Building trust and understanding in an age of technology and constant change.
"You don’t know anything!"
Many teenagers hear this phrase more often than words of encouragement. Imagine being 15, full of questions, curiosities, and ideas—only to have them dismissed before they’re even voiced. What does that do to a young person trying to make sense of themselves and the world?
Too often, adolescence is treated like a punishment. But being a teenager is not a crime—it is a season of discovery, full of risk, curiosity, and growth. It deserves understanding, not condemnation.
At its core, being a teenager means exploring. Exploring ideas, values, relationships, and experiences. This exploration is not rebellion—it’s development. Yet the world teens are navigating today is far more complex, layered with unseen dangers and amplified by technology. If adolescence becomes a season of secret experiments carried out in fear, perhaps it is not the teens who are failing, but society that has failed to provide safe and honest spaces for them.
Maybe the shift we need starts with us, the adults. What if instead of rushing to discipline or label, we slowed down to listen? What if we acknowledged that growing up—especially in an internet-driven world—will always be messy, complicated, and imperfect? What if our role wasn’t to constantly remind teens of what they don’t know, but to walk with them as they figure things out?
The internet has made teenhood both fascinating and frightening. It connects young people to worlds we could never have imagined, while also exposing them to risks they are often ill-equipped to handle. The challenge for parents, teachers, and mentors isn’t to control every click, but to engage honestly with the reality that this is their world. They aren’t aliens; they’re simply navigating a different context with tools we didn’t grow up with.
This also calls for courageous conversations—especially around sexuality. Too many teens stumble in the dark because their questions are met with silence, shame, or half-truths. Age-appropriate, unbiased guidance—both at home and in school—doesn’t corrupt; it empowers. When we avoid these conversations, we leave teens to wrestle with curiosity alone, making them easy prey in a world that’s all too ready to exploit them.
Perhaps what teenagers need most is not more rules shouted from a distance, but safe spaces where curiosity is not criminalized, where questions are not mocked, and where mistakes are seen as part of becoming.
So instead of sensationalizing teenage struggles, maybe it’s time to reimagine how we walk alongside them. To see adolescence not as a problem to solve but as a season to nurture. To be less quick to judge and more willing to listen. To remember that every teenager is not just “going through a phase,” but becoming the adult our future depends on.
And here’s where we come in—parents, teachers, mentors, neighbors. Pause and ask yourself: When was the last time I truly listened to a teenager without judgment? It doesn’t take much to start. A genuine conversation at the dinner table. A safe space where questions are welcomed. An encouraging word instead of a dismissive one.
Change begins with empathy, listening, and patience. If each of us chose to see teens not as problems to fix but as lives to nurture, we would create a society where adolescence is not feared but embraced. Because the way we treat today’s teenagers is shaping the kind of society we will all inherit tomorrow.
Tabby is a professional counsellor/Family Therapist. She is a consultant therapist at Pilladev Psychotherapy & Consultancy.