Concerning dating in general, Scott Carter, an essayist who writes for the New York Times, describes dating as "a vehicle for conducting a series of highly critical evaluations of compatibility, where one disappointing evening in the beginning stages of a relationship can be grounds for termination."

"Dating in high school is about getting out there and making your mistakes in relationships early," said freshman Ben Brulotte. "You need to find out what you're really looking for in a close friend of the opposite gender."

Some students are concerned that dating in high school is about lust and sexual appetites more than anything else. "Most guys are a bunch of crotch goblins with loads of hormones just searching for their next fling. They really don't have a mature grasp on what's important in a relationship, " said junior Jamie Hojem.

Most people seem to agree that lust is not a fulfilling pursuit. Essayist Amy Witting spoke of lust as a "weary hunt through rough bush after a half seen animal, ending up in a desert where it left you alone."

Despite the pessimism concerning lust in relationships, some students still consider dating in high school to be a good way to find love. "The people with more Christian-like ideals are the nicer type of people who genuinely look for love, not those materialistic, superficial kind of relationships that you see in the halls every day," said sophomore Bryan Dempsey.

A few students believe that it is possible to find a mate in high school. "My mother dated my dad in high school. My dad went to the Chehalis school while my mom went to Centralia, but they met and hit it off and later married," said Hojem.

Of course, some students don't think that it's very possible to find a worthwhile girl/boy friend at W.F. West. "The girls in W.F. West are like parking spots; all the good ones are taken up and the other ones are just way too far out there," said Senior Pat Luthe.

High school seems to be such a good place for meeting new people that some students feel that teenagers only go to high school in order to date. "Most people use high school as a dating service. It's really distracting from the pursuit of knowledge which is what we're supposed to be here for," said junior John Crockett.

One subset of people feel that dependency on any member of the opposite gender is a mistake. "Allowing yourself to be dependent on another person is the worst possible thing oyu could do to yourself. You would be better off being dependent on heroin. As long as you have a supply of it, heroin will never let you down; if it's there it will always make you happy. But if you expect another person to make you happy, you'll be endlessly disappointed," said philosopher M. Scott Peck.