My son is now 14 and is clearly going through the puberty stage. I know this stage comes with a lot of challenges and self discovery and I am worried that he may get into trouble without me being able to read the signs early enough. What advice do you have for me? Samson, Rubavu Dear Samson,Children at this stage clearly need a lot of monitoring if they are to stay out of trouble. To make matters worse, this is stage when they will go to great lengths to ensure that you the parent are not watching or following any of their moves. There are some few pointers you can rely on to ensure that he does not find himself in trouble without you having been in position to prevent it. Remember some of the choices that your teenager may take can totally ruin his future. They have a lot of peer pressure to deal with at this point in time. One of the signs is if he takes to the habit of isolating from the rest of the family. He may spend hours locked up in his room. Make an effort to reach out and find out what he has up his sleeves. Talking can achieve better results that amateur spying. Also extreme mood shifts should be noted. This could be a result of the people he is hanging out with and the changes his body is going through. Make it a point to establish who his friends are and what they love doing together. It is important to watch out for signs that he is into alcohol or drug abuse. On this particular aspect delays may mean that you will lose your son and gain a drug addict with your DNA. Look out for changes in language and tone, a declining interest in hobbies or even a lack of appreciation of family values. Don’t kid yourself that these bad things just happen to other people’s kids. Know what’s going on with your child and make sure they understand the consequences of their actions.Send your parenting questions to education@newtimes.co.rw