A little less romance

By Beth Belcher
Herbert Hoover High School

Have you ever seen “Happy Days”? If you have, think about how it portrayed teen dating as compared to how we define dating today.

Back in the day, teens had chaperones and didn’t hang out that much. Today’s teens usually see each other daily and have more freedom to go places alone. Today’s teens talk on the phone or chat online every night. Years ago, teens wrote letters and occasionally talked on the phone.

“Today, boyfriends and girlfriends spend all their time together compared to the past when it was a big deal to go to one movie or dance,” said Herbert Hoover sophomore Stormi Carder. “I feel like relationships meant more when our grandparents were in school because now they seem like a huge game with less romance.”

Carder makes a good point. Anymore, it is expected that couples spend almost every minute together. No longer is just one date acceptable - the couples must be attached at the hip.

On shows like “Happy Days,” there was one thing called “going steady” and another called “dating.” But today, the two have melded together. To go steady meant to see only one guy or girl and to be serious about them. Dating meant to go out on a date with no strings attached.

Today’s dating is basically what going steady was back then. And the dating of that time period is almost nonexistent nowadays.

Also, back then, things were more romantic because guys had to try hard to impress the girl. Guys held the door open for their dates, offered girls their jackets if the ladies got cold and respected women. Sex wasn’t as blatantly on their minds as it is today. Guys had manners then; they were gentlemen, not jerks.

“I think relationships in the past were more romantic and more serious than they are now because usually if you became boyfriend and girlfriend back then, more than likely you would get married,” said Herbert Hoover freshman Reagan Summers.

Now, instead of dating in order to get married, it seems like teens date just for fun or sport. Peer pressure has changed what relationships are. Also, as sophomore Taylor Elgin says, teens today have more pressure than teens of the past.

“I feel that relationships differ from 50 years ago because danger has greatly increased,” Elgin said. “Many limitations have been placed on teens today that teens 50 years ago did not have to experience. This makes relationships a little more difficult.”

It seems like today’s relationships are less romantic and more complicated than in the past. Why can’t things just be simple again?