Younger guys are dating older girls at Newton High School. Specifically, senior girls are dating juniors and sophomores. The term for an older girl dating a younger guy is a “cougar,” and the guy would be called a “panther.”
“Cougars” are on the rise and the trend has not stopped. Senior Ava Claassen and sophomore Davin Treffor have been in a relationship for half a year. Their age gap is two years and six days. Sometimes, it can be annoying to Claassen when girls talk to him.
“Honestly there’s been a lot of girls that love to flirt with him and I just do my best to ignore it and sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes I just have to say a little something,” Claassen said. “For assemblies, I have to sit with my grade but at football games, I go and stand with him because I just think I have the most fun next to him.”
Treffor, Claassen’s boyfriend, doesn’t necessarily care about the age gap. He believes they communicate well with each other in their relationship.
“I don’t really see her as a senior, I just see her as my best friend,” Treffor said. “We communicate and we make time to see each other.”
In another relationship, senior Kayla Nicholson and junior Niko Ramos are a new pair. This couple has known each other for a long time but just recently started dating. According to Nicholson, he just gets her and they enjoy hanging out with each other daily.
“He just always gets me and [we are] able to laugh together,” Nicholson said. “I personally think we have really good communication.”
Since Nicholson will be off to college next year, Ramos was asked if he trusted his partner enough to go to different schools and still date, and both she and he absolutely trust each other. Ramos loves how supportive and amazing Nicholson is.
“My plan after she graduates is to still date. I’ll spend my summer with her, and then when school starts I’ll have free periods to go and talk to her. I absolutely trust her, I am not worried at all about her being at another school,” Ramos said. “My favorite part about my relationship with [Kayla] is the fact I always have somewhere to talk to that supports what I think and do. She’s also an amazing person so spending time with her is always super fun.”
Although Ramos made the first move in his relationship, senior Lucy Buller and junior Lucas Kaufman mutually made plans, but Buller was the one who asked him to hang out. They met through mutual friends, he told her a happy birthday and it escalated from there.
“It was a Friday night and I was feeling bold so I texted him and asked if he wanted to hang out. We hung out in a group of four and then we hung out the next night and the night after that,” Buller said.
Since grades are split up for school events, Buller was asked how she handles it during pep assemblies, games and more.
“I don’t really care. We’re very separate people. Obviously, I love to hang out with him but we have separate lives too, so I’m fine to just hang out with my grade and he hangs out with his friends,” Buller said.
Every one of these women that are in these relationships is older than their boyfriend. Most of them initially think it’s funny or a little embarrassing when they are called a “cougar.” Senior Khamaraa Ramirez is not yet in a relationship. She is currently in the “talking” stage with junior Enrique Mercado.
“It’s giving, we’re flirting, we’re in early stages. We chit-chat a lot and we like talking to each other,” Ramirez said. “Getting called a ‘cougar’ is kind of embarrassing lowkey. If you just lock in, it will be good.”