Some people misunderstand certain "sheltered" homeschoolers ideas on dating. And there are also a lot of other homeschoolers who don't get the idea either.

Dating: We don't think it is a sin. It's a common misconception that many people hold on to.

...the age of the actual "dating" is different though. It's laughable when a 14 year old goes on and on about dating "so-and-so", or goes through so much emotional stress when the young couple "breaks up". For us homeschoolers (nix that, when I say us, I speak for a lot of good homeschooling friends and my sister and I), for us, dating is something that one does when they are ready to think about marriage as something in the near future that may be God's will for them. Any sort of socialization before that can be categorized as just plain ol' friendship.

As a personal opinion, I think 17 is still to young for official "dating". But that is my opinion, and I don't think the Church has anything on dating ages. I'll have to look.

Sometimes I wonder if people have an opinion because it is personal, or is it really logical? - If a person is well grounded in their Faith, in morals, and in manners, and has common sense, then it doesn't matter if they have ever dated or not before college.

Like I said, dating without the idea of marrying is pointless. You can learn plenty about a person by just being the best friends you can be to them, and that way you don't have the hassle of emotions or friction in breaking up. Not saying that you can't know who you are going to marry at the age of 16 or 17 (who knows?) but it seems to me that "dating" in the modern form of the word, at such an age is more hassle than its worth.

First of all, if I was dating a guy and he broke up even though I knew it wasn't serious I wouldn't have a heart break, hence no lesson learned. Also, why would one date a guy and not be serious? Its a waste of time and emotions.

The way I see it is that teen boys and girls have enough trouble understanding themselves as well as trying to understand each other. A friendship is relaxed. Neither party expects anything from the other but friendship, advice, laughter, etc. there is no obligation or worry about the girl "dating" some other guy, or the guy not sending flowers or not calling.

It sounds kind of odd for me to be writing this, I guess. I really don’t have many friends who disagree with me, and normally I do not write about things such as this. It can get quite tedious, and sometimes hard to explain, without actually explaining it in the wrong way. I’d need to ask my Confessor if I was to go an further into the subject.
But I am talking about in public, really. Pray for the souls of the children (doesn’t matter what age they are!) who don’t understand what LOVE really is. Love is not immoral. Love does not mean to break someone’s heart. LOVE is God. God is love!!