Forum: Author Hangout

Go Steady?

PotomacBob 🚫

When I was a teenager, kids who wanted to be exclusive made the decision to "go steady." Sometimes it didn't last very long.
I suspect that high school kids no longer "go steady." In fact my own kids, for the most part, did not go on dates the way we did when I was in high school. Instead of a boy and girl getting in a car and going somewhere (like I did in high school), they mostly "hung out" with a group of other kids, but separated into couples if they went somewhere conducive to that - such as sitting in a movie theater.
If kids no longer "go steady," is romance gone, or do they just call it something else?

Replies: Lumpy Remus2 BlacKnight

Lumpy 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

Generally they say just say it's their boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other or sometimes they might say they're exclusive (usually it's just declaring the other person as their boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other). Kids still date a lot, they still go out on dates (both picking up from the other kids house or meeting at a place), they still think the person they've been dating for all of 2 weeks is their soul mate (and other overly dramatic teenage things like that).

The main difference is the just starting to date part, where they aren't exclusive or boyfriend/girlfriend is less formal than it once was. This is the "hanging out" phase. Once they're actually dating each other, they'll say they're dating and not just hanging out (unless they think you're embarrassing them and then they'll say it to be non-committal and difficult towards you)

My reference point is as the father of a 20 year old who was dating and a 12 year old who is just starting to date.

Remus2 🚫

@PotomacBob

If kids no longer "go steady," is romance gone, or do they just call it something else?

The younger generations concept of romance is not the same as the older generations. A-Z it's different both in terminology and actions.

Replies: Lumpy

Lumpy 🚫

@Remus2

Having grown up in the 80s and early 90s, and having kids come of age in the 10s and now 20s, the terminology's changed, but it seems largely the same. It's probably different than the 50s or 60s, but Gen Z doesn't seem that far from where Gen X was when they were dating. (We never said "going steady" either)

Replies: Remus2

Remus2 🚫
Updated:

@Lumpy

It's probably different than the 50s or 60s

I was born in the 50's. Early 60's was definitely different.

ETA: As for the phrase "going steady," I believe it was more common in the late 40's and early 50's.

BlacKnight 🚫

@PotomacBob

It's been almost thirty years since I was a teenager, and even then I found "going steady" to be quaint and old-fashioned terminology. I don't have kids, but my nieces and nephews are that age, and from what I've seen, they operate pretty much the same way we did. It's not "omg romance is dead", it's that exclusivity is the assumed default. Everyone who's dating is "going steady" until they break up or specifically agree they're not.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Go Steady?

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