“He’s being mean to you because he likes you.” A teenage girl's perception of love is very far from reality. It is influenced by hundreds of rom coms, romance novels, and love songs, along with sayings our mothers tell us from a young age about how when boys treat you badly it’s their way of showing affection. The issue is, none of that is true. It is making girls settle for less than they deserve. If your boyfriend is making you feel bad about yourself then you shouldn’t be in that relationship. Today I see countless girls in relationships who are not being treated correctly and they just stay with the guy because they think that’s how it's supposed to be.

In high school, you are still growing up and trying to figure out who you are, who you want to be, and what you want to do. You only have four years. When you first enter freshman year, graduation might seem far away but in reality it’s not. In my opinion, I don’t think you should waste your time with a guy who isn’t treating you right. The truth is, nobody knows what they are doing, everyone is just trying to figure it out, but nobody actually knows, some are just better at pretending. The effects of an unhealthy relationship can be much more damaging than you think. Soon your whole life starts to revolve around that one person, friendships start to end, and grades start to drop. It is not realistic to believe that your high school relationship is going to work out perfectly. High school is a time for growing, learning, and maturing. Nobody is perfect, you can not have your expectations that high. I’m only a sophomore and I have seen countless girls' lives totally ruined over a boy. 

It all starts with self-respect, girls need to hold themselves at a higher standard and truly believe they are capable of being loved the way they deserve. If you don’t love yourself it is extremely difficult to be able to open up and let someone else love you. Most girls don’t believe that somebody could love them the way they see in the movies, or hear in the songs, or read in the books so they settle for someone who treats them horribly because that’s what they believe they deserve. Most boys look at girls as an object. They use them for their body, they look at girls like a game. They chase them and when they finally get them and the chase is over, they get bored and drop them to go chase some other girl, and the cycle continues. The chase is what girls commonly mistake for the potential to be a real relationship. The guy will act really sweet and do anything he can to get to you, but once he does, it’s over, he has you, he has won the game.