NorthernLad

I didn't say it is easy, but what other solution is there?

Most parents will have experience of living in their home countries and in my opinion, it is down to them to prepare the kids. Nobody else will do it for them.

Confucius

Peter Mazloumian...An Armenian namby pamby...I wonder where he comes from though - Lebanon? Syria? Iran? Egypt? US of A???

Grace O Malley

Prepare teenagers, your having a laugh aren't you, they know far more than their boring, old parents and don't bloody listen anyway. This is teenagers all over the world.

Bonita Springs

You know how when they make a movie they change or exaggerate parts of the story to make it more dramatic? That's what Gulf News did here, it's subtle trolling to get reaction because reaction sells papers so i'd feel stupid reacting to it.. Yeah a few kids (probably less that 1%) go wild when they move out of the house, but what about the millions of small town kids that flee to big cities for school or work that don't?

Furthermore some of our greatest minds, writers, artists, musicians and scientists have come from incredibly sheltered childhoods growing up in one room cabins and farm houses out in the middle of nowhere.

Non Issue

seven seas

Just one percent?
You've gotta go to my old uni and see what goes on... fantastic stuff.

BTW , nice to see full replies. Anyway, where does Bonita spring from and onto whom?

Bonita Springs

I'm not talking about harmless college campus drinking binges, pranks and Mazola parties. I'm talking about couples getting off with each other in the streets, people fighting and spewing in the street and students using their terms allowances up in five weeks on taxis everywhere, never eating at home...even ringing their brothers asking where she could hire a cleaner from.

Bonita Springs

I scoffed at that as well. What are you supposed to do? Gather your kids together for a life preparedness class at home? Strike up conversation with them at breakfast about the scary outside world? Take them on field trips to the nearest ghetto when you're on holiday pointing out all the dangers and things to avoid?

Those are the kinds of parents that never see their kids after they move away cause they never wanna come home-even for a visit

kittycat1

This isn't just expats, when I lived in halls there were a couple of girls that didn't know they'd been born, never done anything for themselves- I was absolutely astounded that their parents had let them leave home with no life skills whatsoever! No idea how long it takes to earn 100 quid (this is before the minimum wage when I worked nights for 3.20 an hour) but would expect mummy and daddy to bail them out on a weekly basis. My fave was being asked 'how do you boil an egg- do you crack it open first?"- I was like "you eat it out the shell so what do you think?" and 'what are chips made out of?" I gave no reply to that one.

So not just the UAE, just priviliged kids that have never had to fend for themselves. They where the ones that went of the rails as well- whereas I'd done that a far younger age and got it out the way!

seven seas

That was the harmless tonnes fo fun we got up to!!!
Sounds great eh?