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Chiedza Matenga
Peer pressure, rejection and feeling left out can drive a person to do unwanted things in life.
It’s not just about relationships but also how you handle situations in life. Some first inquire of the next move but, however, very few. Teen relationships have become a lifestyle with social networks boosting the exploration of it all.
Online dating or double dates leading to less cautioned measures are on the increase. Some teens end up getting raped or used for rituals while no one knows exactly what would have happened.

It is quite understandable when you feel out of place when all your friends are involved in relationships. There will come a time when you even try to isolate yourself so as to do what you know is right but your friends will bring you back into that circle.

As time goes on, you then feel pressured to do what they are doing. This is when peer pressure mounts on you like a horse.
The problem comes when you try to do what they all are doing. Literally they are doing more than you thought and as time goes on you realise you got more than you bargained for.

Teen pregnancies are a result of teen relationships that were misguided. A child is a responsibility thus rushing into unknown circumstances leads to full consequences.

Waiting until the right time may seem out of fashion but could help as you concentrate on one thing at a time. Relationships can be like drugs at times because once you start, you have got to keep going.

It is only those who are in control who have enough self-control to take time and know a person but with online dating, how do you know the person? I have learnt one thing though, just because everyone is doing it, it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

Take an extra mile to go your own way and be different positively. If everyone has an accident, you still gonna go the same direction or you will change direction? Morale being if everyone is dating that doesn’t mean you should too. Why not go for courtship? Dating has left many broken hearted over the years. Girls have a tendency of thinking the next guy will be different while boys scout for more girls. In the end you have nothing to give as you are broken.

There are things that you will indulge in like sex that will give an outcome that is nasty. This is how ladies end up saying “All men are dogs,” while the guys says “Women are the same.” No, there is nothing like that, if you are found in the wrong situation at the wrong time, you are bound to meet the wrong people at most intervals.

Funny thing is how one has to have looks, gadgets, a car or money in order to sustain the relationship. It’s not even about love but what latest technological gadgets you own. How you can show off your partner to your friends, it’s basically about competition. In girls, their men have to be known in several places, own a nice cellphone and dresses with approximate swag. With the guys, however, she has to be “hot” and beautiful, that all there is to it.

Now judging from these characteristics, would a marriage last because dating means you are searching for someone to be with. I support what most churches are now doing as they urge young adults to enter into courtship. With applications such as WhatsApp, Viber, Mixit, Facebook, Nimbuzz, Binu and many others less time is spent in churches, schools and family time.

It is now about sexsting half-naked or nude pictures and less of family time in homes.
Television programmes also contribute to a larger extent because what you see becomes your teacher. Not everything that happens in Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj videos is true.

These people do these things for money.
Gogo Masona advised: “If you see yourself jumping from one relationship to another, then it is not the right one. Jealousy burns like fire in your throat. Teenagers have a tendency to do the same thing  or imitate their loved ones.

“In such relationships, you only notice what the other partner is doing when you are doing it too, so remove the speck in your own eye before trying to remove the one from your partner’s.”