Did you go off the 'rails' as a child/teenager?

Yes, I think you're right La P, it really depends on personality, doesn't it? I think older children are supposed to be more responsible as well. I can see that with my eldest...

I think I was remarkably considerate to my parents really ?

There were obviously some things I didn't tell them - drinking, parties, clubs, boys - but I'm far too square for it to be anything serious. Because Mum had been very ill, I didn't want to stress them and we built up a trust on things like being in when I said I would. I never really got into drugs and I mostly kept the excessive drinking for when I was staying somewhere else ?

No, I was pretty good, really. I knew I wanted to go to medical school so I would never have risked school, and things were pretty hard at home with money/bankruptcy/house repossession. My friends were nice, by and large. I started smoking socially at 16 or 17, but didn't really drink til 6th year. First cannabis the summer before university. Speed/cocaine - dabbled a bit at university. Lost virginity at 20 (a good friend "relieved" me of it as it was like a millstone round my neck and I didn't have a boyfriend).

Oh, and what Knownowt says about "defined boundaries" - there was no way I'd risk my career so I was careful. Also WSS regarding dangerous situations - my best friend is now a recovering alcoholic and we were often very drunk and incapable and could quite easily have got ourselves raped or killed - dodgy minicabs, sleeping on strangers floors, picking up random men, etc etc. We were usually but not always together so that helped I suppose. By this time we were in our early twenties though.