Young people usually choose to handle this problem in one of three ways: sneak round behind their parents’ backs; go along with their parents’ rules and wait until their parents say they’re old enough; try to change their parents’ minds. Let’s look at each of these choices.
Sneaking round behind your parents’ backs just isn’t a good choice. Sooner or later young people who do this almost always get caught. If you do get caught, you may get into a lot of trouble and may do serious damage to your relationship with your parents. In fact, your parents may find it hard to trust you in the future. Even if you don’t get caught, you’ll probably feel guilty about lying and sneaking. Going out should be a fun and pleasurable part of your life. Having to sneak round just complicates your life. Who needs the added complication of having to go behind your parents’ backs? In short, sneaking round behind your parents’ backs just isn’t worth the ‘price’ you may have to pay.
On the other hand, it can be awfully hard to go along with your parents’ rules and wait until you’re older, especially if there’s a special someone you’d like to go out with. But parents who make these sorts of rules aren’t usually trying to be mean or unfair. They’re trying to protect you from ‘getting in over your head’ by starting your romantic life when you are too young. After all, you have a lot of years ahead of you. So if you parents want you to wait, think honestly about it. Maybe they’re right. If your parents say no, ask yourself these questions: are the other kids my age allowed to go out? would I really lose anything by waiting until I’m older?
If your honest answer to these questions is no, then perhaps waiting is the best choice for you. If, however, you feel that your parents are being too strict or too old-fashioned, you might want to consider the third choice, changing their minds.
Changing your parents’ minds probably wouldn’t be an easy job, but it’s worth a try. For starters, find out exactly why they’ve made these rules. What are they worried about? Once you understand their feelings, you may be able to come up with a compromise. If, for instance, your parents think you’re too young to go out, maybe they’d allow you to go on group dates. Or if they won’t allow dates for the cinema, perhaps they’ll allow you to go to a boy-girl party or invite someone to your house.
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