My son is 19 like Cruz Beckham and I’d be horrified if he dated a woman 10 years older – he’s not an adult yet and it’s just as bad as a teenage girl with an older man

In my friend group, a handful of our sons turned 19 this year, and a hot topic of conversation was the relationship between 19-year-old Cruz Beckham and 29-year-old Jackie Apostel.

We’ve all wondered how we would feel in Victoria’s shoes and whether we would respond as the Beckhams have done, without any outward sign that they consider the relationship inappropriate.

Instead, they’ve chosen to keep their son and his Brazilian girlfriend close, hoping it’s just a “Mrs. Robinson” phase.

David is reportedly relaxed about the situation as he believes it is every young boy’s dream to be with an older, experienced woman.

However, in our group the general opinion is that it is an inappropriate relationship with an age difference and if one of our boys got along with Jackie we would not be happy.

Girls mature faster than boys. A 19 year old boy is still at the stage he is in, and I’m not sure the influence of a woman ten years older than him is appropriate.

And what if the roles were reversed? Would David be as happy if his only daughter Harper, when she turned 19, was in a relationship with a man ten years older than her?

Raj Gill, 51, with her son Jeevan, 19, who is the same age as Cruz Beckham. Raj says she wouldn’t be happy if he dated a woman ten years older when he himself isn’t even an adult yet

I highly doubt that. In general, we tend to be much more overprotective of our daughters than our sons.

Cruz is too young to know his own mind, and if he thinks Jackie is the love of his life, I doubt he’s thinking straight. This is probably the first in a long line of cases that concern him.

A telltale sign that all is not as it seems in the Beckham world is that neither David nor Victoria have acknowledged Jackie’s existence on the various social media platforms they regularly update. This is a clear sign that they hope this relationship will not last long.

Nineteen is too young and can be quite a confusing time. A child has barely left school and may be entering the labor market or pursuing higher education.

It’s time to hang out with peers, others who are going through the same things. It can be a confusing time, you suddenly have to grow up. It is a time when you enter the real world.

I have a son, 19, and a daughter, 21. My son, Jeevan, left school at 18 and went to college.

That in itself was a huge transformation.

Gone were the quiet school days; he was taken back and forth from school by us or a member of the family.

Raj wonders what Cruz and Jackie, pictured at Paris Fashion Week, have in common given the age difference

Jackie also bears a striking resemblance to Cruz’s mother Victoria, and shares the same glamorous fashion sense

Jackie and Cruz at Paris Fashion Week with his younger sister Harper and father David. Raj wonders if David would be happy if Harper were dating someone ten years older when she turns 19

He was driven around to all his after-school clubs; we kept a close eye on his schoolwork. And then everything changed.

He had to decide what would come next: continue his studies or enter the job market, even that is a difficult decision.

How is he supposed to know at 18 what he wants to do for the rest of his life?

He opted for further education, the next decision was in which subject. This took months of research and soul searching. What did he see himself doing for the rest of his life?

Ultimately he chose civil engineering, but even that took a lot of research and advice from others who had completed the course.

Raj wants her son’s focus to be ‘on himself and finding himself as he grows as a young man’

Jeevan is fortunate that his circle of friends are all his age, they all have similar experiences and can rely on each other when they face difficulties because they have a better understanding of the situations that 19 year olds can find themselves in.

Jeevan used the summer to show us that he can be responsible and as a result, he had a not-too-bumpy ride to adulthood.

He set several goals for himself: get a summer job, go to the gym, get a driver’s license, etc., and he achieved all of these goals. He wanted to prove that he was ready to take control of his life and that he was ready to grow up.

So if he were to meet someone ten years older than him at this point, I seriously doubt we would accept that.

He has taken the summer to lay the foundation for adulthood, there is still much more hard work to be done. His focus should be on himself and finding himself as he grows as a young man.

My husband and I are the same age, share the same interests and grew up in the same background.

We get each other’s cultural references; we have so much in common because it’s an age-appropriate relationship.

I wonder how integrated Cruz is into Jackie’s world. It must feel strange for him to hang out with her friends when they’re all in their late twenties. What does he find to talk to them about?

I also wonder if Jacqui would even consider dating him if he wasn’t Beckham. That star appeal certainly had a strong pull.

Let’s face it, she was FROW at Paris Fashion Week, she recently spent time with the Beckhams in Miami, none of which would happen if she was dating a regular guy.

It’s also strange that she’s Victoria’s doppelgänger and the fact that she leans into that and plays into it massively is quite disturbing.