High school can be a confusing and scary time. However, once you’ve been through it, you look back and realize that it wasn’t actually so confusing and scary.

The purpose of this article is to educate underclassmen, who may be in the midst of the chaos and confusion, on the subject of dating, based on what upperclassmen have experienced in their three or four years of high school.

Based on a polling of 159 LHS students, mostly upperclassmen, a strong majority of students agree that dating in high school is worth it depending on the situation (whatever that means.)

“If you’re willing to put in the effort in a relationship and grow, not only with another person, but grow yourself, it’s worth finding love,” said senior Abbey Falconer. “But if you don’t date in high school just think you’re only 17 and you still have the rest of your life to find someone just as crazy as you are.”

Other students believe the benefits of dating are based on you or your significant other’s matureness and what you are looking to get out of dating.

“It depends on the couple,” said junior Lily Breems. “Everyone’s at a different maturity level and for some it works and others not so much. For example, my parents were high school sweethearts and will be married 20 years this summer. I also feel like romantic relationships can be sort of a trophy or social status thing in high school and I don’t think that is very healthy.”

“Dating is worth it only maybe when dating boys that are out of high school,” said junior Charlotte Goodhope. “If you know, you know.”

Towards the end of the spectrum, many students still believe dating in high school is definitely worth it and you should go at it with a “full send” attitude.

“Dating is worth it, especially if you really care for the person and want to make them happy. Don’t just date to date though, make it count,” said junior Isaac Hewitt. “You can never know what could’ve been, so it’s better to make it count with someone you care about and take a chance.”

Another student believes dating is worth it, but you should have fun with it and not take the relationship too seriously.

“I think that it’s worth it when you don’t put too much emphasis on where the relationship is going and rather just focus on if your happy now because most likely high school relationships won’t work out,” said senior Summer Ericson.

Dating is also worth it, according to LHS students, just because it is a great experience to have, a great way to meet new people and a great way to learn more about yourself.

“I think it’s worth it,” said senior Britten Blount. “You grow as a person and learn a lot about someone else and yourself, and I think it’s worth it to have lived and experienced and made mistakes that you learn from, rather than always wondering what could’ve happened. No matter what happens, you always gain something from experiences, good or bad.”

However, according to “stageoflife.com“ and a few upperclassmen, dating isn’t actually worth it in high school at all.

It can be spendy, with 10 percent of high schoolers spending $450 or more on prom, and it can cost you friends, shown by the statistic that 46 percent of teenagers “have had a friend ‘dump them’ in favor of being with a boyfriend of girlfriend.”

Seniors Isaac Woods and Liam Downey and junior Alex Peters agree that dating in high school is expensive, detrimental to friendships and you could be spending your money more wisely on other things.

“Hell no, dating isn’t worth it,” said Woods. “If you’re a girl it’s a good way to get free lunch and if you’re a guy it’s a good way to lose your college savings.”

“Dating is not worth it if you have friends *whip sounds,*” said Downey. “Because then you don’t hang out with your friends ever.”

“Nah, [don’t date,] just buy cars and pugs,” said Peters.

Other students, however, believe dating isn’t worth it because it’s just too big of a time commitment on top of all the other activities and work you have to do for school.

“Dating senior year is pointless,” said senior Courtney Klatt. “I’ve had the lit-est time this year and plus having a boyfriend is way too much work. They’re needy, clingy and you feel like you always have to do stuff.”

“Stageoflife.com“ also shows that “60 percent of high school students plan to break-up with their current boyfriends or girlfriends when they leave for college,” so if you do end up dating in high school, make sure you have a game plan for when it ends.

Overall, the majority of upperclassmen, and research about dating, says dating in high school is worth it based on the situation of both people in the relationship. So have fun however you want, in or out of a dating relationship.