THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 29, 1994 TAG: 9407280056
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOUREIA WILLIAMS, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
A WINK. A SMILE. A quick turn of the head. That's what flirting is all about.
Some say it's just a friendly gesture. Others say it's showing interest in a relationship. But just about everyone does it once and a while.
``I flirt most of the time just to be friendly,'' said Leah Friedman, 17, of Cox High School. Leah is not alone. Lots of teens said they use flirting as a tactic to break the ice.
Even though the sexes seem so different, when it comes to flirting there are few differences between the two. Both sexes agree that eye contact with a smile are sure indications that a person is interested.
``A mild stare with a smile and a wink lets me know that a girl is interested in me,'' said Antwain Freeman, 18, a big flirt at Maury High School.
Sometimes flirting can just be for fun. You're at a red light in your car and you glance and smile at the driver next to you. That's all that's needed, and your off, leaving that person in the dust once the light turns green.
There are lots of ways to be creative about flirting and that's part of the fun. Tiffany Hassell, 16, of Maury High, said one of the best approaches she ever witnessed happened when she gave a guy her beeper number. She asked what code she should use and he said 365 because he wanted to be with her 365 days of the year.
However, some people like Nina Bautista, 17, of Tallwood High, are more impressed with the subtle approach - friendly conversation and then the exchange of telephone numbers.
Even though flirting can be fun, it can result in some pretty sticky situations, especially if someone is being a tease.
``A tease,'' said Sean Jones, 19, a graduate of Maury High School, ``is promising a sexual act and not following it.'' He advocates flirting for fun, not for promises.
Fred Western, director of clinical services at the Family Services of Tidewater in Virginia Beach, warns that sexual assaults can result when flirting is taken to extremes. The transition from childhood to adulthood through adolescence is a very complicated stage of life, he said. Flirting is a chance for teens to learn about the opposite sex, he said, but they should be careful to not send the wrong signals. MEMO: Toureia Williams is a rising senior at Maury High School. She wrote this
story as part of the newspapers' 8th Annual Minority Journalism
Workshop.
by CNB