Hate to word it this way but isn't a little hypocritical then to take the stance that age = maturity when it comes to relationships? I mean if you consider yourself mentally an adult but legally you're not... seems kind of hard to me to grasp the logic. :/

How many 16 year olds are still will the "love of their life" at 26?

I didn't say "hormonal and confused" but there is no denying that a teens body is going through mental and physical alterations during this time. Things just SEEM bigger...that is science. It doesn't make teenagers stupid, it makes them teenagers. This is why teens attempt suicide more when their boyfriend breaks up with them or they fail a test (I am not saying ALL TEENS do this)...it's the brain isn't fully developed to fairly register the impact of events in their lives, and without a lot of experience it is sometimes hard to see that "life goes on".

Very well said MMM.

I agree with MMM, in that hormones play a vital role to defining what "young love" actually is. Contrariwise, I agree with Misa in that experience and maturity also play a vital role in the self definition of what love is for the individual and their partner.

But who said we had to live in a binary system? It's both.

Love is a biological function as well as a mental and emotional operation. Giving chocolates, for example, is an emotional way of showing you care for someone, and chocolate itself contains chemicals that release endorphans (sweetGodI'mnotabiologistandIknowthat'satypo) that give the impression of being in love. Misguided love or misinterpreted love may be an imbalance with endorphans(againI'mnobiologist) combined with the lack of experience to personally define what love is for them, not having any personal evidence to cite from. It's a fine line, but it's a complicated process, one of which younger people just can't wrap their heads around, mainly because, in a sort of begging the question, they're too caught up in their love to understand that it may not be that which they're claiming it to be.

I wish there were a simple answer to this, and I wish I knew how to spell endorphans(:( ).

Wish granted! Endorphins. Pays to have psychology credits. :]]

Although, I know what they mean, I don't understand how they aren't very different from each other in terms of love and affection. The differences just seem too trivial to me.

Endorphins (amazing!) just give off the sensation of being in love; after that juncture it's the individuals interpretation of the chemical reaction in his/her own body.

Once again, I'm no biologist, so take all this with a grain of salt.

I think it is.
I am 15 years old and i had a boyfriend for a year, we were both very mature for our ages and yes i did love him.

I recently read a true story in the paper, it was about two very young children who fell in love and later found each other 50 years later and married.

I think that anyone can feel love, it is like any emotion and you don't have to "grow up" to feel it.

The majority of 16 year olds probably aren't even in a relationship, and the majority will have not attempted suicide. I think people do underestimate teenagers, you are saying that more teenagers attempt to commit suicide over a boyfriend than adults, and that may be true, but by no stretch of the imagination is it the majority of teenagers so why is it that they are classed as being unable to feel love?

If the majority of teenagers committed suicide over a boyfriend then that might hold water, but the fact is most do realise that life goes on, therefore in my opinion the majority would be able to experience love and not just 'puppy love.' I don't even know what puppy love is supposed to be.

Like I said, there are a number of reasons why teenage relationships don't generally last, not just their capacity to love one another.

I think MMM is using the whole suicide thing to paint an example of how extreme the hormonal changes are in young teens, Misa.

I know but I think hormones are irrelevant. That's what I was trying to say. There is a broad spectrum of teenage, from 13 to 19, hormonal changes are all totally different and no-ones are the same. To say that hormones stop someone from feeling real love is not something I agree with.

Your hormones are not constantly crazy between 13-19, there is a point where it levels out and that is different for everyone.