Straight Talk For Teens By Teens

DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m 16 and have a 13-year-old brother. Our mom thinks the human body is “nothing to be ashamed of” and walks around the house nude or in bra and panties regularly. It wasn’t a big deal when I was younger, but she’s 38 and keeps her body in very good shape, and I’m ashamed…

DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: A friend lets her teenage daughter stay overnight at a household where many teenagers regularly stay the night together, co-ed. Sometimes the parent of that household is there, sometimes not. When I bring up concerns, she says, “Those kids are all just friends.” I think…

Dear Readers: Each New Year I do a column on what I consider the most crucial issue of our time. This year that issue is what I call The Male Crisis.

Males are in trouble. Of all the American adults behind bars, on probation or parole, 93 percent are male. Males in America are five times…

Dear Straight Talk: You’ve been covering the idea of what it means to be a man. For me, it means standing up for what I believe. It means not being afraid to tell people what they need to hear.

Here’s an example: My 16-year-old recently came home with three D’s. I thought about talking to…

Dear Straight Talk: The male oppression issue you are writing about is interesting. As a fire captain I work with lots of male recruits every year. It is standard for the men to constantly harass each other, sometimes to the point of tears. If those who “tear up” don’t “toughen up” they get…

Dear Straight Talk: I understand the connection you made in last week’s column, taking groping in middle school as a sign of male oppression and backing that up with statistics showing the high incidence of male suicide as the biggest indicator of male oppression. As a war veteran, I know…