There may be a better way to engage your kid.
Whether it’s young kids or teens, we can no longer take this rite of passage and neatly divide it along boy/girl lines.
Experts advise against saying anything that will put your child in an uncomfortable position.
"At night, I’d rinse frustrated tears off my face, desperately wishing my kid could be different — something other than what he was."
"If you’ve ever watched a beloved suffer from something that you could not control, that has no cure or end in sight — and you’ve tried almost everything — you know what I mean."
Some thought the teen was too young to travel with only a friend.