DR. WALLACE: I'm 18 and the girl I've been dating for a couple of weeks is 17. The other night she wanted me to go with her to a party at her best friend's house. I thought it would be fun so I agreed to go.

Well, this party turned out to be nothing but a huge beer-drinking contest! This girl drank way more than she should have, and although I tried to get her to stop, she paid no attention to me. I finally dragged her out of there at midnight and she was totally drunk. She could hardly walk and I had to practically carry her to her front door.

To make this long story short, her parents blamed me for bringing their daughter home drunk. Her dad was so mad he wanted to fight me, but his wife and another sister held him back while I left. I told them I tried to get her to stop, but she kept drinking anyway. Her mom said that I was responsible and that I should have brought her home in the same condition as when I picked her up.

I'd never, ever, go out with this girl again. But I'd like your answer to my question anyway. Was I to blame for Kelly's drinking? I did not drink at all. — Jake, Santa Fe, N.M.

JAKE: This young lady's parents are to blame for their daughter's despicable behavior. If they had done a better job of parenting, their daughter would have returned home in control of her mind and body instead of being bombed out of her skull. You did what you could to curb her drinking and are not to be blamed in any way.

Kelly got drunk of her own free will, but her parents don't want to accept the realization that their parenting skills are weak. By failing to require their daughter to take responsibility for her actions, they are fostering an irresponsible and self-destructive behavior!

I TOLD HIM TO BACK OFF

DR. WALLACE: I'm 16 and have been babysitting a little girl, who is now 7, for more than two years. The mother is divorced and she is a very nice person. I enjoy taking care of her daughter who is also a very well-behaved little girl.

I babysat last week while the mother went out with some guy I had never seen before. She said she'd be home by 1 a.m. and would drive me home. When she got home at 1:30 she told me she had a headache and her date would drive me home. Well, on the way home he made a pass at me. I told him to back off and started to dial my parents on my cell phone to pick me up. He then quickly apologized and drove me straight home without any delay.

The next morning I told my mom what had happened. She became upset and

called the little girl's mother and told her what had happened. The mother apologized and said it would never happen again because she would not be seeing this guy again.

Did we do the right thing by telling the mother what happened? I'm not so sure. Also, my mother told the lady that I could never watch her daughter if the guy was going to be in her house while I was there. — Nameless, Columbus, Ohio.

NAMELESS: You and your mother both handled the situation properly and I applaud you for it. That kind of behavior must be brought out into the open or it will continue and probably escalate. Also, your employer needed to know that the guy she went out with was a creep!

In the future, if a similar situation arises, call your parents and have them pick you up, no matter what time it is.

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. E-mail 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.

Photo credit: Gabriel Herrera