Straight Talk For Teens By Teens

DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I am writing to “Desperate in Salinas” (JUL 15), the girl who was hiding her heroin-addicted boyfriend in her parent’s basement. I, too, was deeply in love with a beautiful soul addicted to heroin, and I guarantee if you don’t get help, he will take you into a pit of…

DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m 14 and I have a serious decision to make. My boyfriend of three months is sick with a deathly disease. I have a hard time handling sickness, let alone death, and if this disease takes his life I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle it. The more attached I get, the more…

Dear Straight Talk: I’m having a really hard time. One of my friends died. Her name was “Kristin.” She was 16. Her boyfriend, who was 30 minutes from being 21, also died. He was drinking and driving, they hit a tree and the car completely wrapped around the tree killing them both on impact.…

Dear Readers: As some of you know, I lost my son, Jarrad, a few weeks ago. On the morning of August 4, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. It was Saturday. He was 18, leaving in a few weeks to attend California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.

Jarrad had the bike for 30 minutes. It was new.…

Dear Straight Talk: I don’t know what to do about my friend “Tasha.” Her mother died about 8 months ago. We’re both 16 and used to be good friends but now she’s so different. I feel bad that we’re not friends anymore but I don’t know what to say to snap her out of it. Any suggestions?—Want…