Should I let my 12—year—old child date

Jessie

导读：中学生早恋应该是全世界家长与老师头疼的问题，美国的家长们是怎样看待这个问题的呢？

My 12-year-old daughter wants to date a boy. She said all her friends are allowed to and that I am a bad mom if I dont let her. What should I do？

Mother 1： My daughter is 6 years old， so I havent come across this yet， but I dont like giving in just because all the friends are doing it. In my opinion， twelve is just too young to date. But its not too young to have a serious talk about the birds and the bees， relationships， changing bodies， etc. I would try to use this as a learning opportunity. Ive heard of some parents letting their kids do group activities which is another way to go.

Mother 2： I have an 11-year-old who has asked the same question. She also said that all her friends are allowed to date， so I spoke with some of her friends parents to see if they were allowing this. None of them allowed their child to date because they all believed that their child was too young. One of the parents said going out with a group of girls and boys （with a parent present） would be the only way they would allow their child to go at this time. So this might be a choice.

Mother 3： My daughter is also 12. She wants to wear make-up and have boyfriends. She isnt mature enough to brush her teeth without being told. My son is 14 and he just broke up with his first real girlfriend. It hurt him really bad. When they were together I had to babysit them whenever they were in my house or make sure her parents were home if he went there. They arent ready to make adult decisions yet.

Mother 4： A girl and her “boyfriend” wont be all over each other and nothing is going to happen. If anything happens it would be a tiny kiss on the face. Parents are really stopping their children from growing up！ If you let your daughter get interested in boys at a young age， she wont be all clingy and shell know when to say stop when shes older.

Vocabulary

date  v. 約会

relationship  n. 关系

make-up  n. 化妆品

mature  adj. 成熟的

brush  v. 刷

clingy  adj. 过于依赖别人的

If you are interested in a boy or a girl， what would you say to your parents？