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Hitchhiking Is Out!
DR. WALLACE: It's almost the time to flex our muscles and catch a few rays while "eyeing" all the girls at the beach on Lake Michigan. Since my buddies and I are always short of money, we hitchhike. There are four of us, so we always hitchhike in pairs. That way we have protection, and it won't be hard to get a ride.
Last night my mother read about someone hitchhiking who was picked up by a weirdo and sexually assaulted. Now my parents refuse to let me hitchhike. They said that they would drive my friends and whenever they can, and when they are not available to be a chauffeur, they would give me money for the bus.
My friends and I are all 16, so we are capable of taking care of ourselves. I don't mind my parents driving us, but it would be embarrassing for me to have to ride the bus while my friends hitchhike. We go to the beach every day, and we have never had a problem getting a ride quickly to and from the beach. We have been lucky that most of the drivers who pick us up are women, and they are always nice to us. Do you think it's safe to hitchhike, and how else do you think we can solve this problem? —Nameless, Hobart, Ind.
NAMELESS: I am against hitchhiking and picking up hitchhikers. I know it's a free ride that is easy on the wallet, but the potential risks are too great to chance. It only takes one "kook" one time to destroy a future for the hitchhiker or the driver. I'm sure you and your friends can handle yourselves admirably, but not if confronted with a dangerous weapon. Take your parents up on their offer to drive you and your friends to the surf whenever they can. See if your friends' parents can also drive occasionally. If not, all of your friends and you should ride the bus together. It's safe, dependable and reasonably priced.
YOUR PARENTS WILL STOP CHECKING ON YOU
DR. WALLACE: I'm a 15-year-old girl who has a 16-year-old brother who lies a lot. He is always telling my parents that he is going somewhere, but he never ends up there. Now they are constantly checking up on him.
Here is my problem: My parents told me that whenever I start dating, I'd better make sure where I'm going, and I'd better be there because they are going to check up on me, too. Is this fair? —Amy, Weirton, W. Va.
AMY: It's hard to answer your question with a yes or a no. Parents have a responsibility to know where their teens are at all times.
If you are where you are supposed to be, you won't have any problems. After your parents "check you out" a few times and find out that all is well, I'm sure they will stop checking on a regular basis.
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@galesburg.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.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM 
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6 Comments | Post Comment
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LW1: Wow, how stupid can you get? Hitchhiking – I hope your mother tans your hide if she finds out what you're doing! I know I would if I were your father.
It's exactly what your mother told you in that news story – someone hitchhiked and then something bad happened. It does happen. About 20 years ago – you probably have heard this story, too – there was this college-age girl who was on her way to school and after her car broke down on the interstate, she hitchhiked to get a lift to the nearest station. (Keep in mind that even in 1992, cell phones were becoming a little more common, although definitely not the norm.) Long story short, she later was killed and her body dumped in a tarp along a ditch, just like a piece of garbage.
It can happen to you, too. Yeah – the promise of girls, drinks and good times ... let's not go to the beach today ... let's go to this neat hangout I know ... and then all that's waiting there are a bunch of thugs to beat you senseless, assault YOU physically and sexually – and even if you and your buddies are the size of a big, intimidating high school linebacker ... the guy's friends may be much bigger, stronger and more numerous ... and have bats, knives, chains and guns in hand – rob you and then leave you for dead, if you aren't already dead. Hot-looking chicks will be THE LAST THING on your mind ... getting the hell out of your predicament and erasing the memory of it – if you're lucky – will be.
Hitchhiking! Yes, it could happen. I've heard of it happening. (Not this situation I describe exactly, but the story of the promised party that leads only to a detour, a violent robbery and several deaths after the victims hitchhikked, most definitely.)
Best bet – get a job, get a car, get a life. And then, if you have time to go to the beach and go girl watching, you'll get to do it on your own terms. Not the terms of the guy who promises even hotter girls ... but then you're the only one who's hot – as in, your body being burned after being killed to cover up the evidence of a beating, robbery and rape.
NEVER EVER, EVER HITCHHIKE!!! NO EXCUSES!!!
Comment: #1
Posted by: Bobaloo
Mon May 6, 2013 7:51 AM
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LW2: It's probably fair in two senses:
• 1. They screwed up with the older son – they didn't make sure he was holding to where he said he was going or where he was at, and they don't want to make the same mistake again.
