Are Girls Admitted to Boys Town?
DR. WALLACE: I'm dating a swell guy and I care for him
very much. Both of us attend the same church, but we go to
different high schools. I like his mother (single mom) and
she likes me. My parents like my boyfriend and he likes
them.
One thing about his mother has me baffled. She was
talking to me about her high school days when she was a
student at Boys Town in Nebraska. I just listened, but I
didn't ask her or my boyfriend any questions. Is it at all
possible that a girl could attend Boys Town? How does a teen
get into Boys Town? — Nameless, Chicago.
NAMELESS: Boys Town, the home for troubled youth
immortalized in a movie starring Spencer Tracy, was opened
in Omaha, Neb., in 1917 by Father Flanagan. For more than 60
years, the population remained all male. But girls started
being admitted in 1979, at which time the name Boys Town
suddenly became inaccurate. Today, girls make up almost half
of the 33,000 young people living at sites in 18 states.
These residents voted on a new name, and now this
venerable institution is officially called Girls and Boys
Town. "Girls" come first in the new name, so the words
"boys" and "town" remain connected, according to the
institution's executive director. The administration hoped
the new name would help the facility reach more troubled
girls without hindering fundraising efforts.
When it opened, the facility was known as Father
Flanagan's Home for Boys. The founder decided to allow the
residents to choose a new name on Valentine's Day in 1926.
Boys Town was a landslide winner over Father Flanagan's
personal choice, Home for Little Valentines, which got only
one vote. I wonder why?
CAN MY PARENTS STOP ME FROM LEAVING HOME?
DR. WALLACE: I'm 16. I live with a father I dislike very
much for a number of reasons and with a mother I totally
despise. I have an opportunity to move in with a buddy's
family, but my parents refuse to allow me to go there. When
I ask them why, they won't give me a good answer.
I feel like I'm old enough to decide where I want to
live. Can my parents stop me from moving? — Caleb, Toledo,
Ohio.
CALEB: Sorry to disappoint you, but you cannot leave home
without your parents' permission until you reach your 18th
birthday, except in unusual circumstances, such as getting
married or obtaining your freedom in a court of law.
TEENS CAN BECOME ALCOHOLICS
DR. WALLACE: You said in your column that it's possible
for teens to become alcoholics. My father is a recovering
alcoholic (he's been sober for over a year) and he said that
he learned at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that it takes
from five to 15 years of drinking for someone to become an
alcoholic. If that's true, it means there aren't too many
teen alcoholics. Do you care to explain? — Nameless,
Michigan City, Ind.
NAMELESS: It's true that it takes from five to 15 years
for an adult to become an alcoholic, but according to
therapists at Community Psychiatric Center in Santa Ana,
Calif., a teen, by contrast, can become an alcoholic in 18
months of heavy drinking.
It's crucial that teen drinkers be aware of the risks
they're taking while they are so young.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers.
Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually,
he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail
him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr.
Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate
website at www.creators.com.
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