Answer this question in a complete paragraph (5-7 sentences).
If a teen is making a potentially reckless decision, should an adult stop it or allow it? In other words, should adults keep teens from getting hurt as a result of their mistakes or allow them to learn from their mistakes?
Answer this question in a complete paragraph (5-7 sentences).
27 Comments
Rochelle Y.
4/13/2012 07:16:26 am
I believe that when teenagers are making potentially reckless decisions, an adult should intervene and stop them from making these choices. In today's society, it is far too easy for a child or a teenager to step out of line and make wrong choices without realizing it. Even though the actions are usually minor, it doesn't mean that adults should sit back and watch it happen. Children look up to adults for guidance and if the adult simply waits for the events to play out, it reflects negatively on the children as well. In order to teach the younger generation how to become responsible grown individuals of society, an adult should accept responsibilities and intervene into the situation before it gets too out of hand. To simply stand back and wait is exactly like leaving the child in a tank of sharks. Even if the decision itself isn’t extremely dangerous and destructive, it can still be harmful. The adult cannot simply expect everything to turn out alright if he or she doesn’t take action.
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Sophie E.
4/14/2012 11:25:15 pm
The question of whether or not adults should interfere when they see teens making potentially reckless decisions truly depends on the situation. However, even with this in mind, I believe that unless the reckless decision is quite dangerous or deadly, adults should allow teenagers to learn from their mistakes. This idea is not founded on my personal believes, but on the idea that teenagers would be angry with adults for interfering and would probably rebel against any attempts to stop the teenager's course of action. This would not only prove unhelpful, but might actually make the situation worse, as the teenager might be driven to "prove something" that could be more harmful than the original "bad decision" could have entailed. Also, once the teenager realizes the adult was right in his or her caution (but not interference) the teenager would be more inclined to listen as well as would have learned from his or her mistake. This would allow more good sense to pass from one generation to the next, as the teenagers would grow up with personal experiences as cautions, and would tell them to their own kids, who may or may not take them into account. With this potential stream of "learning from mistakes," I think it is important for teenagers to gain their own experiences, and therefore, not have the physical interference by adults unless the situation is dangerous.
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Andrew Lombard
4/15/2012 12:23:37 am
I believe that adults should allow teens to learn from their mistakes by not interfering in any reckless decisions. If adults try to control every aspect of a child's life, they will deny them the skills that they will need when they make mistakes as an adult. By letting them learn, however, they will learn useful skills about making smart decisions for the future. The only exception to this rule, however, is when a child will be in immediate danger. An adult should then step in to stop them and keep them safe.
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Adam Tashman
4/15/2012 12:45:14 am
I think that an adult should usually not stop a teenager from making a decision, but I also think that there are some cases where they should. I think that in all situations that do not put the teen in danger, an adult should not stop them. Adults should let teens learn from their mistakes because if they are stopped from making a bad decision at that moment, another time may come where nobody is there to stop them and the situation could be even more serious. Once someone learns a lesson after doing something, they will usually know better than to do it again. However, if the decision that the teen is making can put them in serious danger, the adult should always stop them so they don't get hurt.
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Virginia Foggo
4/15/2012 12:55:39 am
I believe that adults should allow teenagers to learn from their mistakes. Kids need to learn how to deal with the consequences of their decisions. When you grow up there isn't going to be anyone to shield you from making bad decisions, so if teens don't learn how to deal with them now, they wont be able to function well as an adult. Making mistakes is an important part of growing up. The only time when I believe an adult should step in, is when a child is putting their own life, or someone else's life at risk.
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Lia C
4/15/2012 02:06:50 am
I believe that adults should allow teenagers from learning from their mistakes. If they didn't then teenagers wouldn't learn a lesson, later in life they would probably make that mistake again but without an adult interferring. Plus if a teenager made a mistake and it had a bad outcome they wouldn't be tempted to redo that mistake. Also you learn from your mistakes, it will make you a better person in the long run. I believe mistakes teach life lessons and people should have to deal with the consequences of their own desicions. If an adult always stepped in when a teenager was making the wrong choice, in the future that teenager wouldn't know if what they're doing is wrong or right. The only exception when an adult should step in is if it's a life or death situation. But for the most part I think adults should let teenagers make mistakes.
