Liotte, my aunt FRIED her hair with a straightening perm. I wouldn't do it to a 12-year-old.
And, brdlwyr, what can you do with a 12-year-old girl? Reassure her that she is beautiful. A lot. Girls never hear this enough, especially with all the pressure in society to have a perfect body, perfect hair, perfect skin, etc. Tell her how pretty her smile is, how she's growing more womanly and lovely every day, how lucky any guy would be to even have her look his way... in some form. Compliments from Daddy resonate in a girl's heart the way nothing else can.
Avatar - Isaac, my blue-fronted Amazon parrot. Adopted 9/7/07. Age 30 (my pet is older than me!)