Romantic relationships are a major developmental milestone. They come with all the other changes going on during adolescence — physical, social and emotional. Romantic relationships can bring lots of emotional ups and downs for your child — and sometimes for the whole family. The idea that your child might have these kinds of feelings can sometimes be a bit confronting for you. But these feelings are leading your child towards a deeper capacity to care, share and develop intimate relationships. But here are some averages :.

During adolescence, many will develop a newfound interest in romantic and sexual relationships. More than 80 percent of first romantic relationships are formed by the age of 18 Carver et al. These early experiences may set the stage for later relationships. Early relationships may build confidence about interacting with the opposite sex and reinforce interest in coupling. Recent work, for example, suggests that youth who form romantic relationships in high school are more likely to cohabit and marry in early adulthood Raley et al. Most teens date at some point during adolescence.

From individual families to churches and schools, a debate swings between "too much too soon" or "too little too late. Emory's Jane Fonda Center is working to get past the controversy by building programs that put an emphasis back on the core needs of young people, starting as early as the sixth grade. Becoming sexual is evolutionary, involuntary, and inevitable, says the center's director Melissa Kottke. However, becoming a healthy sexual being is not. Today, we must start at younger ages than ever before to help young people make smooth transitions to adulthood.

There are a lot of ways teenagers can learn about healthy romantic relationships. Most media representations are focused on titillation and sexual licentiousness. Romance in movies is mostly characterized by idealization, infatuation, lust and one dimensional people think Twilight, The Hangover, Iron Man, Spider man and