High School Heartache

The information in this article isn't all that surprising...

According to a recent study conducted at Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, teens who are romantically involved showed higher levels of depression than teens not involved in romantic relationships. The findings, reported in the Journal of Health & Social Behavior this year, showed that girls were more likely than boys to become depressed over a relationship, but both groups demonstrated a slight increase in problem delinquency and alcohol use.

I have been reading all these articles about how guys are now damn near entitled to heavy petting and oral sex from their girlfriends but are not expected to reciprocate. That's a far cry from when I was growing up ([joke] Damn, I grew up in the wrong era. [/joke]) but the dynamics are similar... boys feast upon the insecurities of girls, especially if they are a little younger. You can find asymmetrical relationships at all ages, but they are seemingly all over the place during your teens.

However, I have also noted an article or two (sorry, no links) about how girls are starting to flip the dynamic on boys by blatantly using guys and boasting of their conquests, much like the boy's locker room discussions of yore. Thomas Wolfe has some of that in his new book as well. It certainly leads to a whole new set of unhealthy behaviors, but perhaps there is an ounce of empowerment there...