Parents and Teens

Re “Teens Will Listen to Peers Before Parents,” Commentary, Aug. 27: Take a half-baked idea, make it pass as science and, voila, you have another new theory of child rearing.

Of course, children learn a lot from peers and siblings, but they need good parents most. The crucial point is for parents to earn the love and respect of their children before they become teenagers. This requires love, but also patience, goodwill, unselfishness and hard work on the part of the parents during the children’s infancy and childhood. Not that easy, really.

MICHELINE WATTS

West Hills