Moms talking to moms is probably the single most important strategy for dealing with life with a teenager.

Some of us stop each other on Seventh Avenue and ask how things are going. That’s code for: Is everything alright?

We share information…"I saw your kid with…" Or, "Do you know anything about…?"

We want to know that our children are hanging out with nice kids, and doing nice things. We also need to hear about the things that aren’t so nice.

Which kids are doing drugs? Alcohol? Having sex? Misbehaving? Acting out?

In other words, is my kid doing drugs, drinking, having sex, misbehaving, or acting out?

Even more, we want to know if our kids are safe, acting cautiously, being alert to the dangers of the city.

Just yesterday a mom very much in the know told me that some kids have been mugged on Seventh Avenue. Groups of girls have been accosted, their bags emptied out on the sidewalk, their cell phones, i-pods, and money stolen.

That worried me. 

I wanted to know about who’s going to the Prospect Park after dark and what are
they doing there? From what I hear, the Park has become quite a hangout
and that worries many of us. It doesn’t seem safe; it’s not a good
place to be after dark. Even before dark, there are some very isolated
spots.

This same mom said that her son was beaten up in Prospect Park this past Saturday night (November 5). He ended up in the emergency room at Methodist Hospital. His friend was beaten up too. "I don’t have a lot of rules," she said "But my kids are forbidden to go into Prospect Park!"

She told me to spread the word to other moms, to the kids. "Tell everyone what happened to my son," she said. So that’s what I’m doing now.

There are so many reasons to worry. Talking to other moms is one good way to find out what we don’t always want to know. We each know a little bit about what is going on. Together we know a lot. We can help each other, and help our kids avoid some of the pitfalls of being a teen…

We have to look out for each other and each other’s children. The streets have eyes: and it  is us. All of us.