Growing Up!!!

[Sean L.]

Don't be obsessed with boys. See, they should be a complement or supplement, not a integral necessity to your well-being.

Most of them aren't worth it, anyway; and the one that is will take your heart whether you're obsessed with boys or not. If you get into things you don't understand all you do is leave with a broken heart.

Broken hearts are bad...and sometimes, it's as hard to break up with someone as it is to be broken up with...

[Cress]

I dunno, personally I think any "dating" before high school is just a maskerade. It seems way to young for anyone. I didn't even think I'd date until like my junior year, but I guess I had to grow up really fast in that respect cause I ended up getting a boyfriend who was older than I was, and while he said he didn't want to push me to do anything there was still pressure. It really wasn't a very good choice on my part. I have the personality that would have done better with starting dating veeeeery slowly.

[joe]

first off i would like to say that iam insulted. sayihg that hairy guys are gross. all guys are hairy. unless he's one of those gay guys that swim. so you shouldnt say that. its like me saying, o crap, i cant think of anything. anyway. i agree with cress. you shouldnt really date untill you can drive or something. seriously who wants there mom to drive them to the movies on a date. that would suck. iam not aloud to date anyway. not till iam like 16. wich i think is fair. cause i know some people that cant untill there 18. but yeah.i think thats all i have to say.

[Dee]

I do agree with Cress. I sort of did the same thing, though he wasn't much older than me. I ended up getting pushed into things I didn't want to to, and I very much regret dating when I was that young. But I think I learned something, though I won't go into the details. I do wish I'd put off dating until high school, and I was incredibly dumb to be one of the girls who date in middle school.

I sort of agree with Joe, but not exactly how he said it. I mean, heck, I wouldn't want to date a bear, but, um, all boys are at least slightly furry. It's a natural part of life. If you want to try to make your guy shave his back, be my guest, but I don't think he'll be too happy about it.

Also on one of Joe's points, you don't always have to get your mom to drive you. It can be a lot of fun to walk somewhere. Why take a car to go to the huge movie theater in the mall that's showing the latest thriller, when you can walk to the little tiny downtown cinema and see an old movie for two dollars? (Only a dollar on Tuesdays!) Why go to Starbucks when you can walk a few blocks to go to a cute coffee shop that has all fair trade coffee? It's interesting to go to little places. You get a lot more culture than if you go to a factory-made chain that looks exactly the same in five hundred other towns. There's something to be said for a hole-in-the-wall.

[Cress]

Um, I'd like to disagree with Joe about one thing though...guys who swim aren't gay. I'm on a swim team, and seriously, they're jsut normal guys. Just cause they shave for finals doesn't mean they're gay. I shave my arms for finals, which is rather odd, but it gets you better times. Thank you for listening to my "swimming is awesome" rant.
And also, not all guys are massively hairy.

[joe]

well you know what i mean by saying gay.

[Cress]

Actually I don't...seriously I think that's rather offensive. It might just be me, I'm a tad sensitive about things like this, but still.

[Dee]

Yeah, it's a little offensive, especially to people who are bi/homosexual or have friends who are. I know you probably weren't thinking about it and didn't mean it to be insulting, but still, it's better if you don't.

[joe]

whateva

[Gigo]

-snickers- At my school, the oldest girls there are 13, and they act like headless chickens. They run around in packsand stalk people. It's kind of funny, kind of creepy and kind of disturbing.

Confusing? That's what we do. Dumb? ...No. Well, maybe. Depends. >_> Crazy? -glint in eye- Do you really want to find out?

Anyways, the 'coming of age' thing varies from person to person. I always thought my friends were the same as me, but suddenly I see them differently. Then they're the same. <_> Spazz!

[bluesalamanders]

Not all males are hairy/furry/whatever. There are people, including some races of people, that naturally have almost no body hair. Sweeping generalizations are usually a bad idea, because (and yes, I'm going to make one here) they are almost invariably wrong.

And more on-topic...

I was first interested in boys when I was a freshman in high school.

I had my first real boyfriend when I was a freshman in college.

When I was in middle school (6-8th grades), boys and girls didn't associate all that much. So although my best friend was a boy, we didn't really talk much during school. We got together after school and on the weekends. Nobody I knew dated at all.

