Dating’s transformation

Milkshakes. Diners. Roller Skating. These are the words that come to mind whenever I think of dating back in the day. Whenever I think of dating today, I think of Snapchat, not talking to each other in person and toxicity. Dating has changed a lot in the past 70 years and not in a good way. 

Dating in the 1950’s was so much more personal. Couples went out on dates, held hands and shared a milkshake at the local diner. Over the years, these traditions have faded. Not many couples are sharing these same experiences in 2021. All everyone shares are texts messages, a Facetiming experience or even a Snapchat message. There’s barely any direct contact or experiences. We should see couples holding hands and looking at each other. They should be so in love, that anyone can basically witness the hearts bulging out of the couples’ eyes. 

Picture this: someone is out on a dinner date with a boyfriend or girlfriend. One of the partners or both end up spending the date on a phone the whole time not paying any attention to each other. Then, one individual looks over to see an old couple holding hands and laughing while enjoying their meal. This will make partners feel unwanted and bored. With couples being consumed by a phone, there is no real romance or personal connection anymore. When looking at the old couple, anyone can tell that they are in love and have made so many good memories together without the use of a cell phone or the Internet. 

With everything being online, couples can run into some real problems such as not seeing each other or even cheating. Yeah, they can Snapchat or Facetime, but these conditions do not form a stable, healthy relationship.

Also, cheating does not create a healthy relationship either. With access to the whole world through phones, cheating is very easy and committed more than one would imagine. Dating apps and direct messaging on social media are prime examples of ways someone could be flirting or even dating someone else when they already have a significant other. A partner will never know about the unfaithfulness because it can easily be covered by deleting apps or messages. 

I know some couples today still use these “old fashioned” traditions. I see couples, only a little bit older than me, out on dinner dates or at the movies. These couples are really in love and it shows! Walking down the hall at school, students who claim to be “dating” each other, barely even look at each other. What’s the point of “dating” this young if teens aren’t going on dates or even saying hey in the halls at school? They are missing out on the real experiences of dating.

Relationships have been portrayed in movies such as “Grease” and “Hairspray” as almost perfect. These films show how the Internet did not exist back then. Couples were in love and were not consumed by cell phones. The biggest problems of those times was deciding where to go on a date that night. Movies may be “magical” and  too good to be true, but the events and interactions between couples portrayed in them represent how dating worked back then. 

I think teenagers should try to date how others did back then. Go out to a movie instead of Facetiming. Get dinner together instead of Snapchatting. Spend a day at the beach instead of waving when passing in the halls.

Couples really need to fix these problems. They aren’t experiencing true love anymore. It seems like partners just want someone to be with in order to avoid being lonely.

Everyone should try to have a relationship with someone special like the ones that existed 70 years ago, not like how it is today.