
To begin with, the need to relate with people is felt by everyone. After all, material things, such as the latest gadgets and those developments due to modern technology can never become a substitute for persons. People are capable of real self-sacrifice, loving and caring while things are simply at our disposal to serve particular needs. Indeed, humans as we are, we have always been in search of intimacy—to become part and parcel of somebody else’s life and also to be able to share with another in friendship, in aspirations, dreams, procreation and work. The most basic and fundamental step of achieving intimacy in our lives is to find that someone who will catch our attention, touch our hearts, change our lives from simple to special, ordinary to extraordinary, normal to truly exciting. We call this step dating.
Dating is a moment, a time, a special event in our emotional and psycho-social, not to mention physical lives wherein we try to go out from our shells. From the comforts of our cocoon, we start to adjust with the nuances of meeting and dealing with this special someone whom we think we could share our self, love and care. Despite the discomforts of the usual routines of being with our usual set of friends and family members, we find it thrilling and happy to be with someone who makes our heart beat faster and makes us feel better.
Dating then is an opportunity which is both significant and wonderful to both parties. This is an avenue where we will open ourselves to other and try our best to know the other person better. In this manner, we will both know our weaknesses and strengths. We will also learn from the other person the things he likes or dislike and practically the basic things about the other party from the most essential to the trivial or insignificant things in his life and vice versa. This may include his/her traits, family background, studies, set of friends and the like. This event in our lives marks the beginning of various paradigm shifts, from emotional to the other relevant matters in life.
Dating is a prelude to courtship. If both parties mutually feel for each other fondly, then dating ends and courtship begins. Hence, young people should take dating very seriously because this will make or break them as persons. Parents should equally be concerned in encouraging their kids to get the most out of dating, that is, to know their date very well, scrutinize is the apt word, because their very own future and happiness is at stake. Dating will surely become a good instrument and a stepping stone for each one to find the right partner in life if taken seriously. If done with much gusto, dating will truly be a worthwhile and unforgettable experience.
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