<p>When you all figure it out, please let the rest of us know!</p>
<p>When my daughter was in middle school, "going out" was the equivalent of "s/he looked at me and talked to me today."</p>
<p>In high school, "going out" happened after spending much time in packs of friends; eventually couples formed. By that definition, my daughter has been going out with her boyfriend for more than three years. They even occasionally go on a date, but mostly they just "hang out."</p>
<p>"Hooking up" in high school (as explained to me by my daughter) meant, "I have an itch; you have an itch...let's 'scratch' one another" and was driven by hormones rather than any desire for going out.</p>
<p>I have no idea how any of this works at my daughter's school, but my daughter assures me that the serial dating of my parents' era is just not done. It does appear that by the time kids are "going out", they've already made the decision to be a couple.</p>
<p>And Veronica was definitely hook-up material...</p>