Hey guys....
This isn't about anyone particularly close to me, but I thought I'd get some opinions on this sort of thing in general, since this forum is probably full of girls whose parents at one time or another were ripping their hair out in despair. ;-)
I was on the phone with my aunt today... she lives in Eastern Europe with the rest of the extended fam. It appears that one of my cousins has a 16 yr old daughter who has always been on the straight-and-narrow (good grades, polite, attends church with the family... blah blah...), but has very recently started to act in a way that has the whole household in turmoil. Apparently she has 'fallen in with a bad crowd', and has started to come home at ungodly hours of the morning, dressing 'promiscuously', and her grades are going to the shitter.
Her mom and dad are at their wits' end, and have no idea what to do to reign in their 'wild' daughter. I THINK they suspect their daughter might be starting to experiment sexually... drugs MAY be involved (it wouldn't be anything much harder than pot... other stuff is pretty hard to come by in our little Eastern European country, especially among 16 yr olds), but I have no way of confirming this.
What would YOU tell the mom and dad to do?
Get super-strict, lay down the law, enforce curfews, severely punish bad behavour, accept no backtalk, etc?
or...
Realize it's just a normal part of being a teen girl, try to keep the lines of communication open, and hope the phase passes?
Or maybe you have some different advice?
I would take the second approach.... rebellion is a part of every teen's life, and an overreaction on the part of mom and dad can make things WORSE. I'd just be very careful to make sure she knows how to prevent the types of mistakes that can affect her life forever (getting pregnant - abortion is illegal there, catching HIV, etc).
What would YOU say to the parents? How should they deal with their newly rebellious teen?
Thx in advance for your replies!!! Anecdotes from your OWN experience (eg. What YOUR parents did right/wrong are much appreciated!!!)



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