Is a 12-year-old too young to date?

"Mom--I think I'm ready to date!'' That was the text message I got from my 12-year-old son one day. Luckily I was sitting down when I received it. I ran over in my mind what girl had captured my son's attention or what friend was pushing him into something I thought he was way to young to even consider. His 21-year old-sister did not date until she was 16, and that was too young in my eyes. My son and I sat down to talk and the first thing out of his mouth was "All my friends are dating!" So when I asked him to list all his friends and it ended up being a grand total of 2 that actually had girlfriends - one of them being our 14 year old neighbor. When I asked how he knew they were dating his response was that "They are nice to each other." I then asked him if he knew what dating meant? I was very proud of him when the first answer that came out of his mouth was "to be respectful of the other person." So I suggested to him that if he had a girl at school he liked, he should start slow with the relationship by saying hello to her in the mornings. Then maybe we could discuss group dates once they got to know each other. To this day, I don't think he has done that, and he has yet to be able to explain to me what dating really is. Hopefully, that lasts a year or two more and the next time he asks the question his dad is around to answer.