17 YO DS is in BIG trouble...

[TroutBum]

AB,

Congrats on cultivating such a close and open relationship with your son.  As a child of divorce, I did not feel I had a relationship with either parent where I could confide about matters such as these.

Consequently, I made decisions when I was in my teens that while I don't regret or regard them as mistakes, could very well have been had I either not been lucky or mature enough at the time to handle.  

As your son is approching college age, and getting ready to leave the nest, he is going to face many decisions, some of which he may not share with you.  However, it sounds like the years of camping that you shared and likely will continue to share have helped shape him into a responsible person.

The Ted Nugent Camps have a saying...  "Teach your kids to hunt, so you don't have to hunt for your kids".  I think that this is equally appropriate for Camping.

[GeneF]

Folks, think for a minute.

If someone accused you of being an incompetent parent, wouldn't it raise your cackles?  That is EXACTLY what GeneF's post is, no matter if he put "I'm not trying to be nasty" in front of it.

Austin

Whoa Austin.

How did I accuse you of being an incompetent parent?

I started the post with "I'm not trying to be nasty" so that you would understand that I was not attacking you or that I was being beligerent.  I didn't want any misunderstanding about my post but obviously you did not get my intent.

My post only centered around the idea of posting that kind of information on a public forum.  In no way did I attack you personally for your post.

I did not respond to your previous post because it was not worthy of a reply.

[ChisholmTrail-er]

...if you don't want people to respond with what were meant as constructive and well-intentioned comments, maybe you shouldn't make the post in the first place.

Not trying to be a nasty guy,  
but AMEN to that!