What do we make of the demise of dating among high school and college-age students?

What about the phenomena of sex without women? What happens when men actually prefer porn to full-on relationships?

And what about digital gatekeepers for screen and social media?

We have a great story that I think will be uplifting to you, an Aussie blood donor who saves thousands of children's lives.

These are the stories we'll talk about today and we'll take some of your excellent questions, as we have every week.

I'm your host, Scott Ray, and sitting in for Sean is my colleague in Theology at Talbot, Dr. Eric Tonus.

This is a think-biblically weekly cultural update from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. Eric, so glad to have you with us. This is a think-biblically weekly cultural update from Talbot School of Theology at Biola

University. Eric, so glad to have you with us. You've been a home run every time you've been on

with us, and I know our listeners will look forward to hearing from you today. Thanks, Scott. I

always enjoy being with you. Our first story is from the Atlantic and describes the phenomena of fewer

young people getting into romantic

relationships. Research indicates that the number of teens experiencing romantic relationships

has dropped somewhat significantly. In a 2023 poll from the survey on Center on American Life,

56% of Gen Z adults said they'd been in a romantic

relationship at any point in their teen years compared with 76% of Gen Xers and 78% of baby boomers.

In the general social survey, a long-running poll of about 3,000 Americans found in 2021,

that 54% of participants ages 18 to 304 reported not having a steady partner, and in 2004 only 33% had said the same.

Now, the article points out that it's not just teenagers, but lots of American adults are withdrawing from romance as well.

They point out that a first love can be something like a right of passage on the way to adulthood that can help people mature and to know what kind of person they are looking for in a long-term relationship.

Now, to be sure, young love isn't always a positive thing. It can be abusive.

It can distract from other important priorities. But some studies suggest the lack of romantic activity can even have some benefits, too. One study, for example, found that compared with

their dating peers, students who dated infrequently or not at all over a

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