I don’t think high school seniors are equipped to handle the pressures and temptations inherent during spring break at places like Ft. Lauderdale and other popular destinations. I say this, in part, because we have done a poor job of teaching the current generation street smarts.
When my generation was growing up, the world was our playground, literally. We were able to leave the house in the morning and not return until dinner. We rode our bikes for miles away from home, exploring woods, hiking up creeks, competing against kids from other neighborhoods in unsupervised hockey and baseball games, and in general terrorizing whatever lay before us. We had unbridled freedom, and it felt great.
We learned invaluable life lessons out there in the world. We created our own fun, took care of ourselves and our friends, solved our own squabbles on the sports fields, made decisions and immediately experienced the consequences of our actions, learned to lead and follow, took risks and learned our limits, initiated and made things happen, and challenged ourselves out in the real world. Self-confidence and self-efficacy resulted from these experiences.
Present-day kids are overprotected and spend inordinate amounts of time in supervised activities, which robs them of such proficiencies. Our exaggerated fears about abductions have caused most kids to never be untethered from their parents. When they leave the nest at age 18, all too often they are ill-prepared to manage the challenges that come their way. Young adults have a hard time problem solving, taking initiative, taking risks, and handling the normal ups and downs of life because they never had to; Mom and Dad rushed in to fix their problems and ensure that they didn’t fall or fail.
There are a number of other reasons why I wouldn’t advise sending high school seniors off to spring break without a chaperone, including not being developmentally ready for that kind of environment. First we need to let them test their abilities—and improve those abilities—by allowing them to have more independence and unsupervised time at home. Only then should they spread their wings amid the temptations of spring break. Because practice makes perfect, or if not perfect, at least better.
[Tim Jordan, M.D., is a Behavioral Pediatrician who specializes in counseling girls ages 6 through college. For more information, go to drtimjordan.com.]