The media constantly portrays relationships as one of the key parts of the “high school experience.” Many movies and TV shows center around these great high school romances where two students fall in love and live happily ever after.
Junior Kaela Longboy says that portraying relationships in this way gives her and other high school students a false sense of what a teenage relationship really looks like.
“The media gave some sort of pressure for me since I wanted to experience the kind of love they had in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ or ‘Twilight,’” Longboy said. “Romanticizing the idea of finding love in high school has gotten to the heads of many students.”
Sophomore Lauren Leal agrees the types of relationships shown in the films are not all that realistic.
“I think high school romance is possible, but that doesn’t mean the relationship is going to last forever,” Leal said. “It depends on the person.”
Longboy stated that, in her opinion, experiencing an amazing romance as a teenager is not very likely in this day and age.
“A lot of people in our generation don’t know respect and how to give it,” Longboy said. “Great relationships can’t come out of high school if the students in the relationship don’t know how to treat each other.”
In reality, high school relationships are a lot harder to handle than the media lets on and are not for everyone.
Teenagers like Leal are aware of this and recognize that certain things are necessary before committing oneself to a romantic relationship.
“Whether someone is ready for a relationship or not depends on the individual because different people manage being in a relationship in different ways,” Leal said. “It also depends on if the people are emotionally mature enough.”
On top of being emotionally ready for a relationship, being able to balance their studies is another factor that students must take into consideration, which is not shown in the widespread media.
Sophomore Christine Coronel, who is in a relationship herself, explains that juggling a relationship and schoolwork can be a struggle at times.
“In my opinion, it’s pretty hard to handle a relationship and school both at the same time,” Coronel said. “But knowing that there’s a time and place for handling both of them separately and knowing how to do that in a disciplined manner helps me handle both.”
Leal, however, disagrees with Coronel and does not believe that she would be able to find the same balance that Coronel has.
“I think a relationship would distract me from school work and I don’t think I would be able to handle both a relationship and school at once,” Leal said.
Some students, nevertheless, are able to make it work. Sophomore Kevin Mata stated that, in his relationship, he and his girlfriend balance their studies and their relationship by being understanding of the work they need to do and accommodating to that.
“Being able to respect each other’s schedules and what we need to do is a big part of having a healthy relationship,” he said.
