You’re out of town, and your presumably responsible teenage son decides to take out the sports car, meets a woman who turns out to be a prostitute, brings her back to his family home, and proceeds to have a giant party, only for her pimp to show up and take all his family’s possessions for what he claimed were unpaid profits. Back in the '80s, being a teenager was truly “Risky Business.” Also, Joel demonstrated the kind of independence skills and business acumen that led to a happy ending. It’s hard to imagine, even in a present-day cinematic drama, that a teen today could have managed such a gambit.

Audacious, reckless, invincible, and intractable are descriptors notoriously associated with adolescents. And there are important reasons for this. During adolescence, the emotional center of the brain is highly activated and primed to seek novelty, excitement, and new experiences. Teens need this neurological wiring to help them move beyond the familiar landscape of family and into the larger, unknown world.

More and more, however, I’m hearing from parents who are worried about something different: their teen’s lack of interest in spreading their wings or exercising their independence muscles. What is going on—and how can we help teens take the developmentally appropriate risks they need to grow up and practice “adulting”?

A 2023 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Report found that some adolescent risk-taking behaviors, such as drinking, sex, and driving, have decreased compared to previous decades. There may be some good news here. But do........

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