'Friendly mums can wreck daughter's life'

London, Apr 16 (UNI) What do Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton have in common? It's the troubled life because of their mum's friendliness.

Mothers who try to act like their daughter's best friend, could in most cases be spoiling their lives instead of guiding them, experts have warned.

This increasingly common scenario is eroding parental boundaries, leaving a generation without proper guides, according to a book written by family psychologist Dr Stephan Poulter.

''Kids need a parent, not another friend. When mothers become best friends it leaves their children motherless. This can create a lot of rage in boys. Motherless daughters of this type tend to be drug-orientated and out of control,'' he says.

Dr Poulter findings are published in the book called ''The Mother Factor''. According to him, today's best-friend parents had discipline problems with their own parents who they saw as being too strict. They never resolved those problems and now they don't want to be so hard on their own children, and just want to be liked.

''Parents must recognise that they are not their child's friend.

They need to get their children's respect then the kids can separate from their mother and move forward in their lives.'' Dr Poulter added.

He is not the only one calling for a return to traditional parent-child relationships. The mother of American comic Chris Rock, who has brought up 27 children, has just published her own book on parenting. In Mama Rock's Rules, she sets out the method she used on her ten offspring and 17 foster children.

UNI XC ARB BD2025