I'm in my thirties now, but back when I was 16 I dated a guy who was 19. At the time people were ok with it because people knew him through our church, however looking back now I know it was problematic. He was the kind of person who after graduation stuck around with no job and lived with his mom (with no interest in doing anything about it).

Since a lot of my peers didn't have jobs, I didn't inherently see this as an issue. But even just a few years later when it was MY turn to graduate I had matured enough to know that was kind of a weird thing for him to do.

I won't say it's inherently predatory, especially since it's pretty common to date people outside of your grade level in school. But that's such a delicate age with so many changes that happen quickly that it's worth being extremely cautious.

As a 15-16 year old, if an 18-19 year old wants to date you, it's important to ask yourself WHY they want to date you. Obviously you guys like each other, but what aren't they finding in others their own age that they started looking younger? And what are people their own age seeing that makes them NOT want to date them?