Crush: a high school phenomenon

During a recent conversation with a friend of mine, we talked about high school relationships and how they affected other people. This conversation made me think about why we use the word "crush" to describe an infatuation for someone of the opposite gender.
After some thinking on this subject I decided to look the word "crush" up in the dictionary. (BY THE WAY YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ ALL OF THE DEFINTIONS, IT'S JUST THERE FOR REFERENCE)

CRUSH
n 1: leather that has had its grain pattern accentuated[syn: crushed leather] 2: a dense crowd of people [syn: jam, press] 3: temporary love of an adolescent [syn: puppy love, calf love, infatuation] 4: the act of crushing [syn: crunch, compaction] v 1: come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority; "The government oppresses political activists" [syn: oppress, suppress] 2: to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition; "crush an aluminum can"; "squeeze a lemon" [syn: squash, squelch, mash, squeeze] 3: come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game" [syn: beat, beat out, shell, trounce, vanquish] 4: break into small pieces; "The car crushed the toy" 5: humiliate or depress completely; "She was crushed by his refusal of her invitation"; "The death of her son smashed her" [syn: smash, demolish] 6: crush or bruise; "jam a toe" [syn: jam] 7: make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination" [syn: break down] 8: become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure; "The plastic bottle crushed against the wall"
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=crush)

In definition number 3 it says it is a TEMPORARY love. In most cases a crush in high school doesn't last for very long. What some teenagers might not realize is that most high school relationships don't last for very long.

Another definition (#5) is humiliate or depress completely. This works well to describe a high school crush. Once someone has gotten into a serious relationship, it is hard for those people when it ends. They are humiliated by the fact they have acted that way, and will always be uncomfortable around that person they were with. They may become depressed by the fact they have been mean to their friends or even that the relationship has ended because they still have a "crush" on that person and that person doesn't like them anymore. Or if they have told someone that they "like" them then it is humiliating to see that person and have them know that you like them. It ruins the friendship that might have once had, especially if the other person doesn't feel the same way about you.

The last definition that works well is #8: become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure. If someone has been "going out" with someone they can be broken or injured. They might not have been damaged on the outside but they have definietly have been hurt emotionally and spiritually by a serious relationship.

Now I'm not saying that having a crush on someone is bad, I'm just saying we need to be careful about what we say and do. Something so little as having an infatuation can become something very big. It can hurt friendships and other things in our lives.