Reminds me of the infamous
Elder Oaks's speech was given when I was 17, just a couple of weeks before I came to BYU. (Back when no one talked about the economy, no one had Facebook, and Lena Dunham wasn't mentioned more than either in the Times.) It was somewhat unpopular and controversial in my crowd, who chafed at the child-bride stereotypes. Now, I'm like "preach!"
It's still entirely possible to be wined and dined, to go to a football game, foreign film, or decent restaurant with an actual human and not with a pack of bros. I'd argue that it's the only way to really get to know someone, interacting one-on-one. I don't see any real paucity of real relationships at BYU, but I have seen the age creep up since the halcyon days of 2005, to be sure. (How much of that is self-selection due to MY age creeping up while remaining unmarried is a good question!)
Guys, do you follow the three Ps, or are you of the "I’m here with a bunch of friends from college." school? Girls, is the fact that I have been on "proper" dates with at least 5 normal, attractive men in the last year some kind of rare coup, or about normal? Does that fact that we have no drinking culture influence our adorable tweeness as Mormons? Because I feel like there is a NCMO culture, too, but that it doesn't eliminate or supercede dating.