age appropriatness

[Guysecretan]

Do you think it is appropriate for a 17 yr old girl do go out with a man who is 22, dunno if I find it kind of inappropriate or not.

[jbee1979]

That's not a bad gap IMO. My SIL is 18 and going out with a 35 year old. I think that's too much at her age. Is your 17 year old still at school? The gap is more noticeable if so, I think, anyways

[MrsGB2225]

I had a similar gap at that age. The bf was pretty immature so it worked (short term). Looking back I realised he dated me, because someone his age would have realised he was full of crap!
I wouldn't let a 17yo date a 22yo now.

[UnicornButtplug]

It depends on the people involved. At 17 I was living in my own place and my boyfriends were older. My niece is 17 and still at school lives with her mum, it would probably be too much for her.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

At 17 I was with a 30 year old married man. Didn't know he was married at the start and then he left his wife. 22 doesn't seem bad at all.

[VivDeering]

I had this age gap too. He was a great boyfriend, we had a healthy relationship and went out for three years. He ended the relationship because I was all about uni and travelling and he wanted to settle down.

[LoupGarou]

I think it depends very much on the two people. At that age I had a relationship with a much bigger age gap, he's still my best friend and it was a healthy relationship.

[Emboo19]

I was 16 and my boyfriend 20, when we started going out! I've always been mature for my age and we'd known each other a while and had a lot in common.
He was willing to take things slow and never pressured me, unlike my 16 year old boyfriend had tried.
My biggest worry at the time, was having no id for getting into 18+ venues, him and his friend went to.

[iamapixiebutnotaniceone]

At 16 I had a 21 year old bf. nobody was happy about it then but 15 years and 4 children later everybody that disagreed with it before is either happy for us or at least no longer sees the difference as a problem.

[Ellisandra]

At 17 I'd been living with my 24 year old boyfro he for a year. We rented a flat together - I didn't move in to his place, I worked and studied and paid my rent.

We grew apart and I split up with him after 6 years. It wasn't a great relationship with my experienced hindsight, but it wasn't awful and certainly had no abusive dynamic to it.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

I had a 21 yr old boyfriend at 16, strongly suspect that he was a virgin. He never pressured me for sex. We went out for a few months, he was a bit dull really

[Underthemoonlight]

I was 16 and had a boyfriend who was 21 he was a kind lad treated me well. I also went out with a lad the same age who was a dick so age doesn't matter within reason it's how they treat the person.

[PaterPower]

Slightly older lads should (you'd hope) have gotten over the hormones and the showing off to their mates etc. Less pressure on the girl because they'd usually have popped their cherry by 21 and so be a bit more relaxed about it. I certainly know I was bloody immature at 16/17 and a lot calmer and better boyfriend "material" by 21.

[Teaholic]

It depends on how experienced they both are. lots of 'men' are still virgins at 22 I'd say. id be a bit if it were my own dd in 3 years. Yikes.