High School Freedom
High school is the time your child will want to take the most personal control of his diabetes. Parents need to be careful how much they let or don't let this happen. Your teen is laying the groundwork for independence, but it needs to be done slowly.
School Responsibilities
Teens won't want to check in with you or their nurse in high school, yet you'll need to find a way to keep track of what is going on in their lives. It's a good idea to schedule an endocrinologist or CDE appointment in the late summer before each school year. Let the expert help you lay down a plan with your high school student. There should be set times each day when your child must check, and there should be a way for you to make sure he has at the end of each school day.
Alert!
Do not use multiple meters during the high school years. You'll want to have all the data in one meter, and not give your child an excuse such as, “Oh, I was 104. It's at school on my other meter.” Keep all the information together.
If your teen is involved in sports, you may want to ask her to give you a call before any away game you are not attending. A quick check-in to talk about how her day has gone and how to deal with the sporting event can help. She won't like this, but you need to push your support on her when she wants to be independent.
Parties, Dances, and Dates
So, what about events like the prom and homecoming that keep them out all night? You don't want to deny your child these rites of passage, but you need to make sure he is safe. Know the dates well ahead of time, and remind your teen that he'll need to prove his trustworthiness well before that event comes. He must show that he is mature enough to be trusted for an entire night of parties. If he fails to earn your trust, consider holding the after-party at your house. Yes, you'll have a sleepless night, but you'd probably be worried anyway.
As discussed in Chapter 18, you'll need to encourage your teen to be honest about alcohol and drugs. Combined with diabetes, they are dangerous at best, and if your child betrays your trust and ends up in a dire situation, you'll need to be the responsible parent and not allow her another opportunity. Cigarettes, too, are a must-avoid for people with diabetes, because they dramatically increase the rate of major diabetic complications. Hard as it is, sometimes independence is the opposite of what a high school student truly needs. She'll think her life is over if you deny her a party, but you'll know it's for her long-term safety and health.
