haircut....yes,,,
I had a young teen (14-15yrs old) babysitter - family member through my wife - come over and watch my kids -especially my 3 yr old son at the time...so her friends would come over at times with her and they spent the day with the kids...I would sit and talk to them every once in awhile at the kitchen table about school and possible dates, the reply back was astounding...boys could not and did not know how to approach them to ask for dates to the school dances, did not know how to just sit and talk to the girls in class, did nothing in the way one would expect in pre-courting...so the girls (as I was told) either hooked up with each other or were engaging older men (which is right down scary) looking for a relationship...they also explained that the few boys 0 like under ten - that did have manners, could talk, and treat a girl with respect - HAD a girlfriend...this society of our will fall apart if this continues...oh, they also said that if they went over to a boys house as a group (boys & girls) the boys sat around and played video games - never acknowledging the girls at all...I was like...WOW!~
I was talking to a woman who is raising her grandson. Her daughter another irresponsible 30 something did not marry the father. I am not even sure she ever knew who the father was. She was raised in a christian home and her parents are still married to each other.
Any how, they sued for custody and brought the boy to their home in another state. He was maybe 7 or 8 at the time. The woman said they had to teach the boy how to be a boy. He was unable to relate to his grandfather. He was always around women.
Boys were never good at talking to girls they like. That was part of the charm of it. The blushing and babbling was endearing. I feel sorry for the young people. Some of the crap that sends me into orbit about them, is really not their fault.
We don’t have a problem with our children’s being able to socialize with the opposite sex. They’ve all made friends of both sexes on the debate team, the science team, the choir, the swim team, the Venture crew, their summer jobs, and other activities. My son met the girl he might date because she was the friend of a girl on the science team and came to one of their meetings.
Aside from adult-supervised things like this, I don’t see mixed-sex groups “hanging out” together. Boys get together for gaming or sports, and girls go to the mall or over to someone’s house to sit around.