DEAR ABBY: I'm 11 and my dad is a drug addict. I'm not allowed to have contact with him because of his past choices. People would look down on me if they knew -- like my own teacher. She was being snoopy at the beginning of the year and asked me a bunch of questions about my family, and now I feel like she doesn't treat me the same. -- DISTURBED IN SPOKANE
DEAR DISTURBED: Your father's "past choices" are not your fault, and you should not be blamed or judged for them. If you haven't already told your mother that your teacher questioned you about your family at the beginning of the year, that you answered her honestly and now you feel you are being treated differently because of it, you definitely should. And your mother should discuss this with the teacher because the questions she was asking may have been appropriate.