Balancing Risk Taking in Your Teenager
Parents Need to Act as Crises from Flu to Sexting Face Today's Teen
Apr 30, 2009
Teenagers balance many components during their development. One of the most dangerous elements of their normal makeup is their capacity to understand their risk taking behavior.
The ability to appropriately take risks is a learned skill. Parents can have great influence by providing appropriate guidance as new demands arise, giving opportunities to exercise good judgment and reflecting role model behavior.
Swine Flu to "Sexting" Show New Challenges Never Cease
Despite the fact that most of our society roles its eyes when the very word "teenager" is mentioned, adolescents do not exist in a bubble. New concerns and worries face teenagers with the same impact as it does anyone.
There is certainly no lack of topics to take one's attention on the national stage at any given moment. Adults draw from their experience, listen to their leaders, research questions they have and then take action. For most, this leads to actions which proffer the greatest chance for rewards while taking the least risk as possible.
Teenagers do not yet have all of these skills at their disposal. Diana Baumrind writes in A developmental perspective on adolescent risk taking in contemporary America [New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2007] that teenagers still rely on their parents to fulfill many of areas of making intelligent decisions.
The Balance Between Taking Risks and Obtaining Reward
It may not be that teens have so much of a problem in taking risks, but rather they place inordinate values on the rewards of their actions. Baumrind notes that teenagers tend to poorly gauge the level of reward to be obtained by the action. With little resistance to taking action, teenagers get into trouble when they place the wrong value on the potential reward.
On issues on the national stage at the moment, sexting offers the reward of satisfying curiosity or libidinal desires. Most adults would be tempered by morals or at the very least the threat of incarceration. Teenagers may not be developmentally able to make this leap, however.
A different issue is the swine flu epidemic. Adults know to take the time to wash hands and take precautions against the illness. Adolescents may see hand washing as a burdensome delay in reaching their next class on time.
How Parents Can Influence Risk Taking
Parents can help have an effect on risk taking by helping teens see the behavior versus reward equation in more balanced terms. These opportunities come in giving guidance, providing opportunities and acting as good role models.
Some simple ways to bring better risk taking judgment to teenagers include the following:
- Make it a point to watch both local and national news once a week with teens and discuss topics likely to impact the family. Discuss actions that might increase or decrease the impact on the family.
- Discuss topics likely facing your teenager. Help your teen understand your point of view and why you have concerns.
- Invite teenagers to participate in appropriate levels of family decisions Help take your teenager through the levels of actions and consequences in everyday situations.
- Reflect a story or moment to your teenager when you made a mistake in guessing the consequences of your actions and explain why you would make a different choice today.
As teens develop, they are able to handle more decisions. However, teens are likely to have some difficulty throughout adolescence in understanding the risk taking versus gains or consequences equation. Parents guidance, honesty and willingness to engage their teens have strong impacts on their teenagers behavior.
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