What is "dating"?

What is "dating"?

Charles Sophy (Private Practice in Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) gives expert video advice on: At what age is dating appropriate for children?; How can I ensure my child's safety during dates? and more...

Dating is when we move from groups to individuals. The twelve to fifteen range is where they may be starting to identify that there is one person they are attracted to, or kind of makes them giggle more, or they like to be around a little bit more. Then as they get into the dating range somewhere between sixteen to eighteen, they start to really identify that person and spend more time with them. For many kids, dating is different, dating may be just telephone calls once or twice a week at night, or dating may going to a movie, or dating may be seeing each other regularly every day or every weekend so it becomes a pattern once the comfortableness between the two people happens.