Teenage views on internet dating...ouch!

Now I have to tell you what I was doing til 4am the other morning. I was marking some Year 8 English essays and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I have the second to bottom Y8 English class this year. In truth, they are not that far removed from the 'Support' group which I will get next year if I move back into the Special Ed role. There are only 18 of them and although I have no one as severe as last year's friend, Sam
(age 14, reading age 6.0), they all struggle with sustained reading and comprehension. And let's not even start on their writing! So it was with great ambition and determination that I decided to teach them how to write a 'discussion' text as a precursor to essay writing.

The topic was 'Should People Use Dating Services?', a discussion triggered by the novel we are reading, 'The Keeper' by Rosanne Hawke. In the novel, a young lad uses the personal columns in the paper to advertise for a dad. There was some great debate on and around the subject of safety and 'stranger danger' and I was surprised to hear this MSN literate generation soundly condemning not only the personal ads but also the various internet dating sites and chat rooms. Whether this is a product of the Christian nature of our school I'm not sure. The pupils certainly don't demonstrate any Godly principles with regard to technology on any daily basis that I have observed!! :-D

Writing the essays was a lengthy process over about 3 weeks, during which, like a good English teacher I gave them models of discussion texts, demonstrated analysis, allowed them time in pairs to analyse a piece of their own, demonstrated an essay plan, got them to write an essay plan....and then threw them all away when I saw the standard :-D Eventually the class as a whole did a 'plan' and then they were off to write their 'essay'.

Here then are a few samples of what today's youth thinks of internet dating.

The internet is expensive and chews a hole in your pocket while you are waiting for something to come up. Waiting at a disco also chews through your pocket except it chews harder. ( How would HE know??? aged 13?)

Sitting in front of a computer all day makes you lazy. In natural dating (sic), sitting at the pub and waiting for something to happen also makes you lazy.

People on the net could lie to you and really be a terrorist planning to assassinate you. Well, you could just bring someone that is close to you for example a friend or family member. (who could be assassinated alongside you)

Sure, but what about when poor people get into loving late and all the good partners are gone and their(sic) left as 30 year old bums who have no love life what so ever and there is no chance of getting a partner the normal way. What happens to those people? (what indeed? Tell me about it!!)

Whilst internet dating can be quick and easily accessible, meeting people face to face, wherever that may be, can offer a more intimate and personal experience. (oooer)

Traditional dating can also be dangerous although it is a lot safer if the person you're dating is from your church because you know them better and you also know they're a Godly person. (and their average age is 85)

People can lie on the internet although normally people can lie too although not as easily. eg someone could say they're a guy although they could be a girl, but you can normally tell their gender just by looking at them. (well, I don't know about that.....)

The final corker was from my dear friend Alicia who I cannot quote exactly as she took her essay home to show Mum and Dad her mark (18/20). She finished her very logical and well developed argument with a concluding paragraph along the lines of....

.....and using the internet is a bad idea as you will appear desperate. And anyway, I don't believe you should even be looking because God has a Mr or Miss Right in store for you and they will come along when the time is right after all the bible says
(and here I have to paraphrase) "I have plans for you says The Lord and they are good plans!"

How could I tell her that God's plan for me involved meeting my husband......over the Internet!!!