ArcaMax

Dear Amy: At school I am being ignored by my friends because of the new kids that they have crushes on. They hang outside of school without me and boys are all they talk about! Because of this, I'm currently ignoring them. I'm cutting them from my life. I have unfollowed them on all my social media. It's sad that they don't even care. What do I do now?

-- Dissed friend

Dear Dissed: Kids -- and adults -- grow and change at different rates.

Your friends seem to have entered the crush zone, and -- if you're not into that -- they're going to ignore you, and also be pretty boring to be around.

Your friends may feel like they can't approach you after you cut ties with them. They might not know why you've done this. Have you tried to talk about it? If you try and still feel misunderstood and left out, you should start participating in a new activity -- I recommend checking out the drama department at your school.

School plays are where you meet a variety of pretty cool people, but anything that shakes up your routine will do. Whatever you choose to try, just remember quality over quantity: one great friend can make up for 10 wishy-washy ones.

Dear Amy: I was alarmed at your incorrect response to "Driving Me Nuts," who was concerned about her granddaughter's "vocal fry."

As a nationally certificated, credentialed and licensed speech-language pathologist, I have worked with voice disorders for the last 26 years. I can tell you that without a doubt a person using "vocal fry" is performing a form of vocal abuse and can damage the vocal cords in the same way that yelling and screaming can damage vocal cords. Vocal abuse can create vocal nodules and sometimes irreversible voice damage. That grandmother had every right to be alarmed.

-- Harriet Snyder, M.S., CCC-SLP

Dear Harriet: My reading showed conflicting professional opinions on this. One thing everyone seems to agree about is that vocal fry is annoying.

My advice to this grandmother, however, was that this is not her problem to try and fix.

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(You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@amydickinson.com. Readers may send postal mail to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or "like" her on Facebook.)