Goals, Expectations, Reality

“Goals, goals, goals,” if I hear mention of this word one more time I might slam my head through a wall.

The expectations of high school relationships have skyrocketed through the roof into a land of fantasy. Many teenagers now expect the world and more from their significant others. Social media is a huge instigator for these unrealistic wants. Go on any social media account and you will find the overused caption, “goals” followed by a girl surrounded by Tiffany jewelry and dozens of flowers just for a two month anniversary.

Twitter, a social media outlet, only further promotes extravagant gift giving that teens continue to idolize. For clarification, where is all this money coming from? Chances are your boyfriend or girlfriend works a minimum wage job or does not even have a job. Is it realistic for them spend hundreds of dollars on your golddigger attitude?

In the end, high school is supposedly one of the most simplistic times in your life. Teenagers should not feel the need to display some grand gesture just to show they care. Sometimes the smallest things can mean the world and the more expensive gifts just mean an empty wallet.

Adding on to social media, your high school relationship in no way relates to Twitter famous, rich, extravagant, young couples who constantly travel the world. Frankly, there is no correlation between the two. Young people relentlessly put these famous relationships on a pedestal and set it as a standard for their own. No, your minimum wage working boyfriend is not taking you to the Bahamas, but maybe Bahama Bucks.

Nowadays people attempt to buy each other’s affection. They hope that if they supply their significant other with enough expensive gifts, in return they will not get dumped. Try saving money for college, instead of saving money for your relationship.

Extravagant spending is not the only unrealistic expectation coming to light for modern relationships. Sex has become an assumption for high school relationships. You know it, I know it, and the rest of society predicts it.

Currently, being a high school student, this reality should not shock you. Something that was once hugely forbidden until after marriage is a common threshold for young relationships nowadays. Sex is continually being plastered on social media and expected in spurring couples.

The length of your relationship or number of gifts you are spoiled with should not affect your decision to whether or not to have sex. Sex is not just a “give and you shall receive” program. Rightfully, it should be your decision, not predetermined based on contemporary standards.

The daily scroll through the twitter feed should not be a cesspool of outrageous “goals” and impossible standards set for high school students’ relationships. Social media sites should be a place to connect with people, not a place filled with unrealistic expectations to the point of wanting to scratch your eyes out.