DR. WALLACE: I turned 18 last week. I'm a senior in high school and I'm living with my parents in a totally dysfunctional home. My mother has a severe drinking habit and my father abuses her mentally and physically. This ugly scene has been going on for over five years. I've tried everything in order to get my parents to be civil and to enjoy a better life, but nothing has worked.

I have an older sister who is married and she is encouraging me to move in with her and her husband so I can enjoy my last year of high school. I would still be attending the same high school. My sister says that I'm in an impossible situation at home with my parents and she thinks it would be best if I moved out of there as soon as possible.

My father doesn't want me to move in with my sister because he and my sister are not speaking to one another. He told me that I cannot move until after I finish high school even though I am 18. He even threatened to call the police and have my sister arrested for assisting a runaway. I don't want to get in any trouble and I surely don't want my sister to be arrested. She and her husband have a 5-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. Please advise me as to what would be the best way to handle this situation. — Nameless, Reno, Nev.

NAMELESS: You are free to move in with your sister and her family without a parent's blessing. You are legally an adult and totally responsible for your actions. The fact that you are still a high school student is irrelevant. Your sister would not be breaking any law by allowing you to live with her.

The sooner you leave your parents' house, the better!

TEEN PREGNANCY RATE IN THE U.S. IS HIGH

DR. WALLACE: Our family living teacher said that the pregnancy rate for unwed teens is the highest of the industrial countries. Is this true? If so, why? — Robin, San Jose, Calif.

ROBIN: It's a fact! Our pregnancy rate is 96 births per 1,000 unwed teen girls. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, U.S. teenage girls become pregnant, give birth, and have abortions at significantly higher rates than do teens in other industrial nations. Also, the United States, according to this report, is the only developed country in the world where teen pregnancy has been on the increase. By comparison, England's rate is 45 births per 1,000 unwed teen girls; France, 44; Wales and Canada, both 43; Ireland, 41; Sweden, 35; and Holland, 14.

The study concluded that the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy were in countries that had liberal attitudes toward sex, comprehensive sex education programs in the schools and easily accessible contraceptive services (with contraceptives provided free or at low cost, and without parental notification).

What accounts for the very high rates of unwed teen pregnancy in the United States? It's not that the amount of sexual activity for American teens is greater than in other nations; it's that America's youth are not all educated to use contraceptives if they are going to be sexually active.

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. E-mail 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.