Spring is in the air, and there is an increase in gold adorning the fingers of many soon-to-be-married women.
In conjunction with this April mood, BYU hosted Marriage Awareness Week, a series of workshops taught by Family Science 403 students to anyone interested in learning more about marriage relationships.
“We want to increase students’ awareness to marriage issues,” said Mary Kaye Swim, one of the 403 instructors. “We hope to help people have better marriages and relationships.”
Among the topics discussed are sexual intimacy and expectations in marriage.
With all the talk that goes on within this campus, do the instructors feel that they are forcing the issue too much?
“It’s not just this campus — marriage is coming back nationwide,” said Brent Barlow, associate professor of the School of Family Living. “Experts are seeing the breakdown of the family and seeing that more education is needed to strengthen marriages.”
Among the courtship problems that seem to plague BYU specifically are marrying too fast, marrying to young and expecting perfection in marriage, Barlow said.
“Many couples will literally meet on Friday and be engaged on Monday,” Barlow said. “The textbook we use suggests a couple know each other for two years, but we’re lucky if we can get twelve months.”
“The scary thing about Utah is that 22 percent of girls get married before the age of 20,” said Marco Juracan, another student instructor. “The national average is only 11 percent.”
Because of the trend to get married young, instructors are beginning to go into the high schools to teach the students there about proper communication and dating practices.
“Provo is a great place to meet people, but it isn’t a great place to date,” Barlow said. “Students have to negotiate roommates and friends and wards and they are usually far away from their families, which is detrimental to marriages.”
Barlow seemed adamant about the fact that couples need to be better acquainted with their spouse’s families.
“When couples get married they are marrying that person’s family as well,” Barlow said.
Overall, Marriage Awareness Week was seen as a success. People are still interested in the topic, even if it does seem overdone.
“Who at BYU isn’t already totally aware of marriage,” said Ben Sauter, 24, majoring in economics. “The so-called virtues of marriage are related to us ad nauseam.”
