Serenity Cute but illegal. My friend just turned sixteen. Her track coach is 23. He's a sweet, funny guy that is into the same things as her and is always looking out for her. She is in love with him. The romantic in me screams "Yes!", but the law abiding citizen in me screams "Holy GOD, NO!" While it may be cute, or even acceptable in anime, I know that isn't true for the real world. Even if I know he'd probably be very good to her, I know what kind of consequences that could carry. What should I advise her to do in such a situation? Alucard Tepis Ah, to be young and in love. Unfortunately, I would side with your honorable citizen side. If she likes him, and respects him, she should respect him enough to not get him into serious legal trouble. There is a reason why teenage girls are often refered to as "jailbait." I'm not saying she should give up her friendship with him...but if she likes him that much, she should hold off on trying to see him (or letting him see her) as anything more than a friend and student, at least until she graduates. Alucard Tepis To look at this from another angle, though, has she ever considered whether her attraction to him is less than reasonable? There have been many cases of young people attracted to teachers and other people in positions of authority, and they were in no small part attracted to what that person was, rather than who they were. When someone in a position of authority treats you well, or especially, if they treat you as a friend, more than a student / subordinate, that can very quickly go to one's head, even if the person in authority thinks that they are just trying to be friendly. This is especially true of people that lack, or feel unappreciated by, parents. I guess this is my longhanded way of pondering that she should reconsider whether this fellow is just a nice guy, or whether he would actually be interested in a relationship with her at some point down the road. (He may even have someone in his life already.) Serenity He's had random girlfriends here and there, but nothing very serious. They talk on LiveJournal, but I couldn't really be the judge of wether or not he's interested at all. She really is trying to be realistic about it, I just feel bad seeing her suffer over something she knows she can't have. Thank you very much for the advice, Alucard ^_^