Age difference

Parent Cafe
1

<p>How much of an age difference would you find acceptable between a 16-year old girl and a potential date?</p>

2

<p>No more than 2.</p>

3

<p>Not even 2 (unless he were younger :slight_smile: ).</p>

4

<p>No more than two - and not even two, if he’s already out of h.s.</p>

5

<p>especially if he is out of h.s.</p>

6

<p>At that age not more than a grade.</p>

7

<p>i know this is in parents cafe and i’m a kid… but i would say up to four completely depending on the kid. girls are more mature at sixteen than guys are. as long as the guy is nice and genuine and isn’t going to screw her over.</p>

8

<p>25 years-- if the date is her FATHER! :smiley: Otherwise no more than a college freshman if she is a HS junior. If she is a soph, date should still be in HS too. This is totally random and off the top of my head, but it makes sense to me.</p>

9

<p>Nobody’s mentioned the half-their-age-plus-seven rule, which would make the maximum age guy she ought to date 18. (18/2 = 9, 9+7 = 16)</p>

<p>Though when my husband and I first started dating, I was 18 and he was 24… (24/2 = 12, 12+7 = 19… hmm…) So I like to give a year’s worth of leeway! =)</p>

10

<p>I think parents need to recognize that girls really do mature faster than guys. I know parents are scared to let their little girls go, hell if I have a girl I would be scared out of my mind. However, I really think it depends on the girl. Personally I respect my parents so much more in that they don’t restrict my dating due to things like age. I mean obviously they wouldn’t let it fly if I went significantly older, but I think a few years is definitely reasonable. I personally don’t find most of the immature guys my age attractive.</p>

11

<p>Is that half plus seven rule a commonly-known rule?</p>

12

<p>Yes, I have known of it for awhile, but I thought it only applied to second wives!! E.g., 60/2 = 30 + 7 = 37</p>

13

<p>That rule suggests that a 13-year-old girl should date guys who are no older than 12. I think there are some problems with the model at the extremes.</p>

14

<p>My opinion is that 16 year old girls should date boys who are still in high school.</p>

15

<p>Sorry, forgot one part… I heard at one point that there was a general assumption that you shouldn’t be seriously dating anybody until you were sixteen, so the equation is only applicable for involved parties age 16 and up.</p>

16

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</p>

<p>Thirteen year olds should not be dating.</p>

17

<p>JHS: Really? See, I figured it was a statistically rigorous model designed to accurately model for all ages…</p>

<p>Obviously, this is a rule of thumb. Works pretty well, though. ;)</p>

18

<p>I don’t think 16 year olds should date anyone who is out of high school. Once both parties are out of high school, age difference is not so big a deal.</p>

19

<p>It really depends on the kids (both of them). I think it is totally misguided to generalize this rule.</p>

20

<p>I’ll generalize - no more than a year older and still in HS. A 16 y/o HS girl dating a legal adult who’s no longer in HS is asking for issues. </p>

<p>I don’t buy the “but girls are more mature” argument. There are mature/responsible 16/17 y/o males as well and not so mature/responsible 16 y/o girls. For that matter, plenty of 18-21 y/o males (and females) aren’t so mature/responsible either, depending, but at least if they’re the same age give or take a year there’s a better chance they’re on a more even experience level. Note the inclusion of the term ‘responsible’.</p>

<p>A 16 y/o shouldn’t be dating some college (or post HS) guy or vice-versa.</p>