How about some help for parents of teenagers? Within the next year, Minnesota could build on the success of the widely, and wildly popular Early Childhood Family Education program. ECFE brings together parents of young children to discuss with an expert to discuss what they are learning, and ways to deal with challenges they face. We could try the same kind of thing for parents of teenagers.

Does this sound familiar? " Gone may be the days when your sweet, baby-faced little boy or girl worshipped the ground you walked on and never wanted you to leave their sight. Now it may seem like your teenager loathes you and can't wait to get away from you.”

That¿s what Emily Battaglia wrote recently on the Lifescript website, www.lifescript.com.

As a parent whose 3 youngsters are now in their twenties, I certainly experienced days like the one described above. When I did a google search for “Parents of teenagers,” there were 7.9 million citations! Sounds like a hot topic! While there are valuable things on the Internet, some of the best advice I received came from other parents.

For example, our family noticed that a neighbor had a swimming pool, and that their teenagers often brought friends over to swim and relax by the pool. The family provided soft drinks and other refreshments. The kids generally were well behaved, and in the back yard constantly. One day we asked our neighbor, “Does it ever bother you to have so many teenagers in your backyard?”

“Not at all,” he replied, “That's just where I want them. I can keep an eye on what¿s going on. And if they are here, I know they are not somewhere else, perhaps getting in trouble.”

My wife and I remembered that. When our two older (twins) became teenagers, we purchased a pool table for the basement and stocked a refrigerator down there with plenty of pop.

The kids came constantly, to play pool, watch TV, and generally “hang out.” The philosophy, borrowed from our neighbor, worked very well.

Our youngsters were not perfect. They had scrapes from time to time. By overall, they worked hard, did well in school, were active in extra-curricular activities, and made it through tough teenagers without any major problems.

But is it enough to rely on the advice you might get from a neighbor? I don¿t think so.

Thousands of Minnesota parents participate in the ECFE program, which began with 6 pilot programs in 1974. According to information on the Minnesota Department of Education website, ECFE has expanded to 338 of Minnesota's 343 school districts. Sounds like something LOTS of people want.

We could try something similar for parents of teenagers. Perhaps we begin with several pilot programs, as Minnesota did with ECFE.

If folks are interested in this, I'd like to hear from you. The legislature opens in January. Please write ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you think this is something they should consider.