RISKY BEHAVIORS
Taking risks can be positive, but only when those risks challenge a person in healthy ways. As teens grow toward adulthood, they will be faced with many decisions. Some of those decisions involve risk, and some of that risk involves danger and negative consequences.
It is healthy for teens to take risks that involve exploring adult roles and taking on adult responsibilities. While teens can reap the benefits of adult rewards, they can also experience the harm of adult consequences.
Positive risk-taking can lead to growth and development in a teen’s life, but unhealthy risk-taking (experimenting with drugs, alcohol, smoking, sex, etc.) often leads to other risky behaviors.
Teens who smoke are more likely to drink alcohol and abuse drugs.1 Teens who drink alcohol and abuse drugs are more likely to have sex.2
The good news is that many teens are not making these bad decisions and are taking healthy risks that help them grow mentally, physically, and emotionally. But it is imperative that parents be involved in the lives of their teens.
• Encourage healthy risk-taking (sports, competition, etc.)
• Talk to your teens about the consequences of bad decisions.
1 & 2. The National Center on Substance Addiction and Abuse. Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sex. New York: Columbia University, 1999.
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