What Animals Have to Teach Us About Raising Adolescent Children

Some adolescents become adults safely, capably, and independently while others do not. Research shows that becoming an adult for humans and animals depends on mastering four critical skills: staying safe from predators and exploiters; finding one’s place in social groups; communicating sexual consent; and living independently. Studying adolescent animals helps us understand human adolescents as a planet-wide tribe, with shared behaviors and conditions such as: Easy Prey if they are seen by predators and exploiters as less aware, weaker, and unprotected, therefore singled out for attack; or Privileged Creatures if they have high-status parents with rank, social networks, territories, and more, giving them an advantage over lower-status adolescent animals. There are counterintuitive insights that can be game changing like: peer pressure and risk-taking improve safety. Please join us Thursday to learn how to maximize the potential and minimize the danger of this developmental stage.