My Answer:
For whenever I have children, preferrably when they become eighteen. Which would basically be time for when they go to college and finally escape from my constant overprotective watching.
However, I don’t think one could put an exact age for when the time would be right for a person to begin dating. As most people say, it depends on the maturity of the person/kid/child/teenager in question. True, s/he should be mature enough to be able to handle the emotional stress that will come along with dating, be able to juggle relationship and all other aspects of life equally well, and be mature enough not to curse the opposite gender when things go wrong. (When thinking about dating in that last aspect, from the lies I’ve seen on television shows, quite a few adults shouldn’t be allowed to date.) However, fulfilling these few requirements isn’t enough for me. The person should also understand that dating isn’t just a status, nor is the act of dating solely for fun and games. And if it’s just a way to “get some,” that person should most certainly NOT be allowed to date.
When the epiphany that dating is a course taken to find someone whom one would want to spend the rest of his or her life with, and s/he is ready to make that commitment, then perhaps that person can be deemed ready to begin dating. The purpose of dating isn’t just so one won’t be alone. The purpose of dating isn’t because you “need” someone to make you feel whole. When one realizes that the act of dating is to find someone to love, forever, then the person will be that much closer to dating. S/he also must have already figured out that the reason for being in a relationship, in any relationship, romantic or unromantic, should be for the other person. Self gain will come with it, but that shouldn’t be the reason to be in the relationship. But if the reasons for dating is solely that the person is “hot” or is rich, or something else superficial, then some more mental growth needs to occur.
There’s probably many more things I think are important on this subject but don’t remember at the moment. Revision will probably ensue…sometime.
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