Safety Tips for Dating

BY RON ZVAGELSKY

If you are not familiar with the person you are dating, you should never meet them in an isolated area where there is no one present. Depending on your age, your parents, friends, or guardians may wish to act as a chaperone. You will never truly get to know a person until you have personally spent time with him or her. This is especially true for people who use online dating services. While webcams are helpful, they cannot replace a face to face meeting. There are a number of dating safety tips that you will always want to follow.

First, you should always let people know where you are going on your date. If something happens, or you can’t be reached, people will know where to look for you. Take the number and first and last name of the person you’re dating and give it to someone you trust. Make it clear to your date that you’re doing this. If they have a problem with this, you should consider it to be a bad sign, and you may not want to proceed with the date. For the first date, it is best to meet in a public place. If possible, meet during the day, and avoid dating a person late in the evening. You may want to start off your first date with something nice, such as coffee.

When you go on a date, avoid having your partner meet you at your home. Never give them your address under any circumstances. Until you trust them, the two of you should agree to meet in a public place. If you don’t have your own car, you should have a plan to leave quickly if you become uncomfortable with the situation. While you’re on the date, it is important to listen carefully to what s/he’s saying. This way, you can catch him or her in a lie if s/he says something later on which contradicts what s/he said earlier. If you see this pattern, this is a bad sign, and you will want to avoid dating this person.

Once the date is over, you will want to travel home without your date taking you there. Never allow your date to know where you live until you are absolutely comfortable with him or her. If you are dating online, safety is even more important than for those who are dating offline. The only thing you will see on most dating websites is a picture and profile of a person. This is not enough information for you to truly learn about a person. Even a webcam is not enough. Follow the guidelines in this article and protect yourself at all costs.

Ron Zvagelsky has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in May 2006. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of PlanJam, a new interactive planning website for romantic date ideas.