Teen Needs Advice After Having Baby by Cherie Bennett on Creators.com

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Teen Needs Advice After Having Baby

Hey, Cherie!

I am a 16-year-old girl, and I recently had a baby. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, my mom has made my life well, hell. My son came down with RSV, a virus, because my grandmother smokes in the house. The doctors said that she had to stop, or we would have to move. She refused to stop, even knowing that it could kill my son.

After many attempts to make them understand how serious this is, neither would change their habits. So I packed up everything and moved in with my boyfriend and his family. My mother told my boyfriend's father that if she had to choose between my grandmother and me, she would choose my grandmother! She proved that she doesn't care about me by saying that. I want to become emancipated because she said that. What should I do now?

—Seeking Freedom

Hey, Seeking!

I am sure this has been a very difficult and serious situation for you. And it sounds like you have acted very responsibly by moving into a better environment for you and your son. If you have tried to reason with your own family and they still would not stop smoking in the house, then it sounds like you did the right thing.

Emancipation, as a teenager, is a lengthy legal process though, and you will have to take several steps in order to file and pay a filing fee. The laws vary depending on the state where you live. Is there a counselor at school that you can talk to or a minister or rabbi? The first step is moving out of the house, and since you have done that, you are one step closer.

But you should know that the courts very rarely grant emancipation. You have to prove that you are financially and emotionally responsible as well as independent to stand a chance at winning. I wish you the best of luck.

Hey, Cherie!

I am a boy who just turned 13. My mom keeps dragging me with her to her friends' dinner parties and stuff, and it is so boring! Sometimes there are other kids there, but if I don't know them what am I supposed to do? Just stare at them or at the TV? I can do that at home! I beg her to let me stay home, but she says she wants me to meet new people and get out of the house. Why?!

—Tag along Kid

Hey, Tag!

I bet it is pretty boring having to hang around a bunch of people you don't know. I bet, too, that you have to act a certain way or she will get upset! But your mom is trying to expose you to new things, and that's not bad. She probably enjoys your company, too, which is a good thing!

I remember my mom doing the same thing when I was 13, but I learned a whole lot about my mother and other people like her friends. Becoming a teenager does mean learning to act maturely, and you may be surprised how much more freedom you get in the long run. Try to have fun with it and join the conversation. Adults love to hear what young people have to say!

Cherie Bennett is a best-selling author of books for teens and young adults. Visit her website at www.cheriebennett.com. To find out more about Cherie Bennett and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.