• 2. They want to build trust, and for you to be able to demonstrate that trust.
Like was stated earlier – once you've shown you can be trustworthy, they'll stop checking up on you. And then, be sure you continue to demonstrate your trustworthiness by telling the truth where you're going and what you're doing. (Besides, you never know who could snitch on you ... or if your parents do decide to check up on you once in awhile.)
Comment: #2
Posted by: Bobaloo
Mon May 6, 2013 12:08 PM
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I'm thinking (hoping!) this must be an older letter.
Hitchhiking was fairly common in the 1950s and '60s. By the 1970s, it was beginning to be widely regarded as dangerous, and not just for the hitchhiker, but also those who picked them up. I would be pretty amazed to hear of any woman giving 2 teen-age boys, however clean-cut and innocent appearing, a ride today; women are cautioned not to even get into an elevator car if the only other occupant is a man they don't know.
LW2: Is it fair? Hon, life isn't fair. Is it fair that your parents got stuck with a kid who's never where he tells them he is and who causes them no end of worry?
But this is most likely another old letter. Today, a young woman in LW's position would almost certainly have been given a cell phone equipped with GPS.
Comment: #3
Posted by: hedgehog
Mon May 6, 2013 6:56 PM
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Re: hedgehog (#3)
How old do you suppose the hitchhiking letter may be? If indeed you're correct and – at least here in the Midwest – there is limited appeal in teen hitchhiking (at least by teenagers), why on earth would Creator's run a letter that appeals to something that fell out of favor more than 40 years ago?
In case there's any confusion: The woman I referred to from about 20 years ago (1992) was a student at Grinnell College in Iowa ... her car broke down in Illinois and SHE accepted a ride from someone (witnesses have always said it was possibly a truck driver); some time later, her body was found wrapped in a blanket and dumped along an interstate highway. There's been suspects through the years but the crime officially remains unsolved.
Granted, this girl's situation was different – her car broke down on an interstate highway, and cell phones were still not all that common (a little more than a few years earlier, but still was comparably rare), and it could be awhile before a state patrol trooper could offer help. For her, hitchhiking (or in the very least, accepting a ride from a seemingly "good samaritan") was the only way to get help quickly.
The boys involved with LW1 were looking for an easy ride to the beach, and were very lucky the odds didn't catch up with them. It ended violently for that beautiful, beautiful young 21-year-old girl -- it could be a far more violent end for these hitchhiking boys, given the possibilities.
Comment: #4
Posted by: Bobaloo
Tue May 7, 2013 6:09 AM
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How old do you suppose the hitchhiking letter may be? If indeed youI 're correct and – at least here in the Midwest – there is limited appeal in teen hitchhiking (at least by teenagers), why on earth would Creator's run a letter that appeals to something that fell out of favor more than 40 years ago?
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Bobaloo, I didn't say it wasn't being done -- I'm saying it was about 40 years ago that society began regarding it as dangerous, when news stories began spreading and laws began to outlaw the practice. I do find it very hard to believe that any woman traveling alone today would pick up two teenage boys....let alone that two groups of teen boys would find repeated success in obtaining rides this way. just before Easter this year, an elderly woman who gave two teen GIRLS a ride home from a store in her Midwestern town was robbed and locked in her own trunk as they drove around and then abandoned the car.
I'd venture,though, that Creators isn't editing these columns, nor doing anything except ramming through "existing content" to post for the day. It's a case of grab a pre-written column, any pre-written column, and post it. "Online content providers" want to put up something they haven't previously posted to remain viable for the search engines; they aren't overly concerned with whether something was originally published much earlier. (It's also possible that Dr. Wallace is pulling out a letter written to him many years before and finally answering, due to dearth of letters. It's still good advice that bears repeating to teens who think they're invulnerable -- don't hitchhike!
Comment: #5
Posted by: hedgehog
Wed May 8, 2013 5:05 AM
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a better answer for the teens would be to check out the ride share on Craigslist, find other teens who's parents may also drive them and take turns riding with whomever is driving. You could also find another teen with a car who could be paid for the trip. It's not safe to hitchhike, i hope you're managing to mostly get rides with other teens, but you never know when it could go really bad.
Comment: #6
Posted by: Laurie
Thu May 9, 2013 3:10 PM
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