I think Karen made the minimal age for PT 13 for a reason, so that only mature young people would join. I know lots of 13 year olds who like animals but would feel embarrassed and 'un-cool' to come on here . Only teenagers who do not mind about that and really care about animals will join PT, and I think that shows maturity. Me, I've known about alcoholism, drugs etc for years. And anyway, don't most schools have lessons to teach teenagers about this stuff? I'm 14 and this year at school we have started sex education. It's not a lesson where we are told lots of bad things, but somewhere we are told informally about adult life. It's not offensive, repulsive or anything else, and if teenagers aren't going to be told now, then when? Before sex ed, the complementary studies was all about the effects of drugs and alcohol. Teenagers are young adults, and actually teenagers who are informed about these kind of issues are less likely to drink/take drugs in the future. That's from a teenager's point of view anyway