Is it ok to have a boyfriend at 12

So, at what age would you let your not-so-little-one take the plunge, and have an official boyfriend or girlfriend?

When we asked 1,427 parents about this, the most popular answers were:

• Over 12 (51%)
• Not sure (26%)
• 11 (5%)

What did our parents say?

When we probed further, lots of parents agreed that children often have 'boyfriends' or 'girlfriends' younger, but the relationship is not serious.

"I think that children think they have a boyfriend or girlfriend but it is not for real!" said one parent.

Another agreed: "Depends on the seriousness of the relationship.

I had many relationships in primary school and it was more just a novelty curiosity of holding hands than anything."

Others felt that when their child was older, they'd let them have a boyfriend or girlfriend but, in one parent's words, they'd 'watch them like a hawk'.

What does the expert say?

We checked in with Educational Psychologist Naomi Burgess on this one, who commented that, as parents, generally we all want to teach our children how

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