“I thought it was going to last forever!” sobs the young girl to her mother as she reminisces on the relationship she thought would never end.

Many teens encounter this heartbreak as they venture out into the dating world and often raises a question: Should dating be eliminated as a consequence of the fear of getting hurt?

I believe that yes, dating can be abused, and Satan has used his power to distort some relationships in this world. Yet, the couple brings half of that disfiguration on deliberately. If each party coming into the relationship knows their boundaries, then dating can be a beautiful thing.

The book, Dateable, written by Justin Lookadoo and Haley Morgan, conveys the opinion that no relationship between young people will last. The authors suggest that teens should not date, but instead concentrate on life experiences through friendships and do include dating one-on-one.

Now, I understand that most of the relationships created as a teen or young adult may not be marital material, but I do not believe that that means teens should eliminate the whole experience of dating.

Many people say kids should only group date. In some cases I agree with that, but when young people have a one-on-one relationship they not only get to know another person but find out a lot about themselves.

It is true that there are many people who date only to see what personal gain they can get from a relationship. However, there is also another category of people who date in order to have fun and enjoy their teen years.

I think that if teens want to get to know people of the opposite sex, dating can be a good thing. It broadens horizons and often builds up young people’s confidence.

Finally, I think that dating helps teens discover the characteristics they would look for in a potential mate. If a young person spends their life in a closet and then just steps out, expecting to find boy/girl of their dreams, the odds are not their favor.

Young adults need to discover what traits in a potential partner are important and understand the qualities that they can go without. I believe this can never be found out without getting to know the members opposite sex through dating.

I think that teens and/or young adults should be able to figure out for themselves whether or not they are ready to date. I think that a book telling young people that they all are not ready until a certain time is not right and is unfair.