High School is for Having Fun, Not Falling in Love

Today is February 14, or better known as Valentine's Day. The day that highlights couples and love. A holiday that causes husbands and boyfriends all over the world to stress out over making sure they have the perfect gift for their special someone. At a person can send someone else a carnation via the school store or even a singing telegram performed by the Mt. Hope choir. You can just imagine all the love in the air at Mt. Hope High School with all the couples expressing their love, while making us single kids feel a little lonelier. But then again, I don’t want to be in the kinds of relationships that the kids in my school are in.

For all my readers, I would like to refresh your memory in school-aged relationships. Starting in elementary school, having a boyfriend or girlfriend was just a title given to a friend. You held hands occasionally and maybe even shared a kiss on the cheek. Then in middle school, the question, ”hey do you want to go out?" is added to the equation, creating a boyfriend and girlfriend stage. To my knowledge these relationships last anywhere from one day to eight months. Couples in middle school now kiss, and in those more extreme relationships, would make out or engage in other activities. I leave this to your imagination.

Now we are in high school. In high school we have this expression called "talking" to someone. I like to think of it as a two-week trial period to see whether or not you like the other person’s personality, since you were initially only interested in them because of their looks. In most cases, the next step in the relationship is becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

On this Valentine's Day I am wondering whatever happened to the good old days when saying, “do you want to go out?” meant do you want to go out on a date. Then perhaps after maybe the fourth date, you’d move up to the boyfriend and girlfriend status. I rarely see couples going out on dates at all anymore at Mt. Hope. Most just hangout at each other’s houses. Isn’t this just being friends? Where is the romance? Maybe I watch too many romantic movies.

Then there is the day after Valentine's Day. I like to call it "Vabreak-up day". When love's idealistic expectations are not met on Valentine's Day, it's time for the break-up. Oh the horror, the drama! So many tears are shed over a breakup. I just don’t get it because in most cases they were not even in a serious relationship. So the next question I ask people is, "what did you expect out of a high school relationship?" and the answer to me is, ‘I don’t know.’ So I guess in reality, you did not have high expectations, so pick up your head and move on with your life.

For all you hopeless romantics, I’m not saying all high school relationships are like this. I do have a few friends that are in more functional, successful relationships. I would say that these relationships are based more on mutual interests, than on looks.

We all should remember that high school is a time that we are all trying to figure out who we are. So for all those who feel jilted or lonely, stop shedding those tears and start having some fun. High school is the time to explore and to have fun with your friends. As for me? I won't be lonely this Valentine’s Day. As a matter of fact, I have two dates. One with Ben, and the other with Jerry.