Five years is a long time to be with anyone, no matter what age.

I met my boyfriend the first day of sixth grade year. We started dating that February and have been inseparable since.

Adults and other teenagers often think that teen years are not the years to be in a relationship. Some think it is a waste of time, that if you aren’t going to marry someone why dates them?

Newsflash! Dating someone does not have to be a potential marriage. It does not have to be a long term commitment. Everyone takes relationships way too seriously. Dating could just be about having fun with another person that enjoys your presence just as much as you enjoy theirs.

Ian Bender and Sophie Beard have been dating since freshmen year in high school. At first, they did not know their relationship would last this long.

The difference between new couples and veteran couples, is PDA. While in the honeymoon phase of a relationship, it seems as though young people have a hard time not displaying their affection for one another.

“A casual kiss in the hallway before class,” is the way Beard explained the extent of hers and Bender’s PDA. If you’re a student at EHS, you know that is not the case with all relationships.

But we cannot let these couples give all teenage couples a bad name. We also cannot let adults and our peers tell us how to (or how not to) be in relationships.