Don’t Drink Out of the Garden Hose
Study Asks Teens About Risky Behaviors
I hate it when people spend a whole lot of money on a study, and the results just restate the obvious.
In the July issue of the respected magazine “Pediatrics” is the synopsis of a recent survey. Researchers tried to figure out why teens get involved in risky behaviors, like erratic teen driving.
Don’t waste your time running down to the bookstore. I’ll share the conclusion: It turns out some of them just might be depressed.
Duh! Like teenagers aren’t supposed to be susceptible to emotional/psychological disorders like everyone else in humankind?
Researchers interviewed more than 20,000 kids in grades 7 through 12, and 15 percent of them had a bleak view of their futures. They said they did not expect to see the age of 35. As a result of this black-cloud thinking, the article suggests, they got into fights, had unprotected sex, drove recklessly, abused drugs or alcohol and/or contemplated suicide.
What a narrow and naïve concept. What this article is not saying is what is significant to me.
One: All teens get involved in risky behaviors.
Two: Do the math. One-hundred percent, minus 15 percent. That leaves 85 percent of young people who don’t have depression to blame. They are simply willful and ignorant. Know-it-all teens who think they’re 10 feet tall and bulletproof.
I’ve got 18 years as an educator; twelve, by choice, teaching in the high schools. I like these kids because they keep me on my toes. I do my research, talk with colleagues and try to get in the heads of these 14- to 18-year-olds.
Anyone who thinks they’re going to pinpoint some medical phenomenon, some protein deficiency, some specific reason why kids make bad choices is chasing shadows. Brilliant men and women have walked this road before us and haven’t been able to figure it out, other than to conclude that it’s immaturity.
Their brains are still growing. Their hormones and pride override their good sense.
This has been a debate for centuries. Think of the movies: James Dean: Rebel Without a Cause. West Side Story: Sharks vs. Jets. American Graffiti: Fast cars, pretty girls and teens with too much time on their hands.
A few years ago I had the pleasure of tutoring the sweetest kid, Pierce. His mother paid for supplemental Algebra lessons in an attempt to raise his grade point average (during summer break, poor soul). He was a smart boy, a gifted athlete and a popular kid.
His divorced mother tried to make up for what he lacked in family stability by following him around with a safety net. You’ve probably already figured out that that net broke.
When Pierce hits the streets and hangs out with the wrong crowd, his attitude changes. He broke into the school’s bus lot with “friends” one night and slashed tires and spray-painted windows.
He said he was bored. He’s on probation. He’s 17.
The point is, a pessimistic attitude is typical of teens. We can’t stop them from playing Russian Roulette with their lives because they will do it anyway. They will drive too fast, mouth off, ignore their responsibilities, experiment with addictive substances and a hundred other things and pretend not to care.
Just keep telling them it’s bad. Keep an eye out without following too close. Insist on responsibility. And support them when it hurts.
There will be tragedies. There will be errors and there will be, eventually, maturity.
You and I both did it. Drank water out of the garden hose. Rode a bike without a helmet. Snuck a few smokes back in the school parking lot. Drove REALLY fast down a country road without headlights on. Ate a few high-fiber brownies. And that’s the relatively safe stuff.
Figure it out, Mom and Dad. That boy your baby girl is crazy over is more important than you right now. In a few years, he’s yesterday’s news.
It’s bull that young people are making poor choices because they think they’re doomed to die early. Maybe for a small percentage. But most teens are loud and obnoxious, willfully ignorant and think bad things happen to somebody else. Their entire social structure is based on who could drink the most without passing out and who is the teen driving sensation with the fastest car.
Don’t forget that life expectancy has increased by more than 30 years over the last century. I’d like to think it’s because cars today have more safety features. Police are more diligent about enforcing teen driving laws. Medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds. And there are a whole lot of experts and loved ones around us helping us avoid stupid mistakes.
Parents, what antics did you pull off in your teenage years that you now regret? Would you admit your scrapes with the law to your teen driver? How do your own experiences influence the way you parent your child? Care to tell a story
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Tags: disorders, emotional disorders, erratic driving, risky behaviors, Teen Driving
