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I have a 15 year old friend and he's going out with a girl who is a year younger but a bunch of year 8's think he's a predator ( in other words the forbidden word. ) and I try to debunk their claims but it doesn't seem to work.
Is my friend normal?
That age difference might mean nothing whatsoever. Depending on their birthdays, it's possible that they might be the same age for a few months every year. If so, does that mean that the Year Eight kids would think it's okay for them to be together during that period, but not for the rest of the year?
The personal experience of any kid should let them understand that it's not like a switch flicks somewhere in your head at one second after midnight on your birthday. They should be able to grasp the fact that you're not a drastically different person when you wake up on the morning of your birthday compared to who you were when you went to sleep.
It's normal for kids to be obsessed with the ages of other kids, even though that will inevitably seem pretty stupid to them once they get older. And, yeah, the law considers chronological age very important when it comes to sexual relationships involving those under the age of consent. But the law is always a sledgehammer, and the reality is that the dynamics of any relationship are always about emotional maturity, not how many birthday cake candles the two people each last blew out.
Something else kids are always obsessed about is cramming their noses into other people's business. Kids love to judge and condemn anyone who doesn't conform to whatever rules they believe are right. Often those rules are just crap they've had pounded into their heads by their (possibly dim-witted) parents, or random shite spewed by social media media celebrities famous for no real reason whatsoever. Or the rules could be a bunch of absurd stuff the kids have dreamed up amongst themselves, based on nothing more than their very limited understanding of the world, and their need to believe that there are hard and fast rules, because they've begun to understand that the world just doesn't work like that, and that's scary as hell.
If the boy and the girl are happy to be with each other, if your friend treats the girl respectfully, if he's not exploiting her naivety (although girls tend to be more emotionally mature than boys their own age) and if their relationship isn't causing any huge problems in the home life of either of them, then the stupid Year Eight kids are just being stupid kids, and they should be ignored.
Here is your problem-> taking "a bunch of year 8's" seriously.
I remember in 8th grade (assuming that's the same thing) kids would try to call the teachers ped0philes just for being nice to them. 🙄
It's probably even a little sillier than you suspected. The OP's reference to "Year Eight" kids suggests he lives in the UK, and British kids start school a year earlier than American kids. So he's talking about kids who are the age of seventh graders - twelve to thirteen years old.
I’ve dated someone who was older than me by 8 years. That age gap is perfectly fine, not inappropriate at all. Now if he were to be forcing his partner into doing things he/she is uncomfortable with, then it would be a totally different story. But as far as the age gap goes, no, it’s perfectly normal.
Wow a year or less distance a part whatva deplorable pervert.. kid problems..
Aren't year 8's 12 years old?
It really doesn't matter what a bunch of 12 year olds think. Don't worry about them.
Those 8 y/o kids are just being kids. Two minors dating is perfectly normal. I would even agree that a 17 and 18-19 year old dating is normal aswell.
I wish that 14yrs old in my country dated 15yrs old boys but it seems that there are mostly predators here and every week there is a story of an adult having sex with young teenagers.
A one year age gap is completely fine, this would only be strange if he was 17+. You shouldn’t attach so much importance to what year 8s think, 12 year-olds are not known for their mature attitudes regarding relationships.