Girl Talk - Young Marriage

The scandal of LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian supposedly having an affair died down relatively quickly. But it brought up an interesting question for me. What do girls think of getting married young? For the question, I considered young to be between the ages of 18 and 22, although 23 or 24 could be thought of as young, as well.

For the most part, girls believe that getting married too young is a matter of maturity more than age. Shannon, 18, said, "I believe that people do have a chance of staying together forever even if they get married young. I think that they might have more issues with their marriage just because they're young, and when you're young you're more stubborn/set in your ways." Ashleigh, 18, said, "Getting married is never a sure thing. I think younger people sometimes act too impulsively, but I don't really think age has anything to do with it."

Because marriage deals with a relationship between a man and a woman (much of the time), I thought it would be interesting to ask for a male opinion. I asked two 19-year-olds what they thought of getting married before the age of 23. Rather than citing maturity as a factor, they both said that being young is a time to have fun and live your life and not be tied down by something like marriage. They believe that young marriage is less likely to work because those people haven't had the chance to experiment, to take chances.

Lastly, I got some advice from someone who knows. Heather, 18, has been married for a few months. She said, "I don't think there's a good time or a bad time to get married. Anyone can argue that someone is too young or too old to get married. I think there are more struggles as a young, married couple but I don't think there are more problems within the marriage in and of itself. Young marriage is hard, it's an uphill battle and requires maturity, understanding and a sense of humor beyond that of many people who embark on it."

What do you think? Let me know in the message board post!