Teenagers “own concepts” enable them to question right or wrong, cross boundaries in order to experiment and share the transgressive behavior with friends. At this point we are led to consider risk situations and behaviors. Youth is linked to rebelling and freedom, but also to alcohol and drugs - since they are icons of transgression. Finding the balance between experimenting, on the one hand, and giving yourself limits, on the other, is a hard task.
Experts’ speeches sounds as a double message: “experiment, but not that much”, “be original, but be adequate”, learn to be critical (confront), but obey the rules (do not confront), choose whatever you want to do as a professional, but choose what we expect you to choose (don’t let us down). It is a hard task, indeed. However, it is also demanding on the parents to impose limits, to talk about risks and their potential irreversible outcomes. There aren’t manuals to tell us at which point authentic behavior turns into addiction one or an adventure, such as taking parents’ car, without their permission, ends up in a car crash. Nobody ever thinks it is going to happen with them.
The goal of this text is to trigger for a candor talk about the subtlety and the challenges of dealing with adolescence. Although adolescence may be seen as a time of opposition to familiar concepts and way of life, it is also as a period of huge originality. The latin word adolesce means to grow towards maturity. Adolescence, however, is not just path to adulthood when performances such as career and raising a family are expected. To “adolesce” is also to surprise. Finding the balance between experimenting and knowing when to stop, being innovative and adequate are the base of a fully enjoyed adolescence which, in its turn, is the base for an integrated life project.
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