[kittymeow]

wow. Things are WAY different in my junior high. But see the thing is, most of the kids here dont accually DATE that i know of, its mostly, go you out, just for the sake of saying "hey were going out". Or sometimes theres the occasions where they hug or hold hand or some other type of PDA. lol

Gigo: yeah...it's creepy. Not that I stalk the guys i like, because i dont! But i know one guys whole class schedual, and half of two others. But its mostly just because my friends have classes with them, or i see them walking in to their classes or something. lol

[Cress]

This is kinda random, but guys tend to mature this way slower than girls...which I think I kinda found out the hard way. Even though my mother told me, but still the point was driven home very hard by personal experience. So yeah, even if you are ready, then it might be better to wait until the guys are too.
And I'm not just saying this like "oh guys are slow" I'm pretty sure it's a proven fact.

[Moeen]

About guys maturing slower than girls; this may be true, but regardless, the statement is too general to be useful. After all, each person is different, and while on average guys may mature more slowly, you're going to be meeting individuals, and it's not hard to tell how mature a person is simply by meeting the person.

As far as growing up goes, that depends on what you mean by growing up. Having romantic relationships doesn't mean you've grown, or are any better than you were before. Relationships have consequences, and until you realize that and have matured enough to go about them properly, then you haven't really grown. In fact, it is sometimes because people want to "grow up" fast that they end up becoming involved in things and making mistakes that have lasting negative consequences. My main point is that you grow by maturing and understanding, and that's what really matters.

As for myself. Well, I am a guy, and 21 years old at that. I've never been involved in any kind of romantic relationship because I've always felt that one should only get involved in that sort of thing if one is looking to marriage. Although I do know of some people who met in high school and have gotten married, most people I knew in high school who were in those kind of relationships were in it mostly for fun, and didn't really take it too seriously. I've always felt that was wrong, and that one shouldn't get involved with someone if one doesn't truly care about the other person. At least that's my point of view, namely, that I'd only be interested in starting a romantic relationship if I truly care for the other person and would want to marry her. It may seem idealistic, but that's what I have in mind.

Anyway, as for girls and teen culture. Some time during the fall of last year, I read the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which I had found out about online at Amazon.com. (As an interesting sidenote, the book was inspiration for the movie Mean GirlsThe Merchants of Cool, available for online viewing here. (As an aside, for another example of how the media influences society see The Persuaders, a documentary about the advertising industry, also available for online viewing here. In general, Frontline

[Angel_Star]

I didn't have a boyfriend until the summer before freshman year. As in, a year ago. My parents wouldn't let me until I was at least in eighth grade, but I'm generally not the type of girl guys are interested in. I mean, I guess some guys have had meaningless crushes on me, but I'm not one of those girls that guys follow like lonely puppies.

"Coming of age" makes me think of a theme for a story. Ah! Memories from 8th grade english class...*shudder*

As for makeup, I generally wear it whenever I feel like it, or on special occasions. It's not something I have to have, just a little extra. I'll wear mascara usually 'cause my eyelashes are practically invisible. Beyond that, it messes with my skin, and I don't want to make it worse than it already is. Some of my friends wear tons and tons of makeup and won't leave the house without it, while others wouldn't know eyeshadow if it bit them on the nose.

Guys...*sigh* They're...stressful. I can say, "Oh, wow. He's realllly cute," and go on with it. I don't obsess over them. I just like to give commentary when I see them, heh. However, as my school is somewhat small, the choice in guys is small. I've seen basically the same people since before middle school. Ah, le curse of de small private Christian school. I have tons of guy friends, one which I absolutely love to flirt with 'cause he's a natural flirt who brings it out in me. He's pretty much the only one, though. Otherwise, I'm just the same around my guy friends as I am my girl friends. Since Zach and I broke up, though, the group has kind of split. We were kind of a bridge between the guys and the girls, if you exclude Shoe from the picture. Shoe hangs out with the girls over the guys 'cause he follows A around everywhere. Now the guys are more with Zach, except for Shoe, N, and another guy who is kind of on the outskirts of our group 'cause his girlfriend dragged him into it.

Whoa, sorry for the lesson on the posse.

Anyways, I'm rather short myself...about 5'2". I'm taller than my mom, though, so it's all good.

Puberty equals notfun.

Growing up is tough. The whole Girl Code thing...that's rather ridiculous. You don't just magically know stuff. Oh...that reminds me of an incident in Spanish class that I won't go into...wow. Annnyways.

Bed times! lol. Mum generally forces me into bed about eleven, but I'm usually up until at least eleven thirty. I've been staying up after midnight lately with a book.

And you're probably going to get mad at me for my preaching, but there's a verse in 1 Peter that says not to let your beauty come from your outward appearance, but from your inner spirit..."the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit"...and my favourite part..."which is of great worth in God's sight."