DR. WALLACE: I'm sad to inform you that I've gotten myself into some trouble and now I'm grounded. I'm a senior in high school, and a fellow student convinced me to "skip school" one day last week so that we could hang out with some college friends we both know who invited us to a music festival that's about a two-hour drive away from our town.

It was a Friday, so we didn't think it was much of a big deal. I did write a fake note from my father and turned that in to the school administration office on Monday morning. I thought that was the end of things, but on Wednesday I got called into the principal's office. Apparently, somebody claimed to have seen my friend and I at the music festival around lunchtime last Friday and the word got back to my school. Our principal noted that both my friend and I had "excuse notes" on Monday morning to cover for the previous Friday, so he felt sure that whoever saw us was correct.

I was planning to deny the whole affair, but early on in my conversation, our principal informed me that my friend had already confessed and told him that he was the driver to the festival and that he was the one who convinced me to go. My friend also stated that skipping school was not my idea.

My parents were also unhappy, and my father has grounded me for seven weeks! He told me he selected seven weeks because I missed seven hours of school on Friday. That means he's grounding me one full week for every hour of school that I missed on that one single day. I think I should have to do extra chores or even have my allowance cut for a while, but seven weeks being grounded is excessive! I feel this is unfair. Do you agree with my father or with me? — I Got Caught, via email

I GOT CAUGHT: I feel in your case that being grounded for a period of time is more appropriate than cutting your allowance and even doing extra chores. I feel that since you took unauthorized time away from school, your parents absolutely have the right to take some of your time away from you.

However, I also agree that seven weeks of being grounded is a harsh punishment for a senior in high school. I'm sure you have a busy social life, might even work part time and your ability to socialize during your final year of high school holds great value to you. I suggest you approach your father with a compromise. Ask him if you can reduce the length of your grounding if you exhibit good behavior, true contrition and a willingness to do extra homework, extra chores or anything else that would help your family, your neighbors, your community or your education.

If you're lucky, your parents might agree to cut the length of your grounding in half, or at least limit it to four weeks. But you had better be on your very best, helpful behavior during the initial time your grounding begins. Don't complain, grouse or whine about your punishment. Instead, be upbeat about learning a tough lesson and seek to be helpful to your parents, siblings and anyone else who is important to your family. This is the best way to potentially "earn" a reduction of the harsh length of your punishment. If you feel it might help you, show your letter and my reply to your parents. But be sure to hold up your end of the bargain honorably and without any complaints, even if your reduction (if any!) is smaller than you had hoped for. You got yourself into this situation, so you must now pay your dues to learn your lesson and work hard to seek any partial respite from serving the full seven weeks.

I'M BEING ACCUSED IN ADVANCE!

DR. WALLACE: I'm 16 and my parents have suddenly become very suspicious of me! I've never been a perfect teen, but I've never been in any big trouble either. I have a few close friends and we like to hang out late sometimes, but we don't ever do anything illegal.

Apparently, my parents went to a community drug awareness meeting and they are now very hopped up about checking to see if my friends and I are using any kind of drug or pill that might become laced with fentanyl.

A normal weekend at home will involve my parents searching my room and asking me why my eyes are red sometimes, especially if I haven't gotten enough sleep.

I've never even tried a drug and have never planned to. But if my parents are going to accuse me, my friends say that we should go ahead and try something just once since we are being accused anyway.

What do you think about this? — Tired of Being Badgered, via email

TIRED OF BEING BADGERED: First of all, it's a really terrible idea to try any kind of drug, even once, simply because you're being scrutinized for possibly having used them.

Your parents are out of bounds with their constant accusations, but it's up to you to take care of your body. And make no mistake about it; it is indeed your body. So don't take any untoward risks! Even one dose of fentanyl could cause you to stop breathing and cost you your life. Simply tell this to your friends and be sure that they don't fall into the trap of trying a pill once themselves.

Your parents love you and want to protect you, but their approach is obviously not reaching you and it's now even counterproductive. I suggest that you ask a trusted family friend, aunt or uncle or even a school counselor to set up and moderate a meeting with you and your parents. Hopefully, each side can respectfully discuss the subject matter in a symbiotic way and come to an agreement to work together without advance accusations with no evidence.

And I further suggest that you think carefully about taking care of your body and then use that line of thinking in these discussions. Once your parents realize that you truly wish to keep yourself safe, their fears and worries may subside down from a fever pitch to a more reasonable and pragmatic level of vigilance and concern for you.

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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