Marriage: Too Young?

By: Songine’ Clarke

At the age of 21, I currently know 11 people who are either married or engaged to be married. All of these people are in my age bracket. Some people would say they’re too young; therefore, they’re not ready for such a commitment. Some people could even argue that they are too young to have a clear understanding of love. For every person that may question these relationships, there is possibly one person that would argue that love has no limits, including age.

I'm one of those people who's is split down the middle. I say love truly has no age limits once you reach a certain level of maturity, but there’s the other side of love where you have to ask yourself are you ready for the commitment? Are you ready to truly take someone "for better or worse" and become one with the person you choose to spend the rest of your life with?

It's said that the divorce rate in America is about 50 percent. So, if you do the math, for every two couples who are married, at least one of them will possibly get a divorce. This point alone may deter people from pursuing marriage despite the age. Furthermore, statistics show that the highest percentage of divorces is among women between 20-24 years old.

I believe no one is truly 100 percent ready for marriage. It’s a learning process that you and your significant other have to go through together. There will be hard times and there will be trials. Unfortunately, there are times when some couples can’t make it through those trials. Then, there are other times when there is joy, happiness, and excitement once you realize why you are with that one person. So, I guess the question is not is there a such thing as too young, but are you ready for all that comes with marriage?