To think 26 year old dating 19 year old is weird?

ChicJoker · 2026-06-16T04:53:59+00:00

I’ll leave sexes anonymous. I know both parties well, they have been dating for around 2 months. One is my sibling. I feel really really irked by it. It’s weird right?

Dexternight · 22/09/2026 16:41

Not all relationships with age gaps are abusive in nature.
Not all relationships with no age gaps are non abusive.
Depends on the individuals.

Thechaseison71 · 22/09/2026 12:46

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 22/09/2026 09:43

It’s as good a descriptor as any. A 19 year old is barely an adult. There is something very wrong about a fully grown adult that looks for a relationship with someone who seeks out a relationship with someone in that stage of life

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That assumes it's the26 year old that's looking to start a relationship with a 19 year old

Thechaseison71 · 22/09/2026 12:44

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 22/09/2026 07:34

neither of those are very likely or common scenarios are they

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Well my DD at 19 was her now husband's manager so it does happen

At 19 my best mate had 2 kids, her own flat and a full time job. A bloke of 25/6 she was seeing lived with his mum

That's 2 examples just from my own personal experience

And there are plenty of 19 year olds working same as 26 year olds

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 22/09/2026 09:43

dopaminego · 22/09/2026 08:00

'icky'? Are you five?

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It’s as good a descriptor as any. A 19 year old is barely an adult. There is something very wrong about a fully grown adult that looks for a relationship with someone who seeks out a relationship with someone in that stage of life

dopaminego · 22/09/2026 08:00

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/09/2026 10:18

its extremely “weird”. A 19 year old is barely an adult. I would assume any 26 year old interested in a 19 year old has some serious issues or is looking for someone they can control. It’s icky

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'icky'? Are you five?

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 22/09/2026 07:34

Thechaseison71 · 21/09/2026 22:42

Even when the 19 year old is the 26 year olds boss at work?

Or the 19 year old with a job and a child with a 26 year old living with mummy?

Where's the controlling power there

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neither of those are very likely or common scenarios are they

ErrolTheDragon · 21/09/2026 23:51

OonaStubbs · 20/09/2026 20:38

It is only just outside the half your age plus seven rule which governs the acceptable age gap in relationships.

Which is a made-up ‘rule’ anyway.
Age gaps aren’t an absolute thing, they obviously depend on the individuals.

Shatteredremnants · 21/09/2026 23:22

I don’t think it’s weird in the slightest. There’s 5 years between me and DH, it’s not that much outwith that. What’s the issue, they’re both consenting adults?

Skippydoodle · 21/09/2026 23:21

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/09/2026 10:18

its extremely “weird”. A 19 year old is barely an adult. I would assume any 26 year old interested in a 19 year old has some serious issues or is looking for someone they can control. It’s icky

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Bullshit. I met partner at age 18. I’d already purchased a property (no inheritance, just hard work and determined independence). Partner was 27 and still living at home, earning half as much as me. I was way older in some respects and partner was in other life areas. 30+ years later, we still make a bloody good team. I wasn’t groomed,, far from it! I told him 12 months into the relationships that he needed to put a ring on it!

Skippydoodle · 21/09/2026 23:12

Not your business, butt out. I met my partner at 18, partner was 27. 31st wedding anniversary just gone. Both couldn’t be happier. You sound way too invested in others business. Go out, have fun, get a life of your own.

Thechaseison71 · 21/09/2026 23:04

LostAlice · 20/09/2026 01:00

age gap is fine but not when someone is still at school...
she is still learning, he has the 'wisdom' aura

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Are many 19 year olds still at school?

Thechaseison71 · 21/09/2026 22:42

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/09/2026 10:18

its extremely “weird”. A 19 year old is barely an adult. I would assume any 26 year old interested in a 19 year old has some serious issues or is looking for someone they can control. It’s icky

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Even when the 19 year old is the 26 year olds boss at work?

Or the 19 year old with a job and a child with a 26 year old living with mummy?

