Straight Talk TNT by Teens
Son won’t go to sleep before midnight
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I have an ordinary question compared to the topics you cover. How do you get a teenager (age 16) to go to sleep before midnight — so that he wakes up in the morning acting like a human being? (I’m afraid…
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Son’s internet romance worries Dad
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My oldest, age 15, is in a long-term, long-distance relationship with "the one." He is constantly asking to visit her. I have concerns about the level of supervision there (every interaction has involved questionable…
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On the first day of Christmas my true love stole for me
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I am writing about my friend. She has a problem with shoplifting, maybe even an addiction. I would like to help her stop before she gets caught because she is over 18 and it will result in a criminal record. I have…
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Mom asks: Are my curfew and dating rules too strict?
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My 17-year-old daughter has a serious almost-18-year-old boyfriend. She says I’m too restrictive. I feel a midnight curfew is reasonable and that she may not go to his home since I don’t know if an adult…
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Making a better world, Part II
DEAR READERS: Each New Year I ask the panelists: What bugs you most about the world? How would you make the world better? Last week's “better world” column covered concerns about how digital networking has diminished face-to-face…
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Young people lament downside of digital age
DEAR READERS: What bugs you most about the world? How would you make the world better? Every winter, I pose these questions to the panel. This year, technology took a bruising. Real relationships, thinking deeply, embracing boredom, and…
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Best party favor: stay sober, keep each other safe
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I attend high school parties but don't usually drink or use drugs. Recently a girl chugged vodka. Everyone except me was drinking so nobody thought much of it. After ten minutes, her limbs went limp and she…
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Girl raped while passed out from drinking
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I am helping a friend in my dorm through a terrible experience. She passed out from drinking at a party and was put in a bedroom to sleep it off. She woke up in pain with somebody on top of her. It was like a bad…
3 Comments
Generous Aunt gets no thanks
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: Each year I give my niece and nephew an expensive gift of something they want or need. I often include money. If I'm there for the holidays, they say thank you but I have never once received a thank-you letter.…
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Dad’s suggestive touching embitters daughter
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I'm 17 and lucky to have an involved dad who believes in his kids. But he finds a way to pat my bottom or touch me closer to my chest than I am comfortable with any boy doing. Because of this, I avoid standing…
3 Comments
Teens ‘n Twenties shopping guide
DEAR READERS: It’s time again for Straight Talk’s shopping list — direct from the source. I’m always hoping Santa will “think outside the box” (literally) and scratch video games,…
2 Comments
Learning warning signs of suicide saves lives
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: Regarding last week’s column about the boy who committed suicide, a friend of mine also did lots of increasingly negative drinking, smoking weed and partying.…
1 Comment
Father’s love and courage teaches many
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: Twenty-one months ago, my 18-year-old son jumped to his death from the 720-foot-high Foresthill Bridge. He left for school that morning. At lunch, I got a call that…
6 Comments
Should parents restrict access to son’s troubled friend?
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: What should I do? My son is 16 and wants to hang out with someone who is a very bad influence and I don’t know how to go about preventing that. Whenever they spend…
2 Comments
Risks of risqué Halloween dressing
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: You wrote last week about how risqué attire can draw unwanted attention and lead to trouble if a girl is naive or insecure. How does this relate to Halloween? My daughter…
