What age is appropriate for you kid to start dating?

Afraid of mama! I love it!

Just to add to this...

Will my daughter get in trouble for having a little "boyfriend" in grade school and middle school...no

Will I encourage her to be open and honest with me, yes b/c I wasn't with my mom b/c my mother ALWAYS over reacted

Will she be allowed to go to movies with friends before she's 16 or have boys come over....yes...HOWEVER I will be driving and bet your *kitten* I'll wait in the parking lot reading a book till its done and at home, the bedroom door MUST be left open.

In all seriousness, going out ALONE with some boy will be a privledge; if she is a good student, good kid and respectful, I'll give her the opportunity to go and trust her to make the right decisions

The thing is as a parent you would think you would be the one who sets the age on when it is appropriate. Unfortunately the laws state that a 13 year old cannot be with anyone or it is considered an assult. Each state may be different, but please check. Even if they are boyfriend/girlfriend and your child isn't much older than that.

Anything before is just childish crushes, saying you are boyfriend and girlfriend, when you have only maybe held hands, never talk to eachother, whatever.

Seriously, where do you live, the fifties? I'm thirty now, and there are a number of people I went to school with who have teenage children by now. They were most definitely not just holding hands and sending Valentines at 15...

Its all about the parenting at that point. Im saying with good parenting, thats as far as it gets

No offense intended but I don't think you really know what it is to raise kids in the real world. "That's as far as it gets" is very easy to say and much harder to enforce unless you are with them 24/7.

My husband has told our daughter 25. Right now she's young enough (6) to believe him.

I think the rule with my parents was 16? And then only if they had met the guy, had him to dinner and grilled him first. So I snuck around behind their backs.

***Edited to add*** I didn't think that 16 was an unreasonable age. And the rules they had for dating were, for the most part, reasonable as well. I had to tell them where I was going. Home by 11 unless I gave a good reason to be out later (ex: going to see our friends band play, the show didn't start until 9, curfew would be bumped to 12:30 ish)

What was unreasonable to me was having the dinner with the family thing *before* the first date. The first date was usually still a getting to know you type of thing. I had a lot of first dates that they never knew about. Went out, didn't really care to go out with the guy again, end of story. IMO (then and now) I think that an official "meet the family" type dinner needs to come later, sometime after date 2 or 3, (when it's pretty obvious that you like the person and will continue to see him/her).

That said, I never thought it was unreasonable that my parents wanted to meet the guy before the first date, just not have him to dinner!***

We're thinking probably 15. Young enough to still need a ride to-and-from dates for the first year. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.

I have a mild panic attack every time this topic comes up! My oldest girl is 10 and has friends "dating" already. Their parents drop them at the movies and come back to get them. I keep telling her she can date when shes done with college. Which, honestly, is how I feel about it. Realistically, Im going to have to just play it by ear on when she matures enough to handle it, rather is one on one or a group. Im guessing 16? PANIC

I'd say 15-16. Really depends on maturity, though.

Wow, every poster said it. Wow. I just cant understand people

Really dude? Loosen up. Joke a little. Do you need a hug?

What of it? Maybe I do! *cowers in the corner*

[[[[hugs]]]]

I don't want to scare you parents that say over 16, but many people are already having sex by the age 15-17, and usually kids date prior to having sex, so good luck making them wait that long to start dating.

I completely agree...they may not go on "official" dates, but they are texting, talking, flirting all day long at school...so "dating" may not take place but they will develop relationship with someone and trust them enough to start experimenting. In my graduating class there were 11 kids born to my classmates within a 4 year period and 3 girls crossed the stage pregnant, there was not a whole lot of "official dating" as in going out to dinner and such...but they were definitely "boyfriend and girlfriend" at some point. I think it is best for the parents to develop a good relationship where their kids can talk about anything with them, and I think parents have to do their job and actively parent their kids. That is the only thing that saved me from being 16 and pregnant, I respected my parents and didn't want to disappoint them, I also knew about contraceptives and prevention, thanks to my open minded parents, and I knew that I was the only person that was going to decide the rest of my life, not some guy I was in "love" with. Also, I think some parents are naive and think that their kid would never do anything sexual with someone that they just went to the movies with....or that their kids are "good", temptation gets to everyone, and it is best to remember what it was like when you were 15-17 and realize there are many possibilities for just a couple hours out with their boyfriend/girlfriend/friends.

My oldest is 15 and he has had a couple of girlfriends. They have never done anything alone, always supervised by us. Unless you count walking around alone in the mall, but we were in the mall ourselves. LOL We always meet the parents and the kids are always with one sets of parents or the other. He can go to school dances. When he turns 16 and can drive, we'll allow him to go on real dates. We've just been playing it by ear, really.

My parents had a hard and fast rule. And it was a little ridiculous in my opinion and that hasn't changed now that I am a parent. I absolutely could NOT date AT ALL until 16. So, when a really sweet boy (from church no less) asked me out, my parents wouldn't allow it. Even though we knew his family really well. In fact, his mother officiated at my wedding. So by the time I turned 16 and he had lost interest, my mother just couldn't understand. I didn't understand what was different about me a few months later, other than the magical age of 16. :huh: