I HAVE a friend I consider to be like a little sister. She is 16 and recently started seeing a 22-year-old. I vaguely know this guy, because we are second or third cousins. I don’t want to lose her as a friend, but I want her to understand age difference is a big deal, and people around her are not blowing it out of proportion. She is not being unreasonable or getting upset with me, but I think that is because all I said is I don’t really approve. I don’t want to get too caught up in her personal decisions and lose her as a friend. What can I do to explain why a six-year age difference is a problem now, but wouldn’t be if she were older?
Sigrid