HAhmed.com

This past week TIME Magazine featured a special on life as a 13 year old, handling many global and social issues and viewing them from the point of view of 13 year old kids across America. One particularly noteworthy short article was by 13 year old Muslim, Armaan Rowther, from Irvine California. He wrote a pience on Why I Don’t Go on Dates. You may read the entire article here.
And here are a few excerpts from it:

My life growing up in California has continually been shaped by the fact that I’m a Muslim Pakistani American….
…Any teenager living in America knows how big an emphasis is placed on having boyfriends or girlfriends, both in society and in the media. On television any show that’s meant for a teenage audience covers the topic of dating nearly a hundred times. At school it’s the only thing kids seem to talk about. Thus you can see how significant the fact that I don’t date is in my life and how hard it makes it just to fit in. All my closest friends either have girlfriends or want to, which makes it difficult to have a conversation with them without this topic arising. I’m occasionally asked why I don’t date or whether my culture accepts only arranged marriages. I reply by explaining my personal view, which is that dating couples act in a way that only married couples should. The kind of relationship they share should exist only where there is a commitment, or else the relationship becomes meaningless. If or when I date, it will be in pursuit of a companion with whom I can spend the rest of my life.