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Dylan C
4/15/2012 02:48:26 am
Depending on the circumstances, adults should let teenagers learn the hard way from their mistakes, unless the teen's decision can lead to severe mental or physical injury, including death. If adults interfered too much in their child's life, then the child becomes angry and irritated with them. However, if the adults let their child have to much freedom, it could lead to more severe consequences that could permanently damage their child. For example, if the consequence is minor like breaking a leg, then the child will learn not to do whatever he or she did again, at least in theory. Another example is if a child is playing on a dangerous road or highway, then the parent should stop the child, before the child is run over and killed by a passing vehicle. Although these are more deadly and potentially dangerous cases, parents should regulate restrictions on what their child can or cannot do, leaving the child some freedom.
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Emily W.
4/15/2012 02:53:08 am
If a teen is making a potentially reckless decision, an adult should not interfere with the teenager’s decision. I believe that an adult should be allowed to voice their opinion to the teen about their actions and choices. In the end, teenagers will probably do whatever they want to do, no matter what an adult says. However I think if a teen is going to get hurt or become in danger because of his or her choices, an adult should prevent them from acting on their reckless decision. Unless the teen is in a life threatening situation, an adult should let them learn from their mistakes.
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Anna J
4/15/2012 03:01:43 am
I think that in most non-fatal situations, adults should allow teens to learn from their mistakes. By experiencing consequences, it becomes the best way to learn about the world at a young age. If you look at the adults, how did they learn about what is reckless and what isn't? Most likely from experiences. Just like when learning to ride a bike or climb a tree when we were little, our parents let us fall once so we would live and learn. Being a teenager and making our own decisions in most situations is ideal in order to become a wise adult, just like falling off a bike made us a little bit wiser. Not from adults just saying not to, because with experience we can convert ourselves to know when we to say not to. Adults won't always be around to interfere, so by learning about the world ourselves to prepare when we make our own decisions.
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Elijah House
4/15/2012 04:27:59 am
If a teen is making a potentially reckless decision, I think that adults should let the teens learn from their mistakes. An adult can lecture a teen forever about the dangers of certain decisions, but it might not make a difference. The teen might not listen if they themselves believe that the decision isn't reckless or if they don't believe that something terrible could happen to them. If they suffer from their reckless decision, they will know personally the consequences of that decision. A personal experience is usually more memorable than an adults lecturing, which a teen might completely ignore. Utilizing the knowledge from the experience will help them as an adult in years to come. If an adult is keeping a teen too safe not letting anything bad happen to him, how will he succeed in life with no adult to warn him or personal experiences to influence his decisions.
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Taylor Davey
4/15/2012 05:00:23 am
If a teen is making a reckless decision, I believe it depends on what the decision is to see if an adult should stop it. If the teen is making a life decision or could potentially hurt them physically I think an adult should make the smart decision and stop that teen from getting hurt. The only exception to where an adult should not stop a teen from getting hurt and let them learn from their mistakes is where it does not involve life or death. For example, their love life in high school, grades, and other life experiences that teens could possibly get hurt emotionally but should learn how to handle those situations and mistakes. The question is a tough one to answer with a direct question because if you say an adult should not interfere and let the teen learn from their mistakes; but that could result in a death or getting physically hurt. You can't say that an adult should always stop a teen from making a reckless decision because then they will be too sheltered and protected when put in the real world. Which would not benefit the teen in the long run because then they have not been put through hurt or lost and have not learned from many mistakes that could help them be better prepared in life situations in the further future. So my answer is that it depends on what kind of reckless decision the teen is making for it could either kill them, meaning the adult should step in; but a less reckless decision, the adult should not step in and let the teen learn from his/her mistake.
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Holly S
4/15/2012 05:26:20 am
I believe that if a teenager is maing a reckless decision, then adults should not get involved. The help of the adult will not let the child learn anything. They will think that someone will always be there to stop them from making stupid mistakes. But who is going to help you when you aren't with an adult? If you never learn from your mistakes, then you will keep making them and one day, you will find that there is no way to fix your mistake.
