DEAR ABBY: The mother of "Caged Up in Los Angeles," who won't allow her 19-year-old daughter out of the house after sundown, is making a tragic mistake.
She's teaching her daughter that she has no willpower, no conscience and no judgment. The mother fails to realize that if her daughter is so inclined, she can misbehave as easily at 2:30 in the afternoon as she might at 11 p.m.
That mother should be teaching her daughter the social skills. She should then permit her daughter to practice and refine them. If the mother fails to do this, she will be sending an unprepared, uninformed and inexperienced 25-year-old into society, thus doing a disservice to her daughter as well as those around her. -- N.P., SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
DEAR N.P.: I couldn't have said it better. I pray the young woman's mother recognizes herself, and eases up on her daughter.