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Dating and automobile

Dating only as old as the automobile

Dating is mainly a twentieth-century phenomenon. You’d be surprised to learn that the history of dating is no older th the automobile.

One book on the demise of courtship is aptly titled From Front Porch to Back Seat.12 The automobile took young couples and courtship away from their families. While providing what seemed to be exciting new freedoms, it had disastrous consequences for marriage. Chaperones and the family courting circle were abandoned in the early twentieth century for the thrill of the automobi the “independence” provided by the dating revolution.

Is it any wonder that throughout the last century the incidences premarital sexuality skyrocketed, leaving millions of broken hearts, shattered families, and fatherless children? Isn’t it past time that we return to the practices that directly involve families and chaperones in preserving lasting love?