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So I've driven them back through the Forest and dropped them off at home.
They'd been to a nightclub for an under 16s event. Guest appearance from some actor from a soap opera aimed at teenagers. Last one they went to was a guest appearance from Joey Essex. For those who don't know who he is imagine a bloke who can't get a job as a village idiot because he isn't smart enough. That is Joey, catapulted to fame by reality tv.
Anyway, collecting them was a weird experience. Me and a few other middle aged blokes stood over the road as this nightclub disgorged a few hundred kids, mostly girls, under the age of 16, quite a few of them barely dressed, and tried to select the ones we wanted to take away.
This was not easy for me, as I was after four of them, because I pay no attention I didn't know what three of them looked like, and the one I had met before that evening I had a rough idea what her hair was like but no idea how she was dressed. Eventually I rounded up four likely candidates and escorted them to my car.
The journey home was mostly discussions about the boys they had met. Boys they had swapped mobile numbers with and were texting on the way home. One of them, I learnt, was originally from Yorkshire, had Instagram, snapchat, and Facebook, and had left early because his mate was getting narky that none of the other girls were interested in him.
My daughter is 8, we spent the day walking with the dog then played on the swings.
Is this really where she will be in 4 years time?
I'm terrified.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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I fully sympathize, since I was a single father and had 2 (two) daughters. Sleepovers and other girly activities and things were to be survived, not to speak of clothes shopping. Getting them through puberty, though, was what did me in, I think. Whenever the girls had something planned, my son and I made plans to be on the edge of hearing range, so we could respond only if there were an actual emergency. Even so, sometimes I wasn't sure if it was an emergency or not. You have no idea how often I hoped that my daughters' friends' parents would insist that their children not spend any time at the home of a single father. Unfortunately I concluded that they (the parents) were just as happy to not have the gaggle at their own homes.
The good news is that it does eventually get better. The bad news is that it will get worse first. Once you get to the point where you are the stupidest person alive, it can only get better from then onwards. Then eventually, they'll be daddy's little girl again and the world will be right.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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Walt Fair, Jr. wrote: Once you get to the point where you are the stupidest person alive, it can only get better from then onwards. Then eventually, they'll be daddy's little girl again and the world will be right want the keys for the car.
FTFY 
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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JimmyRopes wrote: Once you get to the point where you are the stupidest person alive, it can only get better from then onwards. Then eventually, they'll be daddy's little girl again and the world will be right want the keys for the car
FTFY
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There's a reason shotguns were invented.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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chriselst wrote: Is this really where she will be in 4 years time?
I'm terrified.
Well... it's not inevitable, in my opinion.
I'm pretty sure that most young girls learn to act that way through peer pressure. If you can somehow teach her that not all older girls have to act that way, and that she needn't fake interests to fit in with her friends, she'll probably grow into something unique - herself. 
I find it hard to believe that all young girls would act in the way you 've described if they never felt the pressure to conform.
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Quote: I find it hard to believe that all young girls would act in the way you 've described if they never felt the pressure to conform.
 And parenting has the biggest impact on that.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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chriselst wrote: tried to select the ones we wanted to take away
chriselst wrote: I was after four of them
Taken out of context, you're one sick b*****d 
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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The Paedo hunt club is probably scrutinising this thread as you read.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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chriselst wrote: a few hundred kids, mostly girls, under the age of 16, quite a few of them barely dressed
Where are the parents when they are going out barely dressed? 
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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JimmyRopes wrote: Where are the parents when they are going out barely dressed?
Taking care of the grand child?
All that is necessary for Evil to succeed is for Good Folks to keep voting for their Party. - Cornelius Thirp
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Likely they didn't leave the house barely dressed.
The girls I knew had their "going out" clothes stashed at a friend's house, they left home, changed, went out, changed back, came home. Parents were none the wiser, or at least that is what the girls thought.
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RJOberg wrote: The girls I knew had their "going out" clothes stashed at a friend's house, they left home, changed, went out, changed back, came home.
They had to be leaving someone's house barely dressed. Did these parents take responsibility? 
Then again they could have changed in a car and not be seen by adults. 
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Slow reply, was out of town for the weekend.
