What can I do?
What if you don’t feel comfortable with some subjects? “Sadly, I see a lot of parents who are clearly just hoping to make it through the teen years,” says O’Dell. “Their hands-off approach leaves a teenager to wade through the doubt, confusion, peer pressure, and temptation all alone. And no teenager is equipped to do that in a healthy way. Without Mom and Dad taking charge, friends, the media, and anything else with a voice will take over. If I look at all to the major struggles I’ve had in my life, troubles I’ve caused, mistakes I’ve made, they can all be traced back to a moment of choice. Do it, or don’t? At that moment, when a decision is made, it sets a pattern of activity into action and you can’t go back to the moment before that choice – big or small – was made.
