Q&A: TEENAGERS

  • My daughter's relationship with older man worries me


    Q. My  daughter is just seventeen and  has started seeing a man who is twelve years older than her. I only found out his age from my daughter’s friend who let it slip and I am very concerned about the age difference. I worry that he might exploit her or that such a relationship might distract her from her studies. When I tried to talk to my daughter about it we had a row and she told me to mind my own business. Things have been frosty between us since. Am I right to be worried?
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  • Reading daughter’s diary

    Q. There is something going on for my 14 year old daughter that she is not telling me. She has become very secretive and does not tell the full details of where she has been when out. I think she might have a boyfriend and is hiding this from me as she knows I think she is far too young. She keeps a diary that she writes in everyday and I am tempted to read it when she is out to find out what is going on for her.
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  • My 12-year-old has become a 'demon' at home


    Q.My 12 year old daughter has really become a ‘demon’ at home. She used to be such a quiet child and now she is losing her temper all the time and picking a fight all the time. She wants to stay out all the time with her friends and when I insist she stays in with the family she can be come really rude. Would taking her to a counselor help and if so where can I go to get one? Also how can I make sure my daughter will attend?
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  • 14 Year Old Drunk

    Q. Last week my fourteen year old son was brought home very drunk by police. I was very shocked as he has always been a responsible boy and has never done anything like this before. I was also really angry both at him and at his friends, who it seems left him to fend for himself when they went to a party. He was incoherent when he came home, so I sent him to bed. The next day he said he was sorry and that it would not happen again. To be honest I am not sure whether to believe him or what I should do to make sure he doesn’t drink again.
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