# Is having a girlfriend in 7th grade normal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275 "2024-03-24T06:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/81 "2024-03-25T18:57:10Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I hope you’re still tuned in, OP, because a lot of us are pulling for you! For some reason, I read what you typed, but this is what I heard. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aB2yqeD0Nus/hqdefault.jpg "Good luck, we're all counting on you - Airplane") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB2yqeD0Nus) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/82 "2024-03-25T19:20:23Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Those painful dance things I was made to go to were almost certainly helpful in the end. Yeah I was awkward and unsure and scared and nervous but I think that forced socialization ultimately helped me some. Certainly staying at home would not have improved my ability to talk to girls/women (or anyone really). I think some form of forced socialization would have really helped. A dance or something, with sensitive chaperones helping things along. I would have learned much sooner that girls weren’t harboring some mystery of getting to know them that I wasn’t privy to. That I could have talked to them and not be greeted with uproarious laughter! What a discovery that would have been. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/83 "2024-03-25T21:53:06Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > That I could have talked to them and not be greeted with uproarious laughter! Uproarious laughter would have been fine. It was the prospect of scornful laughter that paralyzed me with fear. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/84 "2024-03-25T23:45:06Z")
What I don’t know about pediatrics could fill several libraries, but… For most of these “relationships” in the 7th grade or thereabouts, the entirety consists of the boy and girl _claiming_ that the other is their boyfriend/girlfriend, but that’s the beginning and the end of it. They _might_ even hold hands or steal a kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/85 "2024-03-25T23:52:41Z")
I am no expert either but I used to work at Planned Parenthood way, way back and I can say, at least then, you’d be very surprised at how many 13 year olds went way beyond holding hands. Not saying all do, but some certainly do (or at least did back in the 90s but I’d be surprised if they have slowed down). ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/86 "2024-03-26T00:14:59Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > the entirety consists of the boy and girl _claiming_ that the other is their boyfriend/girlfriend, but that’s the beginning and the end of it. Nah, man. Thats kindergarten. By 7th grade, girls are getting boobs and boys are popping boners. There’s a lot of feeling up and making out going on, albeit amongst a minority of students. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > They _might_ even hold hands or steal a kiss. Or engage in oral sex because they are fearful of pregnancy but don’t feel empowered enough to obtain protection. Or end up having intercourse because, well, they are _pubescent_ and the internet is readily accessible. If a parent was to err on the side of caution, those are valid considerations. ---
**Author:** ![SaSaLeLe2011](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@SaSaLeLe2011](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaSaLeLe2011)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/87 "2024-03-26T22:21:02Z")
LMAO, the irony is crazy because I’m not 13, I’m still 12. and 364 days would be a big difference. That’s a kid to teen for crying out loud! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/88 "2024-03-26T22:52:05Z")
Exactly. Throughout school I was very close to the youngest age allowed in my grade. And I was and still am kinda small as boys/men go. So substantially all the other boys were bigger and older, up to 11 months older. The girls might not have been bigger, but they were equally older, up to 11 months. Which difference looms large at your age. The younger you are within your grade peers, the less I’d sweat any notion of “I’m behind in my socialization & mad GF-getting skillz”. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/89 "2024-03-26T23:26:06Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > For most of these “relationships” in the 7th grade or thereabouts Really depends on what you mean by “thereabouts” - there’s a _huge_ difference between 7th grade and 9th grade. Especially in places where 7th grade is in elementary or middle school and 9th grade is in high school. Even though the youngest 9th grader might be only few weeks older than the oldest 7th grader. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/90 "2024-03-28T02:10:16Z")
I went junior high(7th and 8th grades) in the late 80s and never HAD a girlfriend. And my three older sisters never “dated” either until high school. The school I went to was a combined junior-senior high school–Grades 7 through 12 all in one building. The study halls and lunch periods were mixed with all grades at the same time. I mention this because every year two or three junior high age girls would end up pregnant usually by high school age boyfriends. As you can imagine the situation did NOT make parents happy and they ended building a separate high school with only Grades 9 through 12. For reference I live in a rural area and the high schools covered a fairly large area with some students have to take an hour bus ride to school. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/91 "2024-03-28T06:45:30Z")
> [@SaSaLeLe2011](#): > > I’m not 13, I’m still 12. The minimum age to post here is 13. I have suspended your account for one year. This is closed. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-having-a-girlfriend-in-7th-grade-normal/999275/92 "2024-03-28T06:49:24Z")
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