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Katie S.
4/15/2012 06:03:23 am
I think that in most cases, adults should allow teenagers to learn from their mistakes. It obviously depends on the situation, but they should usually not get involved. Teenagers need to make a couple of bad decisions so they learn the consequences and don't do it again. If their parents tell them not to do something, they will most likely do it anyway, because many teenagers just disagree with whatever their parents have to say. When they do make bad decisions, they will become more responsible and maybe even realize that their parents were right and listen to them in the future.
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Katarina.
4/15/2012 06:43:49 am
I believe that in most situations children should learn from their mistakes or they are bound to repeat them. However, I do believe that if a teenagers actions could have a fatal outcome adults should intervene and stop them. I think this because if a teenager were to try and do something and be stopped by a parent, they will repeatedly attempt to do it until they get away with it. If the teenager were to get away with it and get hurt, they will understand that the adult had been right. Through this understanding, teenagers grow-up and become more knowledgable of the world around them.
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Jimmy Donoghue
4/15/2012 06:51:19 am
I believe that it is necessary for teens to learn from their mistakes. In most cases, letting a teen make a mistake as a lesson might be the only way to teach them a lesson. Having teens learn lessons through mistakes is fine in my opinion as long as it does not inflict a long lasting negative effect on their lives. Parents can't just play lazy and assume that their kids will have a net to fall back on and teach them not to make the same mistake again somewhere else. Parents are the net that always needs to be behind kids in the cake of a big mistake.
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Josh Kauffman
4/15/2012 07:10:14 am
As a Democrat, I have always been for regulations, i.e. interfering when necessary. My personal opinion in this case is the very same: don't let kids get hurt for making stupid decisions. While some don't interfere because it wouldn't teach the kid a lesson, it's really not worth feeling right for a second when your kid gets a tattoo when you told him not to and then he regrets it later. This is, in my very cynical opinion, why parents don't give themselves the final say in their teen's decisions: they want to be right and their kids wrong. In my observations, all humans have a basic want to be better than someone else, and they can be better by being right. Anyway, a teen doesn't have the right state of mind to recognize stupid things at times and it's a parent's job to make sure their kid doesn't do something they may regret.
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Beth Feindt-Scott
4/15/2012 07:21:29 am
I believe wether adults should interfer with a child's descion relies purely on the situation. However, in most situations I believe an adult should not get involved. I know if I was going to make a "bad decsion" and an adult told me not to, I would get frustrated. I would be more likely to make the bad descion at another time. If no adults said anything and I realized on my own it was a bad descion to make there is no way I would make it again. I feel like most teenagers are like me as well. They don't want to hear that they are wrong. As soon as they live through their bad descion and discover on their own the danger or stupidity of it, They never want to do it again.
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Kelly D.
4/15/2012 08:40:16 am
I believe that, unless the situation is very serious or dangerous, adults should allow teenagers to make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. If an adult steps in and forces a teenager to make a certain choice, even if it proves to be far better, then they have learned nothing and will inevitably make the mistake eventually. Adults will not always be there so it is important that kids learn to make good decisions on their own. Controlling a teenager completely would only feed the problem, causing them to be resentful and rebellious. Guidance is another thing completely. If an adult sees a child making a bad decision, I think it is their moral obligation to influence them for the better, but not stop them if they decide to continue.
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David Yin
4/15/2012 09:07:53 am
When a kid makes a reckless decision, I believe that the adults should allow it so that the kid can learn from the decision. Unless the decision makes the situation dangerous, then the adults should not interfere. In future, the adults that stop the kid from making another risky decision so from they will learn from whatever happens. But even if the adult told the kid that doing it would be reckless, there is a chance that they will do it anyway since it is in a kid's nature to disobey adults. That is why there should be parents should allow kids freedom to make their own choices but stop them if it is choice that will endanger anyone.
