I have to say 16 and over is an appropriate age to "date" even then I would be pretty strict. I think 14 is too young..I have 15 and 13 year old boys and a 10 year old daughter...none want to date yet and that is fine..I mean they have "girlfriends" at school and they talk online or hang out as groups but alone time....no way no how...they dont sneak around as they havent asked to go out yet but when the time comes I will tell them they have to be 16 or over to go out together alone. My mom let me date at 14 and she always thought she was keeping a close eye on me...all it did was give me more adult feelings and thoughts. I was pregnant as a teenager so anything I can do to prevent it with my kids I will do. My common law calls my boys Momma's Boys but thats juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine with me lol...they can stay that way until they are adults as far as Im concerned...for now they are concentrating on school. I am only speaking from my own experiences but when I started dating young my focus was off school work and on boys and dating and partying as I was allowed to act more mature than I really was...hope this makes some sense...I vote for group dates and limiting the amount of time they spend together..
Dawn