We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
T
Pat Q(xme4s
axloice
to temaxie/iA
THE BOONES eloped when they were 19, but Pat doesn't advise early marriages as a general rule.
By HELEN BOLSTAD
Pat gets over 200 letters a month from teenagers asking his help with their problems; here Pat answers some typical queries
L ANIC FILLED THE 16 year-old girl's letter. It read: "about a year ago I started going with a boy — a boy that some people called wild. Everyone told me what a fool I was and that I was asking to get hurt.
"They were right. I got hurt. But when school started this year, I decided to get him back, no matter what it took. I tried to make him jealous.
I went out with another boy and 1 let him neck with me. I hoped that by so doing, I could get the first boy back. But I didn't stop there. I became cheap in other ways. I've been drunk and almost got into trouble.
"I finally woke up to what I was doing to myself when I read your book. The problem is I don't know what to do. I want to change, but I'm afraid it is too late. Can you help me?"
This letter was not directed to a social worker, minister, psychiatrist, or to any of the successors to Dorothy Dix. It was sent, instead, to singer Pat Boone, and it was only one of some 200 "problem" letters which had reached his office that week. Pat's brow furrowed as he studied it.
"It's hard to know exactly what to say," he explained. "I don't pretend to have all the answers. I can only try to help her. One part of her question is easy. It's never too late to change. She needs to slow down. In my book I tried to explain how I feel about the dangers of demanding love too fast." He pointed to a paragraph: "We all know that indiscriminate kissing, dancing in the dark, hanging around in cars, late dates at this early stage can lead to trouble. And that you miss a lot of fun that you could have with the nicer
continued on page 12
10