But adults indulge in fantasies, too, by letting too much pass them by. No matter how many flashbacks, turning points, recognition of errors we can identify and analyze, the accumulation of infinite detail gathers with the force of inevitability. Practical lessons are obvious, but not infallible. Parents should be more prominent in the lives of their children, aggressively overseeing their habits, their cultural tastes, their friends, their rooms, and their teachers. Teenagers long for limits no matter how often they protest to the contrary, and love lies in the repetitive boring moments of simply being there.
Teenagers are a lot like toddlers.
They're not fully aware of the consequences of their actions. They're low on reality tests and have difficulty dealing with pain. The FBI will soon release a report identifying trouble spots and warning signs for teenage violence. They look at the obvious focus points in school, family, friends and drugs. But a child who writes about violence and suicide may actually be finding a creative outlet for it.