> Young people shouldn't feel the need to withdraw and create their own subcultures to gain a sense of belonging or security. We should be incorporating them in

> Young people shouldn't feel the need to withdraw and create their own subcultures to gain a sense of belonging or security. We should be incorporating them into society, giving them a sense of purpose and belonging, and equipping them to make meaningful contributions. None of that matters when you're a teenager. A large part of puberty is establishing identity and a unique sense of self, in contrast to the sense of belonging to family and community that existed in a healthy childhood. And as for security - the trope that teenagers feel invincible exists for a reason, and not for a cultural one. Anytime society attempts to define what it means to make a "healthy" contribution, remember that it is society making that determination, and not the individual. Part of growing up is figuring out for yourself what kinds of decisions are healthy for you as an individual, and the job of parents and educators is to give the benefit of their experience as mentors and help guide young people into understanding whether or not the decisions they are making are actually healthy for them. Parents restricting their adolescent children to choices which are healthy for the parents/society (but not for the child) is ultimately one of the biggest ruptures of family relationships.