A long distance relationship or LDR can be difficult for anyone, but especially so for teenagers and young adults. Time can seem like an eternity when we’re young and being forced to have patience until you and your long distance boyfriend or girlfriend can work out how to be together permanently can prove to be extremely stressful for many teens. But this doesn’t mean that long distance relationships can’t last in your high school years.

While maintaining a long distance relationship during your teenage years may be more difficult, developing such a relationship can actually be a blessing for some young adults who might find a traditional relationship too time-demanding. Having forced distance between you and your love interest can allow you to focus on your studies, goals, and future career.

Let us dive into the world of teens and young adults who might find themselves in love with someone across the country or the other side of the world.

Young Love and Long Distance Relationships

For younger adults, it’s important to be really careful about committing to such an important life decision as a long distance relationship. This is not to say that young teenagers in love cannot end up married happily ever after, but you want to make sure you have the ability to grow into the individual person you have the potential to become.

We are constantly evolving as an individual, but much more so when we are entering adulthood. You want to make certain you truly know yourself and what you want out of life before you try to mesh that with someone else’s vision for their life.

While not all teenage long distance relationships will last, especially long distance relationships that start in high school years,  any young LDR can be successful depending on how you define “successful”. You shouldn’t look at a long distance relationship that broke down as a failure, as it can provide you with very useful relationship experience and lessons which you can utilize to make your future relationships you experience later on in life more rewarding.

LDRs that do last, often do so because both parties were honest with each other and themselves. You would be naive to think you will be the same person you are during your teens when you are older. Some lucky young couples can grow together, while others in a relationship find themselves growing at a different pace than their boyfriend or girlfriend.

It can also often come down to timing being the issue rather than it being an individual’s actions that cause a relationship to break down. There are a lot of factors that can come into play when you’re a teenager in long distance love. Despite how much you both may love each other, sometimes things just work against you and despite how much you both want things to work out it may not be the best path to take.

If making your long distance relationship work is forcing you to to make great sacrifices in your own individual life,then it will be hard for your relationship to be ultimately successful even if you do end up remaining together. Making too many sacrifices can often lead to having regrets and resentment for your significant other down the road.

Long distance relationships can be extremely difficult for younger individuals as you may not have access to transportation or the funds to meet with your boyfriend or girlfriend on a regular basis. You are also most likely not able to make certain decisions when it comes to things like where you want to live or other freedoms that are laid out by your parents.

This is not to say that it’s impossible to make a long distance relationship work as a young teenager, but you may find you have a seemingly more difficult road ahead of you. You may need to be extra flexible and patient to allow the relationship to mature over time as you and your partner do as well.

As hard as it is to admit, we haven’t had a great deal of life experience as a teenager or young adult in their early 20s. Many of us can be quite naive when it comes to understanding love and relationships. Even adults struggle with it. This naivety has the potential to open our younger selves up to some ugly truths that can be present with romantic relationships. This is especially true when it comes to the online world.

Teens and those in their early 20s have to be extremely careful when it comes to meeting up with people they have met online. We have all heard nightmare stories that may involve catfishing (someone pretending to be a different person), paedophilia, and possible sexual assault. Although relationships created online can lead to negative outcomes for any age group, younger adults are more susceptible to being duped or coerced into things they did not expect or want.

As difficult as it may be, if you are young and do decide to start an online relationship with someone, it is best to make your parents or other family members aware of the relationship. They can often distinguish warning signs you may not see, as it’s very easy to ignore red flags when we’re jaded by the prospect of falling in love.

Facts About Young Love Long Distance Relationships

These are some facts to give you idea of how young adults view relationships and their experience with them.

• 40% of young adults choose not to tell their parents about their long distance relationship.
• 60% of teens say they will most likely be forced to break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend before attending college.
• 90% of teens hope to one day get married
• 60% of teens experience a deep loving relationship at some point and nearly 70% of those said they have had their heart broken at some stage.
• 50% of young adults say they believe in love at first sight, while an astonishing 95% say they believe in true love.
• Sadly, 1.5 million high school students in the U.S. alone suffer abuse ( mental or physical) from a boyfriend or girlfriend. (females are disproportionately the ones to suffer abuse).
• Over 40% of college-aged women who date say they experience some form of violence or abuse.
• Sadly, only about a third of abuse sufferers will talk about their abuse with a friend or family member.

Meg and Mike Jerrard are the Long Distance Relationship experts, and authors of best selling book ‘The Ultimate How To Guide on Surviving Long Distance Love‘. An American and an Australian who met in Tanzania, Africa, they have since closed the distance and now help others on their LDR journey too.

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“The Ultimate How To Guide on Surviving Long Distance Love”