DR. WALLACE: I am female, 17 1/2. My boyfriend, who is unofficially my fiance, is in his first year of college, and he's 18 1/2.

He has an excellent home-based business that pays very well, and this allows him to afford his own apartment, tuition and living expenses. He's on decent terms with his parents, but they live back East, over 2,000 miles away from us.

He's asked me to move in with him and to help him with his small business. His advice is for me to stop attending high school now, because my time would better be used helping our business grow, and then I could always get a GED diploma later.

My parents don't like this idea very much, even though they like him. They keep telling me to finish high school and then do whatever I want once I'm 18. The plan seems to be working for him; he attends college part-time several nights a week and keeps his days open to work on his business. I could easily see myself joining him quite soon. Do you feel helping advance the business that will be ours together as a married couple someday is a higher priority than spending the next five months in boring classes at my high school? — It Seems Logical to Me, via email

IT SEEMS LOGICAL TO ME: I agree with your parents, and the reason boils down to a single word: momentum.

You are presently in full rhythm of completing your senior year of high school with only a handful of months to go until you achieve your high school diploma. You have your entire life in front of you to work, try business ideas, get married at some point and even start a family if you wish.

Your life will invariably get busier and busier once you leave high school no matter when that time is. Therefore, if you can grind out your last few months right now, you won't have to think about returning to high school as a chore on your to-do list months, years or even decades from now.

And since the small business is doing well, once the summertime comes, you should have a lot of free time and open runway right in front of you to contribute regularly to the successful start your boyfriend's business is already off to.

MY PARENTS ARE HYPOCRITES

DR. WALLACE: I'm a junior in high school, and both of my parents are always hounding me not to spend so much time on my phone on social media and watching videos. I rarely watch conventional television at all, except for the occasional sporting event with a group of people, like the Super Bowl or the NCAA basketball tournament.

My parents tell me not to spend so much time watching things on my phone, yet they watch four to six hours of television every night! They will watch reruns of old comedy television shows, several broadcasts of the news and even an occasional movie.

Why should I have to cut down on my discretionary time when they do virtually the same thing in a different format every day themselves? — My Parents Are Hypocritical, via email

MY PARENTS ARE HYPOCRITICAL: Regardless of what your parents choose to do with their free time, they do have the right to make decisions regarding your discretionary time.

Comparing your situation to theirs is a sure source of frustration for you, so I encourage you to focus on the free time you do have during each day and to use it within the rules your parents set for you.

Look at it this way: You'll still be able to spend some time viewing what you enjoy on your phone, so maximize that time by spending it where you feel you get the most enjoyment or value out of.

Then list every other potential activity you could redirect a few hours of your time into. You may find that by sampling several of these ideas, a new door may open for you that you'd enjoy even more than having an extra hour or two watching entertainment on your phone.

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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