Blind Dating for Teenagers

Blind Dating for Teenagers is a legitimate way to meet people, but there are a few things to consider before you go into it. First of all, who is making the arrangements? How well do you know the individual arranging the date? Also, how responsible is he or she? How much does he know about your prospective dating partner?

If there is any uncertainty about the blind date, it may be best to decline with thanks or suggest some safe dating situation. You might, for instance, suggest an informal party with several other couples you know. Perhaps your church group is having an outing to which the blind date might be invited as your guest. In blind dating, a good principle is: Take advantage of opportunities, but provide safeguards.

Off Limits

If you’re going out with a boy or girl whom you don’t know well, it’s best to avoid public places the first time. In fact, even if you know your date well, some public places are just not suitable for young people. Many public dance halls, for instance, draw an unscrupulous crowd of people who could cause a difficult situation for you and your date. Bars and roadside taverns have people in them occasionally who might cause trouble. Roaming the streets with or without an escort is risky in certain parts of town.

Likewise, people you meet in public places are rarely suitable dating prospects. Those boys sitting behind you and your girl friends in the movies might quite possibly be nice, but they might also turn out to be roughnecks. It’s much better to ignore them than to take a chance. The boy who cuts in at a community dance may look cute, but he might be more than you can handle if you let him take you home without finding out about him first. As a general rule, it’s safer to stay with people you know or have met through suitable channels.

Pickups

Pickups are risky. It may seem adventurous to stand on a corner and pick up a likely-looking person, but it can be dangerous. The papers are filled with unhappy, sometimes tragic, incidents of teenagers who took such wild chances. People who use the pickup system are those who for some reason cannot use the ordinary channels for meeting people.

Boys sometimes congregate on corners to whistle at passing girls. It may feel good to be whistled at, but unless you know the boys, it’s not wise to encourage them. Many guys feel that an easy pickup is “fast,” or else she wouldn’t be out looking for a date in that fashion.

This is not just a matter of concern to girls. Boys too can be exploited by unscrupulous women whom they pick up. There are less risky ways of getting dates than picking them up on street comers.

Safe and Sane

If you want a safe place to meet people—and a place that promises wholesome fun—first look toward your church. Many churches have young people’s programs with activities designed to help you make and keep friends of both sexes. People you meet in a church group are generally the kind who are responsible and respectable.

Community centers, YMCAs, YWCAs, USOs, and neighborhood clubs provide all kinds of interesting programs for teenagers and young adults. If you want more friends, explore some of your local resources and before you know it you’ll be deep in activity.

Follow Your Interests

The key to the whole question of finding suitable dating partners lies within yourself. If you’re interested in acting, you’ll find the kind of date you would enjoy more quickly by joining a dramatic club or class than by hanging around the locker rooms at school. Not only that—but you and this new friend would have a common interest from the very first, which would help overcome the initial problem of what to say to your date.

If there is no dramatic club in your vicinity you might start a little play-acting group. Invite some of your friends who also like to act for the purpose of creating a skit for a school or church meeting.

If you like to sing or play a musical instrument, the school or local community choral group or band would be a good place to meet eligible dating partners with similar interests. Somewhere there is a group or organization that will fit your interests and provide datable companions.

~.* ♥ *.~

The first novel in our series of seven is now published, and is a courageous story of a young teen growing up in a home filled with domestic violence, and how she manoeuvres her way through such a difficult situation. Click here if you’d like to know more about this novel.

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