Love amongst the youth

My childhood, looking back completely revolved around getting boyfriends and fitting in; education, friends and family seemed petty in comparison. I dated my first boyfriend when I was only 5 years old! I remember getting married to him in the playground and I actually went out and bought a plastic ring to give to my new husband, it felt great to be part of this ritual as all my friends desperately wanted to marry after this also. Of course, eventually person’s involved would get bored and casually fling their marital status aside to start afresh with someone else.

That was at a time when I was really still in infancy but once I reached the age of 11 that’s when things got serious. My first boyfriend of secondary school only lasted one week but the events that occurred within that week changed who I was completely. I was very shy and I believe that this boy used this to his advantage. After meeting his mum and his sister and then after he met my family we went to my bedroom to talk and cuddle like innocent 11 year-olds do and I after just a few days found myself falling fast and I found myself doing things I wasn’t mentally or physically ready for. When school came around again I quickly found out second-hand that I was dumped and that everyone was talking about what had happened. I spent most of the school day in the toilets and when I could bear to leave them I just went home, missing a whole day of school over a stupid one-week relationship. He meant so much to me so quickly and this scenario had shaken me to the core.

This is the issue that needs to be addressed, should boys and girls have to learn from mistakes as serious as relationships at such an early age?
There is a boy I know who started going out with a girl at a very young age and fell head over heels for her and they were on and off for a very long time. Eventually she broke his heart and now in early adulthood he finds himself bitter and unable to let go of the tragic events of his past. In this case his mental health: his confidence and his self-esteem have been crushed because of what happened to him, could all of this been avoided? Why do people still in childhood fall in love and how?