RELATIONSHIPS

Boo who?

Can guys and girls be just friends?

Ryan and Lisa sitting in the tree!

Have you ever had a guy or girl you were close with and everybody thought you went out, even though you were just friends? So the question is, can guys and girls just be friends? Boston Teens in Print surveyed some teens to get their opinions.

Why do people find it impossible for a guy and a girl to hang out and just be friends? Nicole Blount, 18, from the Jeremiah E. Burke High School, wrote in response: "It’s because they themselves want to be in a relationship and others don’t."

This is true, according to Louis Elveus, 17, from the Burke."There is a stereotype that is placed on males saying that they’re all dogs and only want one thing -- which is false for most. That is the reason people think guys and girls can’t be friends."

Still, is that enough to justify why guys and girls can’t simply be friends? Does nature call for guys and girls to only date, or can they form solid friendships?

Some people say limiting your friends to one gender is not really beneficial. "Having friends of the opposite sex gives you a different perspective on life,” Meredith Goldstein, who pens the “Love Letters” column for The Boston Globe and boston.com, said in an interview.
“My male friends tell me things men care about and what they don’t care about."

Dating a friend can be advantageous, but for many it never worked out. Their closeness suffered because of mixing friendship with pleasure.

Adrienne Martin, 17, from the Burke, wrote: “Even though we went out for a week and I was in second grade, my relationship with my friend was awkward after we broke up.”

Tayvonn Savage, 16, from the Burke, said that he’s had success dating a friend. “The relationship was much deeper than a physical attraction,” he wrote. “We grew a lot closer because our relationship was built on much more.”

Goldstein said things would get awfully complicated if she eyed every guy she was friends with as a love interest. “If I looked at everyone in life trying to figure out if I wanted to make out,” she said, “then life would be confusing.”

photo by Laurie Jean Baptiste // Artists for Humanity