DR. WALLACE: I'm a teen girl who has suffered from harassment and bullying. I recently told my father that I want to study martial arts, especially jujitsu. However, my father says that the martial arts are for men, not women, and that I should not even think about it.

He also went on to mention that the lessons are really expensive and that he could not afford them anyway.

Is my father right, or do you think I might be able to gain some empowerment if I can find a way to study and learn self-defense via this avenue? It's something I have a gut feeling could really help me right now in my life. — I'd Like to Learn Jujitsu, via email

I'D LIKE TO LEARN JUJITSU: I agree with you that this field might indeed be good for your self-esteem and empowerment on several levels. However, your father does have a point as far as the costs go.

Perhaps you can study this field as much as possible and then seek out a local jujitsu gym or two. Approach the owner or manager and explain your interest, but mention the lack of funds to enroll right yourself right now. You might be able to ask if it would be possible to trade some work hours for the business in exchange for at least a few basic lessons.

If you are able to get a foot in the door, no matter how small, I trust you'll be able to learn and grow gradually to improve your skills over time. There might be a girl or woman who would consider mentoring you as well, so keep your eyes open for any opportunities in that regard, and network with as many people in the genre as you possibly can.

Also, take some time to read up on a young lady named Cesalina Gracie. She's part of a very famous family in the world of jujitsu. She's a wonderful role model for many young women, and she often goes into detail about the benefits of the verbal skills of jujitsu as well. She has customized methods in a program she created specifically for girls and women, even though the overall world of jujitsu is indeed presently male-dominated. I trust you'll really enjoy reading about her program and absorbing her customized suggestions and lessons specifically designed for females.

I'M GETTING DIFFERENT ANSWERS ON PASSWORDS

DR. WALLACE: One of my friends at school said I should change my passwords to all of my devices and accounts every weekend, but my mother just told me that I really only need to change my passwords once a year.

She suggested that I change them every year during my birthday week so that I won't forget when to do it.

Because there is such a wide difference between their suggestions, I wanted to check with you on this matter. How often do you change yours, and what do you suggest others do? — Curious, via email

CURIOUS: I've read many studies and suggestions over the years in this regard, and I'll lean on what I've been able to gather from some cybersecurity experts.

They recommend updating passwords every 90 days, or roughly three months. There is also another way to approach this topic, and that is using a password manager. A password manager is a technology tool that helps internet users create, save, manage and use passwords across different online services.

A password manager can even be a web browser that can store all your passwords securely, eliminating the need to remember each of them. This allows the use of strong and unique passwords for all your important accounts as it's never best to use the same passwords across different accounts.

All password managers use some sort of encryption process to protect password information. The encryption process uses math to scramble and unscramble information, so only the creator with the special password key can see it.

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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