Where's the controlling power there

MajorSamanthaCarter · 21/09/2026 08:08

OonaStubbs · 20/09/2026 20:38

It is only just outside the half your age plus seven rule which governs the acceptable age gap in relationships.

You've already said that on this thread and many others 🙄

OonaStubbs · 20/09/2026 20:38

It is only just outside the half your age plus seven rule which governs the acceptable age gap in relationships.

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/09/2026 10:18

Wiseplumnet · 20/09/2026 07:46

No it is not 'weird'.

its extremely “weird”. A 19 year old is barely an adult. I would assume any 26 year old interested in a 19 year old has some serious issues or is looking for someone they can control. It’s icky

Wiseplumnet · 20/09/2026 07:46

No it is not 'weird'.

LostAlice · 20/09/2026 01:00

ThejoyofNC · 16/06/2026 06:24

A 7 year age gap is perfectly normal. Do you expect all couples to be the exact same age?

age gap is fine but not when someone is still at school...
she is still learning, he has the 'wisdom' aura

MajorProcrastination · 25/06/2026 11:54

MidnightMeltdown · 19/06/2026 21:19

School uniform at 18?! Is that a private school thing? Seems weird having grown men still wearing school uniform. Cut off was 16 at my school.

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It's normal and it's not a private school. All the state schools in my area have uniform in the sixth form (16-18). I went to the sixth form at my comprehensive school to do my A levels after GCSEs and wore a uniform (shirt, tie, skirt etc). My older boy went to a different school for his A levels after finishing GCSE but there he also had to wear school uniform (shirt, tie, trousers). My step daughter went to a sixth form college after her GCSEs and at those you can wear your own clothes.

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 21/06/2026 09:36

Not in the slightest.

Mummyoflittledragon · 21/06/2026 08:47

SpaceRaccoon · 20/06/2026 07:48

Yes but most posters are talking about being 19 or whatever.
Also it uses to be less frowned on when people actually started work at 16.

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This was precisely my point. In the past, teenagers had had a lot more exposure to adults. For starters, many of us were going down the pub age 15, if nothing else, and therefore mixing a lot more with adults. Thus we were a lot more streetwise. It wasn’t weird to associate with people outside our age group as it is more so now.

This is both positive and negative. Positive, because young people are more protected, negative, because they are a lot less savvy. Especially those, like my almost 18 yo dd, who has never had a job. By her age, I’d got into all sorts of scrapes and was doing much riskier things, stuff that she has thankfully not yet experienced.

If a grown man got with dd, I’d know there was an issue. Luckily she thinks that’s weird.

basoon · 20/06/2026 09:17

It's not even remotely weird

SpaceRaccoon · 20/06/2026 07:48

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/06/2026 07:44

It’s not an adult relationship though when one person is 26 and another 16. One of those participants is a child.

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Yes but most posters are talking about being 19 or whatever.
Also it uses to be less frowned on when people actually started work at 16.

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/06/2026 07:44

SpaceRaccoon · 20/06/2026 07:40

What's inappropriate is you describing an adult relationship as "grooming". It completely undermines the seriousness of it.
It's also a pretty disgusting insinuation to tell posters that their beloved spouses of decades, are paedophiles.

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It’s not an adult relationship though when one person is 26 and another 16. One of those participants is a child.

SpaceRaccoon · 20/06/2026 07:40

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/06/2026 06:09

Just because some posters are saying that they did this, that doesn’t make it okay. A positive outcome for you doesn’t mean that you weren’t groomed, or that it wasn’t inappropriate even if you choose not to believe that was the case.

What's inappropriate is you describing an adult relationship as "grooming". It completely undermines the seriousness of it.
It's also a pretty disgusting insinuation to tell posters that their beloved spouses of decades, are paedophiles.

BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw · 20/06/2026 06:09

Just because some posters are saying that they did this, that doesn’t make it okay. A positive outcome for you doesn’t mean that you weren’t groomed, or that it wasn’t inappropriate even if you choose not to believe that was the case.