Dating and "hooking up"

After reading chapter 5 and also the article on busted halo, I noticed that there was a negative connotation on dating. In today's society as a High School student, dating is usually pretty casual. Both the article and the chapter talked about the sexual part of being in a relationship. In the chapter, it was perceived more as a sexual relationship with a person you are dating. However, in the article on Busted Halo, the sexual part was just a "one night stand." I think the article portrays more how the sexual part of a relationship is bad only if you are not dating that person, or maybe not even friends. I think that having a sexual relationship with a person you are not dating or have no true long-term interest in is pointless. However, I think dating is an essential part to life, giving a person the opportunity to find what you like in a person you are going to spend the rest of your life with.