Reports that children as young as 10 are starting relationships have prompted a call for the Government to introduce lessons in dating and relationships to the nation’s schools.
The majority of parents believe that the optimum age for children to start dating is 16. However, the average age that British children are having their first experience of ‘going out’ with someone is 14.
Remarkably, 5% of parents said that their children had ‘gone out’ with other people before they had reached the age of 10. This marks a significant change from the recent past: the average 40 year olds today had their first date at 16.
As a result, nearly three quarters of parents and 69% of all adults believe young people would benefit from school lessons in dating and relationships—preferably before they receive sex education lessons. 64% of adults also believe that they would have benefited from being taught about relationships and dating in school, as well as sex education.
44% of today’s parents claim that they were largely self-taught in such matters. For men this stat rises to 53%. Over a third of women looked to their school friends for dating advice, but, revealingly, less than 1% of the adult population over 30 learnt from a school teacher, something DatingDirect.com are looking to change.
As divorce rates rise, should the Government dedicate lesson time to teaching children how to build and maintain good relationships? Alistair Shrimpton, Managing Director of DatingDirect.com, believes that the Government should make relationship and dating lessons part of the schools’ curriculum.
He says: Children are now dating much earlier than their parents did and it seems only fitting that the education system reflects this. If the Government were to introduce dating lessons into the school curriculum, we would see young people benefit from hearing the voice of a professional and not just relying on their peers or teaching themselves.