Students who date   in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia. "Romantic relationships are a symbol of adolescence , but very few studies have examined how adolescents are different in the development of these relationships." said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health. Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade. Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires   about the students' academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school. "At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills," according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit, being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters. "Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "When the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert   attention from studying." "Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school."Orpinas concluded. What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
They will miss their ex-partners sometimes. They don't want to see each other any longer. Their attention to studying will be affected. They will think it's reasonable to get depressed.