Dear Abby: As you know, when students are in their last year of high school, their minds start wandering to other places — college, careers, marriage, etc.
But my daughter is the complete opposite. All she wants to do is party and have fun.
When I approach her about the importance of planning her future — things like college and work — she tells me to “take a chill pill” and refuses to listen.
I want the best for my daughter. She was a very bright student. She was on her way to being valedictorian until she took a turn for the worse. — Scared Parent
Dear Scared Parent: Girls on their way to becoming class valedictorian don’t normally take the kind of nosedive your daughter has. The first thing you should do is screen her for drugs. If she tests positive, get her into rehab. If the results are negative, sit your party girl down and inform her that the party is over. The time to start planning her independent future is here and now, and unless she wants to face the job market with only a high school degree she needs to make plans to complete her education.
And, dear parent, if that girl prescribes one more “chill pill” for you, show her in no uncertain terms what life will be like trying to build a secure future while earning minimum wage. After that, what happens will be up to her.
Dear Abby: I’m a 15-year- old high school student with a big problem. My boyfriend of two months, “Justin,” gave up smoking for me. We made an agreement that if he started again, I would dump him.
Now he’s asking my permission to start again. I don’t want Justin to smoke, but he tells me that smoking is “a part of him.” — Anti-Smoking
Dear Anti-Smoking: If you truly care about Justin, you will stand your ground and remind him that you have an agreement, and in order to have you for a girlfriend, he will have to hold up his end. Believe me, you’ll be doing him a favor.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
