Train up a child…

Teens are Risk-Takers

It is nice that we now have new research of the human brain available. It helps us to better understand why people act as they do. One example of modern research is the finding that the part of the brain dealing with risk-taking is not developed until a person is generally in the twenties. We all know that teens are still growing physically by just looking at them, but knowing this fact,that can’t be seen by just looking at them, helps us realize that teens must be watched very carefully for their own safety. When we think that our teen is fully trustworthy to be cautious, we are fooling ourselves. If they have truly learned to obey rules without questioning, they may be more trustworthy than some, but another feature of teens is that they often start questioning what they have been told in the past.
When teens are left alone to devise activities, they often come up with some really unsafe things. One example of this is called “going under”. This is a “game” that some teens have played where they put a scarf or other object around the neck and squeeze it to cut off air until the child passes out. Unfortunately, some teens do not come back.
Another “game” that was described to me while teaching GED classes was called “phishing”. In this “game”, individuals bring all kinds of pills that they can find at home in medicine cabinets or other places. They get together and put a big bowl in the center of the table and dump all the pills into the bowl and mix them up. Then they “fish” for the kind they want to take. I was told that on one occasion a girl chose all the pink pills. She decided to lie down on the couch. Everyone thought she was asleep, but when they went to wake her up to go home, she didn’t wake up.
Risk-taking carries over into driving. Perhaps that is one reason there are so many car accidents among teenage drivers. Most teenagers think, “It won’t happen to me”. Many teens have not learned to anticipate what other drivers will do. Lack of life experience leaves them lacking in understanding of behavior of others. When this is combined with risk-taking, it makes for a dangerous situation.
Risk-taking may also be a factor in teens trying alcohol, drugs, or smoking. It is during the teen years that many bad habits are formed.
Knowing that teens are risk-takers, what is the best defense for their safety? There are two things that are helpful. First of all, teach children at a young age about the dangers of the world and the importance of obeying rules to avoid those dangers whether they completely understand reasons or not. Secondly, keep teens so busy doing positive things that they don’t have time to get involved in harmful activities.
We should never think that teens are old enough to make all of their own decisions. In some ways, we don’t give teens enough positive responsibility, but in other ways we may expect way too much from them. Love never fails if it is tough love based on the description in I Cor. 13 in the Bible. We need to pray for the wisdom of Solomon to know what to do and when to do it when working with teens!