I had the opportunity to give a little thought to an agreement that Alleluia Community has concerning dating. Our agreement is that for our school age children there should be no dating. We call this an exclusive relationship. The three facets that I found that truly supported our agreement were as follows:

Safety - There are many reasons to be concerned with teenagers dating. The first that I saw was that exclusive relationships fuel a fire that leads to pre-marital sex. There are few people who would deny that the safety risks concerning sex in our society are real. Sexually transmitted diseases are one issue and pregnancy another. In order to help our children be safer we agree that they should not date until after school. That is not 3:00 pm but rather graduation.

Sanity - What teenager is not overwhelmed with all the cares and worries of school, homework, sports and popularity. As a high school teacher I know what types of stress this produces for the average teenager. Our agreement is a great way to reduce stress and this in turn helps our children maintain sanity.

Sanctity - As mentioned in the section about safety, dating often times will lead to pre-marital sex. There is no way to regain one's virginity and there is no better gift to give your future spouse. Exclusive relationships also give rise to hurt and pain. There are always breakups and scars that sometimes last a lifetime. Only Christ in his infinite lofe and mercy can heal these wounds.