Prom For Daddy's Little Girl

Dear Trap Mary,

I hope you can help me. My teenage daughter has been asked to the senior prom. She's a sophmore in high school (15 years old) and has been dating the same guy since middle school (he's 17). They've gone to the movies before and to small events, but never late at night. Though I think this young man is a "good kid", i'm not so sure that he'll be "good" on prom night. You know what they say about prom night...and though I didn't have sex on prom night with my date back when I was in school, I'm worried about my daughter. Both me and her mother have expressed to her that we don't want her to have sex until she's grown (hopefully when she's married), we know that teenagers do have sex. My daughter says she isn't having sex yet, but how do I know? But mainly, do you think I should do about letting her go to the prom with him. Signed, A Worried Dad

 

Dear Worried Dad,

First of all, the best we can hope for is that we've taught our children good values and they have paid attention. We can hope that they are responsible and will follow the rules. Then comes the hard part-letting go.

Kid's maturity levels vary. Not knowing your child personally, I cannot predict what she would or would not do. Is she a responsible teenager (does she come home by curfew, does she go to all of her classes and finish her studies)? You've already stated that her boyfriend seems to be a "good kid". I'd suggest that if you think both she and her boyfriend would follow the rules, give them a reasonable curfew for her to be home and let them know flat out that there will be NO sex or drinking on prom night.

Most kids go to the prom and then out to eat after the prom. Be fair about the curfew-again, this depends on how responsible your teen and her date are; consider your teen's history, responsibility, respect, and maturity level. Not sure if her boyfriend drives or not, but another thing to consider is that if he is driving, you'll want to find out what your state's teenage curfew on driving is(In Georgia, teens at the age of 17 must not drive between 12am and 6am).

And my best advice would be to sit down with both of them in a friendly environment and let them know what your rules are and also find out their thoughts on them. Be fair, but stern.

Remember; this is a very memorable night for a teenage girl-from the color and style of her dress to the way her date smiled at her the moment he saw her come into the room.

Good Luck (and send DearTrapMary pictures so I can post them to the site!)

Dear Trap Mary