DR. WALLACE: I'm 15 and live with a 16-year-old brother and my mother. Our parents are divorced and my dad has remarried, but he still sees us regularly and takes care of our financial support.

My brother is basically a good kid, but I'm worried because he has recently started hanging around with a group of "druggies" at school. I told him I wish he would find other friends, but he said they are good guys and he has never been pressured to do drugs.

Then last night I was doing the laundry for my mom because she wasn't feeling well. As I was putting my brother's jeans in the washer I found some marijuana cigarettes and some little white pills. When I asked my brother about this, he told me the stuff wasn't his, but that he was holding them for his friend who is on probation for selling marijuana. He begged me not to tell our parents because he didn't want to get them worried. I told him that I'd think it over before telling our parents, but that he had to get rid of the stuff immediately!

Did I do the right thing, or should I have told our parents immediately? — Nameless, Elkhart, Ind.

NAMELESS: Your brother may or may not be using pot or "pills," but even if he's only holding them for someone else, he's into the game too deeply with his druggie friends. If he's not doing drugs now, it's only a matter of time.

Both Mom and Dad should be told immediately that you found drugs in your brother's clothing. He needs parental guidance now. If they don't step in until his drug use and, in all likelihood, other behavior problems have become obvious, straightening him out will be a lot more difficult. Tell them now and nip this problem in the bud.

YOUR REQUEST WOULD BE DENIED

DR. WALLACE: I'm a 15-year-old girl and live near my high school, where I'm in the 10th grade. I like school so far, and all my friends go to my school except for my boyfriend. He attends a different high school and it happens to be very near to where my dad works. Now my boyfriend wants me to transfer there so we can spend more time together. I'm not sure this is possible, but I'd like to know what you think. Should I stay where I am or try to get a transfer? — Hannah, Anaheim, Calif.

HANNAH: Stay put! It would not be in your best interest to attend a different high school just to be closer to a boyfriend. And I seriously doubt that you would be permitted to attend a different high school just because your father works nearby.

Switching high schools is no easy task. Students must attend schools where they reside, period. It would require a special hearing to allow you to attend the high school attended by your boyfriend. At this hearing, your request would probably be denied.

I'M A GOOD SINGLE MOTHER

DR. WALLACE: I'm 20, divorced and the mother of a 1-year-old daughter. I have a full-time job as a secretary for a pediatrician, and my salary allows my daughter and me to have our own apartment. It is not too far from my mother's home, and she is a wonderful babysitter for my little Lacey. (She won't allow me to pay her, so I find really great gifts for her to surprise her now and then.)

My mother thinks that Lacey needs a male role model in her life, and she keeps telling me that I need to find a husband who can be a father to her. I keep telling Mom that the only role model my daughter needs is a good, moral mother and that's what I am. Do you agree? — Lacey's Mom, Des Moines, Iowa

MOM: Your mother means well, but her pressuring you to find a husband is misguided. To marry just to give your daughter a male "role model" would be a big mistake. Most single mothers do quite well raising children on their own. It's certainly better for the child than growing up in the cauldron of an unhappy marriage.

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.

Photo credit: Ninac26