MonkeyMBC : I'm to assume that when you say that you hang out with 15 year olds that your talking about 15 year old males, which isn't a big deal. However if its a 15 year old girl then yes you should be careful as your walking a thin line between "friends" and "sex offender". While to you and the 15 year old it doesn't seem like your doing anything wrong if your just hanging out; however at some point some overly protective adult will see you and her together and call the police if that person feels like your being inappropiately.

Growing up, I really never had any friends that were my age. I had two at first who then started not liking me for whatever reason, so I made friends with my neighbor whom is four or five years younger than I am. Through him, I met other neighborhood friends that, when totaled and put together, came out as a descending order of age perfectly. At the oldest was my friend, V, then it was me, then J, B, R and then my neighbor. While at school, we really could not hang out, afterwards we all would, though R and B were not always with us.

Today, I'm only in minor contact with B and J still; my neighbor is still my neighbor but we are not really into the same things anymore. I used to find it weird that I had no friends my age, but as I grew older, I realized how little that mattered.

In high school, I had friends ranging from 10 to 30 years old because of a group that came together back when I played Dance Dance Revolution competitively, and I am in more contact with them than people from my class. I actually do not keep in contact with ANYONE from my graduating class; they just were friends that passed by.

Today, my youngest friend is around 7 years younger than me, but is also one of my closest male friends. His growing maturity can make me feel old sometimes, such as when he reminds me of myself when I was younger, but other than that, I know he is a good friend.

I will admit, I would feel nervous to be friends with a female that was under the age of 18, mainly because it seems kind of creepy to me for a 26-year old to hang out with a 17 or younger female. I just rather distance myself from any possible problem in that aspect.

It's not usually too weird, but at least as kids, a five year difference is a very big difference, but in most cases, it isn't to bad.

I don't think it's weird if for example a 20 year old man is friends with a 16 year old teenager. Those type of age gaps I have no problem with, especially if they've known each other for a while. but if a 40 year old man is friends with an 8 year old boy and they haven't known each other for a while or the parents don't really know the 40 year old, then there's a problem. It just makes the old guy look like a stalker, in my opinion at least. 

Oldschool41 : Exactly! I agree with you 110% if anything one should try to keep themselves to their age group. It is not a matter of it being weird, it is a matter of how people take it and how you present your self. I think we can agree to be careful who we hang out with because I have seen under aged people get attached to older people and that can cause problems, so it is best you stay with your age group to reduce risk.

MonkeyMBC : Completely agree with you on your points. I should point out that if a younger aged person becomes attracted to an older person that is illegal to have a relationship like that; then it should be responsability of the older person to avoid temptation of dating someone younger (as what the media likes to say that older men do); and reinforce the idea that they are just friends and that IF the younger person wants to be with the older person, then they should wait until they are the legal age to date the older person if the younger person truely wants to be with the older male.

I'm generalizing but if it is a younger having and or seeking older men for friendships or relationships I would tell you to be careful. Having three sisters and a mother with no males around except for me it is almost all bad. The same thing can happen with women being the older of the two but they won't take "advantage" as much. Now don't get me wrong there are healthy relationships with having age gaps. My sister is 29 and her husband, my step brother is 53. They love each other and prove it everyday. What I'm talking about is girl and guys who are under the age of 18 and have a 3+ year gap between the two people in a relationship. This can even happen with 18,19 year old boys and girls who are having "daddy issues" < just a term of expression.

It doesn't matter that much - but it is good to have friends your own age as well as people younger and older than yourself.  A mix is probably your best bet, with the majority being contemporaries.

I don't think so. My best friend is only 17, and the one I'll call my next best friend (lol) is 50. BIG gap there lol but she and he rock.

Once the word friend comes into play, age is no longer in the equation. If someone is your friend, if they are nice to you, and treat you well, it shouldn't matter how old they are, or young. If you respect them, if you accept them for how they are, then I accept your choice in being their friend. On that note, I have a wide variety of friends, from 5 - 78. I try to hang out more with people my age, but that doesn't mean that they are my only friends. The friends I hang with for the majority of the time, are 17-23.