Nobody likes to spend Friday nights alone and there is something so comfy about snagging a sweetie to call your own. But some teens are so tuned into being in a love relationship that they get hooked up for all the wrong reasons.

So why do teens feel pressure to be in a relationship? And is there anything cool about flying solo?

Peer pressure, the need to be loved and rebelling against the 'rents are all bad reasons to get involved with someone. But it happens all the time.

D. Sharon Pruitt www.pinksherbet.com

Peer pressure pushed Senior Kerri Robes into the arms of the wrong guys.

"I dated for all the wrong reasons," she remembers. "My friends were dating and I felt like the third wheel. Pretty soon, my friends were trying to fix me up so I wouldn't be alone. I went along with it, but I really didn't feel ready."

Christine Boucle, who began dating at 13, had a similar experience. "I think my friends wanted to help me," she says, adding that it seemed her buds viewed being single as some kind of sickness.

Some teens (and adults for that matter) lack confidence in themselves and need someone else to make them feel worthy. Kerri sees a lot of her friends dating for this very wrong reason. "They need someone else to make them feel secure," says Kerri. 

For a lot of us, the desire to feel loved is so strong that we will hook up with a partner who we know isn't right for us. This is especially true if you're feeling misunderstood at home -- a common dilemma for many teens who find themselves at odds with their parents during these sometimes confusing years.

And then there is society, which constantly seems to tell us that being involved in a steady relationship is better than being single -- no matter what.

Nothing is further from the truth. First of all, being in a relationship is hard work. You have to consider another person's feelings and perspectives on just about everything from which movie to see to whether to go away to college.

What's more, people need time to learn to be alone, to discover who they are and what they want in life. It's key to having successful relationships later on, experts say.

Kerri learned this the hard way. She finally said "no" to dates she didn't want and spent some time with her own wonderful self.

"I got to know myself," says Kerri. "Time alone for me was healthy. It helped me to take a step back and look at other couples. I saw how relationships really worked and I figured out what I wanted out of a relationship."

That helped her be ready for a caring, committed relationship when the right guy happened along.

"We exchange healthy emotions," Kerri says of herself and her steady boyfriend. "We support each other."

Ralph Cumana, 19, is also involved in a steady, longterm relationship that took time to find. "It's like that old comment," he says. "When the time comes, it just happens."

Waiting for "it" to happen can sometimes seem an eternity. But remember, lessons learned alone are often the surest link to love.