DR. WALLACE: I love my father very much. I had been begging him for more than a year to quit smoking cigarettes because I didn't want him to die an early death because of his smoking habit. Last Christmas Day, I was thrilled when he told me that he had stopped smoking cigarettes and promised he would never ever smoke another cigarette the rest of his life. I told him that he had just given me the best Christmas gift possible.

So far, he has kept his word, and I believe he will never smoke another cigarette again, but another serious problem has arisen. Dad has now started smoking a pipe. He says that pipe tobacco is much less dangerous than cigarette tobacco.

Of course, I'm disappointed. Is it possible that smoking a pipe is less dangerous than smoking a cigarette if the smoke is inhaled from each of them? Please answer my email in the newspaper because my dad also reads your teen column. —Nameless, DeKalb, Ill.

NAMELESS: Pipe tobacco smoke contains the same deadly toxins as the smoke of cigarettes and cigars. I am aware that eliminating the nicotine addiction is an enormously difficult task, but the love you have for your father should help bring the desired result — a "smoke-free dad."

STUDENTS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

DR. WALLACE: I'm an old timer, but I still enjoy reading your teen column, and I wish you would please print my letter.

The problem with teens causing trouble in schools today is that teachers are not allowed to paddle unruly students any more. When I was a student at a Catholic school, if a student was unruly, the teacher (a nun) would bring out a ruler and swat the student on the palm of his or her hand. I had the swat only once, and it really hurt so much that I behaved myself from then on.

And I never told my parents because they would have used the paddle on my rump. So I kept my mouth shut about the swat from Sister Mary, as did everybody else in the class because we didn't want the consequences we would get at home.

If schools want the ultimate in a disciplined atmosphere, the paddle for unruly students is a must. Do you agree? —Barney, Athens, Ga.

BARNEY: As a former high school counselor, assistant principal and principal, I felt student control was of the utmost importance, and for those students who were rule breakers, strong, but fair, discipline was rendered, but corporal punishment wasn't an option. If parents wanted a child of theirs to be disciplined at school by means of corporal punishment, they were invited by me to come to school and do the job.

Teachers are trained to teach, not inflict pain on their students. There are more effective forms of discipline, and all involve the teen and his or her parents.

But, "Old Timer," I will agree with you that in many schools the students are "out of control," and the main blame rests with an inefficient school administration and parents who need to take a course in "How to be a Good Parent."

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 [email protected]. 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.