Responsibility... responsibility? What's that? Nah, the big problem was that there was always that one kid who had parents who didn't seem to care, or let their child make their own choices, or who knows why. And everyone knew which one it was.
You know, that parent who lets their 10-12 year old kid have their friends over and watch R rated movies, telling the kids that it is okay? And then act confused when the other parents call up and are angry about finding out that little Timmy just watched a movie meant for grown ups?
Yeah, those parents.
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RJOberg wrote: Nah, the big problem was that there was always that one kid who had parents who didn't seem to care
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Your posted paints a very different picture if not read carefully.
chriselst wrote: Is this really where she will be in 4 years time?
Yes. I am not a parent so there is no way I can understand this. Some may say, I should not even comment on this. Going to nightclubs and having a good fun night is fine. But they must be made aware of what's right and what's wrong in general according to culture at your place. They must also know that Miley Cyrus and likes are not cool. Substance abuse is never good (this is the target audience in drug business, isn't it?). They must also be made aware of security measures and major laws at the place.
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Maybe not. It's not necessarily inevitable. Not all girls are like that.
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Whatever you do, don't turn around twice. I did and my 8 years old daughter is now 22 and getting married in 16 days.
On the plus side she is gainfully employed and he is 2 semesters away from graduating with an engineering degree.
So dance with the 8 year old as often as she wants.
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> I'm terrified.
Good, then you're in the right mindset.
Been there. Done that. Mine's 22 now. It eventually gets better, but for now, grit your teeth.
It is terrifying and there's nothing you can do about it.
People say shotguns help, but they don't.
There's nothing you can do about a teenage girl's life other than
sit there, observe the horror, and wait for the "high drama" moments to subside.
Don't even talk to her when the drama is high. Just make a few notes about what would
be a prudent way to avoid that drama in the future. And run. Run fast!
Talk to her during the lulls. Let her talk first and she will talk a LOT.
You may learn a teeny little thing here or there, but really this is just a way for
her to finally get to the point where she can listen to you.
Then those few notes you made - drop them into the conversations as questions so
they seem like her idea.
Do that over and over again, and eventually your teenage daughter will
become a mature woman and life will =finally= improve for you.
But, in the mean time, grit your teeth. It's not going to be a very fun ride.
Glasses will be thrown. She will have yelling matches with her Mom. Nothing will
be fair. You just don't understand her. Oh my god. Seriously. Dad.
Good luck to ya, my friend.
Eventually, if you're lucky, you get a daughter who knows you "get" her and possibly even a grandkid out of the deal.
As soon as she comes back down, life is wonderful.
(I'm not sayin' all girls are like that, but MINE was.)
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My own daughter turns 12 next week. I empathize with your concerns, and in being terrified 
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I think that the quality of Code Project is going down. There are a number of issues that need to be addressed but there is no way that I can click on a link and provide the CP staff with a problem (bug) report. CP also needs a bug report tracker that lets me know what's happening. Let's make CP more professional!
Chris may believe that ads are important. And to some extent I agree. But the large number of ads is disconcerting. Also when ads hide navigation I am even more concerned.
Gus Gustafson
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Let's use the Site Bugs & Suggestions link in the list on the left first. Then we can work on the other stuff. 
Will Rogers never met me.
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gggustafson wrote: Chris may believe that ads are important. And to some extent I agree. But the large number of ads is disconcerting. Also when ads hide navigation I am even more concerned.
So, you would be willing to pay a monthly installment to be here?
I could never complain about the existence of advertisements on a totally free site.
I would report if an advertisements is preventing navigating the site. I don't recall ever seeing that happen. I'm running Firefox 28.0. I wonder what browser you are running.
If you see the "Help" menu item above, then click on that and go to "Bugs and suggestions." If that menu is covered by an advertisement, go to http://www.codeproject.com/suggestions.aspx[^]
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It is not a totally free site to me. I hope that I have earned my "free subscription" by my articles and advice.
I am not complaining about ads. I am complaining about their number and their misplacement. What's worse is their inappropriateness. I am an experienced developer. I do not need products that help me develop trivial solutions. I believe that a large number of CP members are the same as me. If CP needs a subscription to eliminate ads from pages that I visit, I might even consider paying for it.
Gus Gustafson
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