In the congregation I spent most of my time in as a kid, we had 5 marriages where the female was still in High School and dropped out because they got married (that I can recall). All with approval of their parents of course and by California law the female had to be 16 years old (this was back in the late 1970’s so maybe the laws have changed, I don’t know). My brother was one of those 5 (well his wife, he was already out of High School by one year and she was a sophomore). So she never got a HS education or a GED. Since the JW’s place no emphasis upon formal education (or at least didn’t when I was in, it might be different now) these marriages of very young people was prevalent.
When I was in I was not allowed to date at all (parental mandate not necessarily a JW mandate) because dating was only for those contemplating marriage. My first “date” was my junior prom it was a double date with another couple getting ready to do the get married while we are still in HS deal, as you can imagine it was an abysmal failure in all aspects of the social spectrum.
This methodology stunted my social progression (in my opinion, of course) making it very difficult for my inter-sexual relationships later in life. As I’ve said before several times about the JW’s, they are a relationship killing organization. The way they handle marriage and dating is yet another example of this aspect of their teachings.
I believe it is entirely possible to encourage sexual purity in relationships prior to marriage without the strictness that I encountered as an adolescent in the JW organization.
