Parents face tough decisions everyday.
For answers grounded in child-development research, they can turn to Dr. Karen DeBord, a North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service specialist at N.C. State University. She has more than 20 years experience conducting applied research and developing supporting educational materials on child care, child development and parenting. The following column kicks off the column series. By the time young people become teens, they feel so v ery independent and self-sufficient that they think they don't need input from parents. At the same time, they may feel they are invincible and can overcome all odds.