At an online source of parenting advice, a mother recently asked a female marriage and family therapist how to handle her eighth-grade daughter’s announcement that she and her ninth-grade boyfriend have decided to “prove their love” by having sex. The mother says, “I don’t think she’s ready to have sex with this boy.” Did you [...]

Your daughter and her friends spend a lot of time gossiping about their classmates. Should you cut in? Parent advice (from our panel of staff contributors): Unless there’s a whiff of vitriol or “mean girl” attitude, I would let it go. Harmless gossip is the currency of inclusiveness among tweens and teens. If I overheard [...]

Have you noticed your teen has a new name on Facebook? As they start applying to colleges, they realize that photos of them partying in compromising positions are not going to impress admissions officers. So they are changing their names to make it harder for colleges to find them. A kid whose last name is [...]

We all loved her as Laura Ingalls on the beloved television series “Little House on the Prairie.” Now, Melissa Gilbert is all grown up and speaking out against a cause close to her heart: teen alcohol and drug prevention. “I know from personal experience the importance of educating parents about the dangers of teen substance [...]

My teenage son endured an unthinkable catastrophe the other day. I heard screaming and shouting coming from the bathroom, so I grabbed the first aid kit and fire extinguisher and went running in, while shouting at his sister to call 911. Fortunately, none of this was necessary, because the only casualty was one mobile electronic [...]