Endless Adolescence

Once upon a time adolescents took pride in reaching adulthood. Nowadays, many adults take pride in perpetuating their adolescent behavior – that is, until they’re caught, try to worm out of it and realize they can’t.

What are the four top hallmarks of adolescent behavior?

  • The Illusion of Invulnerability

Teens are famous for believing that “nothing bad will happen to me; I won’t get into trouble; I’m too smart to get caught; I’ve got it all figured out, so stop worrying, mom and dad.”

  • The Need to take Reckless Risks

Adolescence is the time to do crazy things. No matter how much parents warn teens about dangerous behavior, they still seek out unbridled thrills.  Danger is enticing.  And, each time they face danger in the eye and nothing happens, they want more. A ticking time bomb provides them with the ultimate adrenaline rush that makes them feel fully alive!

  • Surrounding Themselves with Similar Minds

Similar minds encourage them (by egging them on), protect them (by providing an illusion of safety in numbers) and reward them (by applauding what they do). The riskier the behavior, the more status is conferred on them. Surrounding yourself with people who don’t question your behavior or ask, “What the hell are you thinking?” feeds into the illusion of invulnerability.

  • Lack of Commitment to Intimate Relationships

Teens commit to a relationship one month and are immersed in another one the next month. Why such quick change? Teens don’t want to be bored, they don’t want anyone to impede their impulses and they certainly don’t want to slow down to work their way out of any relationship rut.  Better to end the relationship with the first sign of conflict or sneak around and let it end when their behavior destroys whatever trust was there.

Once upon a time, the ultimate measure of a man was to achieve control of the demons that could destroy him: anger, fear, greed, vanity, hubris, and sexual temptation. Nowadays, many men (especially those in power) think that the ultimate measure of a man is what he can get away with.

Copyright 2011