At what age would you allow your son/daughter to have a girlfriend/boyfriend?

The youngest age would be 18 for them to engage in a boyfriend/ girlfriend relationship. However, I would allow dating with chaperone at the age of 16. It should just be a getting to know and friendly date with a couple of their friends too.

I think, first off, that these kids that are so young don't define boyfriend and girlfriend the same way that an adult does. I remember being young. And having a boyfriend then was nothing like having a boyfriend now. It's merely an innocent form of early flirting and somehow it made me 'cool'. It was nothing serious. We only ever hung out on the tire swing during recess and at lunch. Haha. So, the question really depends on the maturity of the individual. People are hard to generalize and what 'rule' of boyfriend/girlfriend age can apply to every single child?

I saw different young couples too during recent Valentines Day. If I will guess their age they are close to 13 to 16 years of age. And they act sweet in the malls. I don’t believe parents allow their kids to have relationship at the tender age. If I were the parents I will not let my kids to have relationship as they are sensitive and they can’t handle a serious relationship. Some allow their sons and daughters when they reach 18 years of age. My parents, I am really not sure if they allow us to have a relationship when we were still studying, because we never been in a relationship, me and my older sister. My sister was around 31 when he got his boyfriend and now at the age of 29 I am still single and never have a boyfriend in my entire life. I still wants the parents to got to know their daughters suitors, and if they have son, they should guide their son towards courtship. I still believe in the proper guidance of parents in a relationship to avoid bigger problems in the future. But the problem is some teenagers keep their relationship to their parents that is why there are unwanted pregnancy. Maybe it is really the parents problem how they will guide their children.

this is a hard question since i wouldn't like my children to have a girlfriend/boyfriend at an early age but i also think of myself. i had my first boyfriend when i was 13. i know what it felt like to be not approved by the parents to have a boyfriend. well, i still should approve instead of not. that just might make them lie to me. maybe when they become 16, i would let them.

Hi mjcookie, I have one girl. I often tell her not to have boyfriend so early as he will definitely affect her emotion, then finally affect her study. I pray every day that my girl would have her boyfriend not before her university graduation. I think she should enjoy her childhood and school life when she is young. It is not good for her to have any relationship when she is only a teenager. Have a good day! agonyaunt69 (1:43am 6 March 2010, Hong Kong time)

My son/daughter can have a boyfriend or a girlfriend at any age they want, of course in the case of a daughter I would make sure the boyfriend is a good boy, Children must be left free to express their feeling whenever they feel like as long as it isn't bad for themselves and that's when my parent's duty has to come to action. What would be the use of forbidding my kids to have a special friend and feel loved, of course I will not let them go with anybody, but they still have to be free to chose when.

I have told my children since the time they were young that 16 years of age was the age they could start doing things - dating, wearing make-up, wearing bikini bathing suits. There is just too much stuff going on out there with boys these days. My 16yo (she'll be 17 in April) has her first boyfriend for about a month now. She has known him for several years. However, she hasn't shown any interest in boys up until now. She actually thought it weird when a teenage boy spoke to her. Fortunately the boy she is seeing right now is the nicest boy I've ever met. Most are glum, non-smiling, non-speaking. This boy has a great sense of humour, always smiling, very friendly. Now a few months ago I happened to be driving by when I saw my 13yo hug and kiss a boy. There were a lot of her friends standing around. I got to the bottom of it real quick (because she denied it). We made it very clear that we have rules and she broke a rule. She lost her cell phone for a week. She immediately broke up with the boy. I had spoken to the boy's mother and she agreed what happened was inappropriate for their age. I spoke to a couple of parents during this time and I was a little surprised that they aren't too pleased with the way kids behave these days, but they don't step up and do anything about it. I wasn't going to let anything happen to my daughter. I told her boys want more and more and she is too young for that. Really, a 13yo is not old enough to make those kinds of decisions. Do they really know what love is? No. Their brains don't stop growing until they are 20 years of age. I have always let my 13yo have male friends and go to the movies and parties with both boys and girls, but a one-on-one relationship at this age is out of the question. Some people may think I'm being too harsh but my kids are good kids and I can feel other parents feel the same way but, stupidly, do nothing about it.