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Sam Yin
4/15/2012 09:11:37 am
My belief is that teenagers should be allowed to learn from their mistakes. But if there is a situation with deadly consequences, then the adults should step in. However, normal teenagers would be angry at the adult for stepping in, because teenagers believe that they can do everything by themselves. Eventually, an exact or similar situation will reoccur because it had been avoided in the past. If teenagers are not allowed to learn from their mistakes, how are they to be prepared for being adults? Another exception is that if a teenager asks the adult to step in and help him/her out of the situation. After the consequences are learned, you can be sure that it will never happen again.
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Alyssa
4/15/2012 09:11:43 am
I dont think it is an adults place to interfere and stop something or not. I do however think they have a right to give a warning, suggesting that the child or children think it through before going through with what ever action they were contemplating. It not only give the child the chance to make the final decision on their own, but also allows them to learn a lesson from their decision, something the children wouldnt be able to do if the decision was made for them.
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Derek S.
4/15/2012 08:28:24 pm
The question of whether a teen's dangerous decision should be stopped by an adult is completely situational. In most situations, however, I'd say that adults should not get involved. It is human nature that if someone harms themselves by their own actions, they will not do so again. The only way a person will know if an action is dangerous or not is if they "harm themselves" in the process. If someone should intervene, even an adult they respect, they would not learn their lesson and do it again in the future.
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Jamie Taylor
4/15/2012 10:15:37 pm
I think adults shoyuld allow teens to learn from their mistakes in most cases. Teenagers need to make the wrong decision to know whats right and if adults are always stopping them they will never learn. In some cases, however, adults should interfere if its something that can put the kid or someone else in danger. But yes, in most situations adults should let teens learn from their mistakes.
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Joshua Eng
4/16/2012 04:49:59 am
Theoretically, it would be best in my opinion to allow teenagers to make mistakes and learn from the consequences they face, even if the results of their choices impact their lives greatly. If adults are always stepping in to steer them on the right way or smooth their paths for them, teenagers will never be able to grow up and learn to make decisions for themselves. This also will prevent them from understanding that their choices will eventually affect them. Also, rebellious feelings may occur due to the fact that the teenagers will not feel that they have freedom or autonomy. However, if I was an adult, specifically a parent, I would want to stop them from making reckless decisions. For example, if two teenagers wanted to get married, I would probably try to stop them.
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Justin C
4/16/2012 08:03:32 am
An adult's decisions of whether or not to intervene in such situations should largely depend on what the teenager is attempting to do. If he (let us just assume that this teen is male for simplicity's sake) is trying to do something idiotic that could potentially alter or end his life, then there is no question of what to do. An adult is obligated by law to stop him, or else face charges of negligence. But if the teen is doing something stupid that could be used as a life lesson, then the adult has the choice to either stop him or allow him to continue then teach him what he did wrong. There is nothing wrong with doing such a thing, and he might come away from it learning a valuable lesson. Of course, some believe that this constitutes as negligence as well, but I disagree; few teenagers would ever learn from their mistakes if they were always surrounded by overprotective parents, and I believe it is necessary to receive scars from such lessons.
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Caroline Lentz
4/16/2012 10:26:49 am
When a teen is making a reckless decision, it's often because they're excersizing their opportunity to make their own choices independently. I know a lot of parents think it's best to let their kid know what they can and can't do in a lay-down-the-line sort of way. This won't work. Ultimately, no matter how sheltered a kid is, they're going to face the world on their own and get to make their own decisions. If there is built up anger over never getting to make their own decisions, then this will backfire and cause the teen to make more reckless decisions the first tine they get the chance. Of course, parents should control the situation their kid is in and should structure the way he/she lives to some extent. It all depends on how they go about doing it. For example, instead of saying "No, you're not allowed to do that," the parent could answer with "Not tonight, I don't feel like being up very late." It has the same effect without frustrating the teen's belief that they're invincible. Still, on occasion kids should be able to fly under their parents' radar, because it's part of being young and it's the only way to keep them satisfied with their scandalous teenager lives.
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Selena Hunter
4/22/2012 08:46:15 am
I think when teens are making reckless decisions the parents should let the teen learn from their mastakes for the most part. If the reckless decision is life threatening then yes the parents should step in and stop the teen from making that decision. But if it is not life threatening then the parents should allow the teen to learn from their own mastakes and not step in.
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