Latter Day Saints dating is the subject of a fairly significant amount of church writings both formally and informally, as is the subject of dress and deportment while dating and otherwise.  LDS dating should be structured in such a way as to avoid situations where physical touching, caressing, or necking and petting are too easy.  So, not only are the acts themselves considered to be wrong, or at least dangerous in that they lead to wrong acts, but putting oneself in a situation where you may commit wrong acts is also sinful.  To carry it even further, thinking about going into a situation which leads to lustful thoughts is also wrong.

 

LDS dating instead tries to focus on activities, actions and locations where the physical temptations are kept at a minimum.  Young women are taught to dress modestly and to avoid sexually provocative actions, behaviors and demeanor.  Young men are told to respect the young women as she may be the one with whom they are joined in eternal marriage.

 

LDS dating thus usually means a preponderance of group activities with games that may seem corny to others, but are considered great fun by the participants who feel that they have more opportunity to actually learn to know the other people in their group.  LDS dating is more often church related activities rather than attending movie theaters, for example, since most movies are not considered appropriate to watch by those who don't want temptation to think impure thoughts.

 

LDS dating prior to age 16 is actively discouraged amongst young people. Even after that age, young people are not encouraged to date on school nights, never too often, and when dating does occur, it should be limited in time and place.  In other words, the parents need to set boundaries about how late the young people can stay out and where they are allowed to be.

 

Amongst their peers of the same age group, curfews may be lax or even non-existent.Activities such as movies and theaters where adult-rated films are shown are common.Movie theaters are often the location of heavy petting.  What is shown as entertainment may include violence, sex and strong language.A date for a non-believer may include time spent in the back seat of an automobile with heavy necking going on, perhaps even sexual intimacy.

 

The goal of Latter Day Saint parents, teachers and church leaders is to avoid the situations where physical intimacy is common and replace them with church oriented wholesome activities and locations. Because dating begins relatively later in life for the LDS youngster and is rather more strictly regulated as to location, frequency and duration, a great deal of the temptation and questionable activities are removed from the formula. 

 

By further separating young men from the young women during the late teenage years while the men go on their two year mission, it's a fairly effective means of ensuring purity prior to marriage for many of the LDS young people.