Our consumerist society tempts young people with alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and spectacle. Social media is a space for influencers and a platform for all kinds of inappropriate behaviors. The vulnerability of adolescents who think they are invincible makes them easy targets.
We don’t always recognize that adolescents are not mentally or emotionally prepared to make important decisions about their lives. They need parents, teachers and mentors who can guide and support them through this social maze. It takes time to build a young person who is disciplined and educated, who has self-worth and who values adult guidance. That is, a young person who can successfully and productively make it to adulthood.
Families are in crisis. Parents are distracted. Society is full of predators with wrong-headed messages. We adults need to make the commitments that will protect young people.
Adolescents must learn that:
--Behavior has consequences, and the consequences they must live with
--Sex is normal, but it has meaning in terms of intimacy, partners and body.
--Their brain development is not sufficient for the life choices they will have to make.
--They must have adults they can trust and friends they can depend on.
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