DR. WALLACE: I have three boys who want to date me and I just turned 16, so I'm now allowed to date. One I know fairly well and he's nice. Another one I've never met and most of my friends don't know much at all about him. The third one is pretty handsome, but he already has a big reputation at our school of just wanting to "play the field" as he seems to date a lot of girls, but never the same one for more than a month or so.

Should I just pick one to date, or should I set up dates with all three of them? What's your opinion on starting my dating days? — Just Getting Started, via email

JUST GETTING STARTED: I recommend that you start slowly and not rush into seeking a lot of different dates right away. You have your whole life in front of you to go on dates as you become more comfortable and experienced.

I suggest that you start by dating the boy you already know pretty well. He's known to you, and you'll likely feel more comfortable on your first date with him than you would with either of the other two boys.

Starting out this way will give you time to ease into the dating scene. It will also give you more time to learn more about the boy you currently know nothing about. And as for the boy that dates as many girls as he seemingly can, I suggest you pass on dating him for the foreseeable future. Maybe some other time after you've grown older and more experienced, it might be worth trying a date with him. But for now, I feel you'll be better served by the suggestions I've outlined for you as a starting point. Good luck!

MY FRIENDS WANT US ALL TO ADJUST OUR TOBACCO USE

DR. WALLACE: I'm a guy who is 17 and I live with my single mother. I do have a younger sister who also lives with us. She's 13. My father took off and abandoned us about nine years ago, so it's just me, my mom and my sister in our household.

We live in a rural area and I hang out with my good friends a lot, but at the same time, my mom and I have a pretty good relationship. She doesn't ride me for smoking and hanging out late sometimes. I don't get into any real trouble, but I did pick up my smoking habit, which I'd like to quit.

One of my friends suggested that we all stop cigarettes and go with smokeless tobacco. I told my mom about this and she told me that doing that might even be worse than continuing with cigarettes. Is this true? I thought that if we all didn't inhale, we'd have fewer problems with the effects on our bodies. — Started Smoking Young, via email

STARTED SMOKING YOUNG: Your mother is correct that smokeless tobacco is also very bad for you and your body. Many users of this form of tobacco have died of oral cancer over the years even though they did not smoke cigarettes.

All forms of nicotine are addictive and can do harm to your body. Let's just say that either one of your tobacco options are poor ones. Nicotine is tough to kick and overcome, but I suggest that you seek now to find a way to end your smoking days and get off nicotine entirely.

I'm sure you already know how expensive cigarettes are, and if you can kick that habit soon and put the money you've been spending on it in the bank, you'll see some great progress with your savings.

And best of all, at your age if you can quit smoking very soon, your body will have a great chance to undo most, if not all the damage you've done to it — as long as you don't relapse into becoming a smoker again. You've stated that you want to quit. Now is the time for you to get off tobacco entirely.

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.

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