Dating

I disagree that dating in our current social context is 'essentially practice for divorce' because people can learn valuable communication skills that can help them later in life.  As mentioned by Fr. Malloy, our generation is afraid of divorce.  I think this has largely played into the idea that one should test the waters before jumping in.  While the college culture is often thought about as crazy and that everyone makes-out with a few people a night, I don't think it necessarily means sex in every case.  Hooking-up is the temporary answer that people have run to in order to try to secure their relationship.  While it is proven that this does not always work, people are insecure and do not want to marry someone that they will end up being unhappy with.  As a result, they don't want to make an eternal covenant before they know what they are agreeing to.  Unfortunately, I do not think the emotional side effects are often taken into consideration.  Consequently, hooking-up does not result in a good outcome in many cases although it is becoming more accepted as the norm.