DR. WALLACE: I'm 15 and my parents have just allowed me to start dating. I understand that dating privileges can be considered an honor and I don't want to abuse the trust my parents have placed in me. I would really appreciate it if you could list your five most important dating rules for teens when it comes to keeping parents happy. I promise to cut them out and keep them with me whenever I'm dating. —Eve, St. Louis, Mo.

EVE: Your request was a challenge and it took me some time to narrow a lengthy list down to a "Top Five" list of the most important dating rules for teens when it comes to keeping parents happy. I had to rely on my own days as a teen, and as a parent of teens, as well as my teaching experience to come up with this list of the Top Five Dating Rules:

1. Arrive home a few minutes before the designated curfew. Never come home after the time set by your parents unless it is totally unavoidable. In this rare incident, the parents must be called or notified if humanly possible.

2. Inform your parents where you will be going on the date and go there.

3. If things don't go as planned and you are being pressured to compromise your moral judgment (re drugs, alcohol, sex, etc), ask to be taken home or call your parents to pick you up.

4. If on a car date, insist that your date (if he is the driver) obey all the traffic laws and drive safely and defensively.

5. Insist that your date come to the house and meet your parents when he picks you up and insist that he walk you to your front door at date's end.

BE HONEST NOW

DR. WALLACE: Help! I'm 16 and started attending a different school last month. I'm trying to be nice to everybody because I want to be accepted in my new school and I also want to make a lot of new friends.

Last week a guy in my English class asked me to go to a school basketball game with him. He's a nice guy, but not my type, so I told him that I'm on restriction for six months. He bought my story.

Then yesterday a different guy asked me to the same basketball game and I said yes because this guy was my type. We went to the game last night and we had a fantastic time. The only blemish is that I saw the guy that I lied to at the game and he saw me. Now I feel like a jerk. What should I do? - Nameless, Elkhart, Ind.

NAMELESS: You should have been honest the first time, so be honest now. Tell the boy who asked you out first that you lied to him and that you weren't on restriction. Apologize and tell him that even though you two won't be dating, there is no reason why you can't be good friends.

DON'T FORCE THE LOVE ISSUE

DR. WALLACE: I think I've fallen in love with a pen pal who lives in Canada. We've written to each other 10 times and I'm positive that this guy could be Mr. Right. Greg is intelligent, has a great sense of humor, and is very handsome. We've exchanged photos and he has written that he thinks I'm "cute as a doll." He always signs his letters, "Be good, Greg." I sign mine, "Take care, Jenny." I don't want to tell him I love him, but signing off with "love, Jenny" just might let him know how I feel. What do you think? —Jenny, Portland, Maine.

JENNY: Don't force the love issue. That could be the fastest way to end a good friendship. If love is in the future, it will blossom when you and Greg meet face to face.

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.