Your teen is almost a grown-up, but not quite. Their decisions and judgments are often still quite self-centered and immature; they need experience and continue to need guidance in making good decisions. They are still learning and generally school is a very large part of their life. After school activities like high school intramural sports, cheerleading, band, orchestra, theater, clubs, leadership and other extracurricular activities may be demanding a lot of your teen's time. Your teen may be making plans for her homecoming and prom dress and graduation parties. There are so many fun milestones for this age. However, many teens are now exposed to lots of adult experiences, too: They might be driving a car (ack! a teen driver in your house!), considering college or university, working a job and earning a paycheck, dating and maybe (probably) becoming sexually active. Your teenager might be experimenting with drugs and alcohol. How can you talk to your teen? How do you teach them responsibility, set and enforce loving limits to keep them safe, but also nurture their independence so they are ready to live on their own and take care of themselves as they emerge into adulthood.