That is a tough question! I have an eight year old daughter who is in the third grade and already talks about boyfriends! She doesn’t hang around one yet but the way girls her age talk it doesn’t sound as though it will be too long before they will want to date and to me, that is terrifying! I would certainly not allow her to go out with boys right now and in order to answer your question I had to do some serious thinking. I had my first boyfriend at age fifteen; it was all relatively innocent for the first two years then it became more serious and we eventually got married when we were in our early twenties. Times were different when we were young and I would not recommend a teenager get seriously involved so soon but having said that I see no problem with my daughter having platonic boyfriends while she is in high school but I would not allow her to date until she is at least 17 or 18. I would not mind her inviting boys who are friends to the house but no dates and strictly no sleepovers!

I am a new mom, so my opinion may be overprotective. I think 16 is a good age to start dating, and I mean "true courting", such as going to the movies, dinner, and walking each other to class, or other events that can be chaperoned. I believe serious relationships among really young children and teens should be discouraged and as parents it is our job to keep our children focused on other things besides relationships and romance, because as we all know these things can lead to consequences that can jepordize their future. I suspect these people who are allowing their 8-14 year old children to be in relationships are setting themselves up to be grandparents prematurely.

NO. i have talked to my daughter about it, she knew that i would only allow her to have a boyfriend when she will graduate from college which i think at the age of 18, if the will never stop schooling. she knows that entering the boy/girlfriend relationships are meant only once a person understands it fully, and is ready with it. if not never mind. i blame media primarily. look at the commercials (a brand of milk for example where a little girl hide behind the back of her mother while a little boy came in to their house and offered milk), that's just one example. tv shows pairing small kids, with malice. a tv program shows pairs of small kids, playing big roles. i mean with all these, parent should be vigilant and quick in correcting faulty modeling of this media display, but then again, parent can only correct once they themselves have the right perspective about things and relationships.

I won't allow them to have relationships like this in very small age.. i think 18 would be better since they all know like wats right and wrong after letting me know what they do..

Hello mjcookie! I also think its not a good idea to allow kids to be in a relationship so young, when they finish the relationship its worse than grown ups, because things that happen in your childhood are the ones that build you as a person. Also its building a bad reputation because if you start dating so young, how many boyfriends would you have before you meet the one? Children should play, have fun, enjoy, be innocent, every good thing life has for us before having so much responsibilities. Have a nice day, Libna!

If i have a daughter she can make as many as her girl friends but not boy friends as far as i will know as when the time comes she can go for marriage which we will select or she will select as parents chose the best of the lot but in haste girls chose not fit for them type of .just time pass type of boy friends whcih i dont like .If u love some body u should get married to him

I liked boys, but my parents wouldn't let me start "dating" until I was a sophomore in high school...I guess around the age of 16. I thought that was a reasonable age, and if I had any kids, it would be around that age before I would let them start dating. It worked for me.

I'd say around 13 is alright.

I think its appropriate around the time of half way threw first year of highschool like around age 16. They need some time to experience high school and make a smooth transition to highschool get off to a good start on all the added responsibilites there without the added stress of a boyfriend girl friend relationship. For high school theres alot of activities that are centered around a boyfriend girlfriend type relationship and this can be healthy if the relationship is a good one emotionally. If the teen chooses an unhealthy relationship it can make the teen years an extreme challenge though. I think parents need to be actively involved in the supervision of these early relationship to be able to find warning signs if the relationship isnt healthy.

8-14?? That won't do.. My son is just three years old now, and I just hate to think that someday when he grown up and he'll have a girlfriend then got married That would be the hardest part for me maybe..he he I'm too advance well, I guess when he finally fall in love, I would let him but not at the age of 8-14 probably after college, so that there will be no hindrance in his studies.

I don't have any kids yet but for my son, maybe highschool would be a good time to start having girlfriends. For my daughter, the best would be after highschool. I don't know why, I just see it safer that way.

I will allow my kids to have a girlfriend/boyfriend at the age of 17. but I will give explanation about it.

Hi mjcookie! I would definitely allow my son/daughter to have a relationship after college. That age is surely already mature emotionally and they can already cope up with stress or hurt that comes with a relationship. If they are still in highscool or still studying in college, whatever happens to them, either they get pregnant or get someone pregnant, would be a big problem for the whole family, but after they have finished a degree or have work already, they can support or face whatever consequences they have to face.