High school. The time for partying, studying and of course: dating. When approached with the last word, people tend to smirk at how cliché it sounds, but believe it or not, it’s a very controversial subject, especially when it comes to age difference.

The typical high school couple is one, maybe two years apart, age wise. No one sees anything wrong with it, in fact they get praised daily on how “cute they are together” and how “they hope they last”.  But what about when that couple, isn’t exactly a high school couple and the age difference goes beyond three years? People are quick to judge and won’t say “I hope you guys last a long time.” When it comes down to dating, age really isn’t the biggest factor. I would think that the way your partner treats you and respects you is by far more important than whether or not he or she is of legal age to drink. For some reason though, society tends to target age as the biggest no-no, when in reality it’s not that big of a deal if you follow the law.

By following the law, I mean Penal Code Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault). This law basically states that someone who is over 17 may not engage in any type of sexual activity with anyone three years younger than them, even if it is consensual and the parents are okay with it. That being said, I don’t see a problem with an academically driven junior girl dating a down to earth 21 year old as long as they don’t engage in sexual activities.

When I asked five girls of distinct heritages about their opinion of a 16 year old dating a 21 year old, one of them thought “it’s completely creepy and inappropriate, that man should be locked up”, two said it “depended on the situation” and two said “it’s a little weird but there’s nothing wrong with it.” Obviously there’s difference in opinions between these people and it is that way no matter how many people you ask.

In my opinion, I don’t see anything wrong with it, as long as the person is respectful and knows how to respect boundaries why should the numbers on his ID card matter? Why should age determine a person’s possibility to be happy?