>>Please spare me any "be your child's friend" speeches.>>
It appears you misunderstood my tone and post. I am in opposition to being a child's friend. We are their parents, the rule makers, not their buddies.
However, expecting teenagers to learn responsibility over 6 years of care-free life doesn't work. Never has. They must be taught to be responsible BEFORE the day comes when the rets of their age is acting irresponsibly.
But that's exactly why I say they should be allowed to be children longer. The problem is the parents. People want to blame this on society, but it's each of our responsibility to raise our kids to be responsible and moral in spite of what the rest of society is doing.
I just don't see how you can possibly do that by throwing them out there when they are 14 or 15 and trusting them to make all their own adult decisions. To me that seems like you are shirking your responsibility to your children to protect them.