Parents should stop [1] themselves because there's not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times, a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible [2] .

I've seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted from the time her son could speak that he should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands with guests like a gentleman. I saw the boy last week when I visited. [3] himself on the sofa, he made no attempt to turn off the TV or lower the volume as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick [4] . His mother was [5] . "I don't know what to do with him these days," she said. "He's forgotten all the manners we taught him."

He hasn't forgotten them. He has just decided that he's not going to use them. She said that sometimes she wishes that she could throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.

Another good friend of mine couldn't stand her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, "I don't like your dress. It's ugly." One of the daughters has [6] been driven out of school. The other has left home.

"Where did we go wrong?" Her parents are very sad now. Probably [7] , in my opinion.