DR. WALLACE: I'm 14 and one of two twin girls. We have two brothers too, but one is older than we are and the other is only 8.

Our older brother is 18 and he gets to do whatever he wants with his time and social life. But we girls have so many rules that our parents lay on us. The big one we don't like is that our parents have a way of monitoring our screen time on our cellphones and they limit us to two hours per day! We feel this is way too short of a time limit since we need to communicate with each other plus all our friends, and we also want to browse around a bit, looking at funny videos and things we find interesting.

Do you feel that our parents are being overly protective? They say that since they bought our phones and they pay for the monthly fees, they get to set the rules. When we mentioned our older brother, they told us he is now an adult and that he pays his own monthly fees so he can do what he wants with his time. We think this is unfair, don't you? — Twins Who Need More Screen Time, via email

TWINS WHO NEED MORE SCREEN TIME: I agree with your parents given your ages. Parents have the right to set the household rules, and it is their job to decide what is best for their children regarding issues like the one you have raised here.

Many young teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15, and even younger, feel it is their right to spend as much time on a cellphone as they would like to. However, parent must seek to balance the time and attention span of their children just like they work to balance their nutrition and eating habits.

For example, no reasonable parent would allow their children to only eat dessert. Think of your free time on your cellphones the same way. Having fun and browsing on your cellphone is like having dessert, but the rest of your day should be focused on your education and being a good family and community member. You can also dedicate some of your time to exercise and health, and if you're up for it, you girls might even consider doing some volunteer work with your remaining time. You'll have fun and meet some interesting people, too.

THEY HIT EACH OTHER!

DR. WALLACE: I have two older brothers who are a year apart in age. I'm a girl who is 16 and these brothers are 19 and 20. They get along most of the time, but about once a month they get into a brutal argument and they literally pound on each other with their fists!

It's not unusual for one or both to have black eyes, deep facial bruises and other very noticeable injuries on their arms and torsos.

I've mentioned that this is very unhealthy to my mother, but she tells me that my father feels it's best for the boys to settle their differences directly rather than discipline both simultaneously every time they have an argument.

Is this normal? I get really scared when they start yelling at each other because I know what is coming next. I hate to see them fight and I really don't want one of them to get hurt badly someday. — Scared Sister, via email

SCARED SISTER: I agree with you and would not say this is normal. A minor scuffle once in a great while is going to happen, especially between brothers, but a huge monthly fight that creates many visible injuries is out of line for sure.

Your parents, especially your father, should lay down the law and stop this "fight club" before something goes very wrong soon.

Since your brothers are living in your parents' home, they must abide by the rules in effect. Therefore, your mother and father are responsible for keeping the peace. Feel free to show them your letter and my reply as well.

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. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. 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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