TAKE YOUR 'BEST SHOT' BEFORE THEY GROW UP.

Byline: - Nancy Hewitt

Most parents dread that time of raging hormones and just plain rages otherwise known as adolescence.

But it doesn't have to be a bad experience, says Laura Sessions Stepp, author of ``Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence.''

Between the ages of 10 and 15, teen brains are developing faster than any other time besides infancy. Stepp maintains that during this crucial time in their development, young teens want their parents to focus on them, pay attention to them. That's why it is important to keep the lines of communication open.

``They are very aware of what's going on in the world,'' says Stepp, the mother of a 17-year-old son. But parents need to lighten up.

``No one can make you laugh like kids this age,'' she says. And moments like these are to be treasured.

This is a transitional time both for teens and parents because kids aren't very talkative during their early teens.

``We know the world is in their faces at an earlier age,'' Stepp says. ``We need to give them tools to deal with what they are facing. We have to be very clear. We have to talk to them about our beliefs. We can't assume that they're not going to get into trouble.''

As part of her research for the book, Stepp visited three different areas of the United States to compare teen life: Los Angeles because ``most of teen-age culture starts on the West Coast and moves East''; Durham, N.C., because it was more evenly racially mixed; and Ulysses, Kan., because it is so far away from malls and interstates.

The time spent with the teens and their families in these cities yielded some interesting results.

``L.A. kids seemed less bored. They always had something to do. They talked about L.A. as a fabulous place to live,'' she says.

``In Ulysses, kids said they were very bored. Kids would drive out to a place they called the Bridge where there'd be drinking and sex,'' she continues.

Stepp says what surprised her the most was the condition of the schools she visited, especially the ones in L.A. But she says the kids she talked to seemed more concerned about the kind of education they were receiving rather than the environment.

``Kids are turned off by the education systems in all three areas,'' she says. ``They didn't feel challenged.''

To get kids more enthusiastic about school, Stepp says the focus should be on giving the best training to the teachers, especially for working with young teens.

``Young teens want to be cared for but they want to be challenged,'' she says. ``We need to do a better job in figuring out what our kids want to do and let them do it.''

Stepp has plenty of advice for parents. Parents need to be concerned with not only who their kids go out with but also who they are online with.

She believes parents need to take a more active role in their teen's life. They need to get to know their teen's friends and find out about their friends' relationships with their parents.

``I truly believe kids want to be close to their parents,'' she says. ``Even if they don't show it, their love is bone deep.''

``Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence'' retails for $14 and is available at local bookstores.

A DOLL'S ADVENTURE: Girls ages 5 and older will be delighted with the latest in the Barbie line of games for GameBoy color. ``Barbie Pet Rescue'' challenges girls to rescue all the lost animals in Green Arbor Park.

Part of the challenge of the game is transporting the animals in cool vehicles to the Pet Rescue Center.

Suggested retail price for the game, which is available where other Barbie products and GameBoy games are sold, is $30.