Seeking thrills and adventures

Risk-taking is a normal part of healthy development. Risks are choices with uncertain potential outcomes that can be desirable or undesirable, like winning or losing money in a gamble.

It is not only normal for adolescents to take risks and try new things but it is an essential part of learning during these years. Being able and willing to take risks is a part of their natural tendency to explore new things in adolescence—in ways that help teens discover who they are, expand their skills, and ultimately leave the safe nest of home.

Do any of these statements sound familiar to you?

Statements	Possible reasons or motivation for risk-taking
“If it’s unknown; it’s interesting and exciting. I want to find out.”	Curiosity
“You can’t know what something is like unless you try it.”	Experimentation
“What you’re warned against sounds thrilling. Let’s try!”	Excitement/Thrill-seeking
“Even if it’s against the rules, I can still do. I don’t care.” “I can’t stand being told what I must not do!”	Rebellion/ Desire for independence
I did it to act older or feel more mature.	Growth
“It is dangerous but I like taking chances.”	Courage
“I just went along with the crowd.”	Conformity/Fear of being left out or missing out/ Peer pressure
“I just did what I felt like at the time. I don’t care about what will happen” “I was really out of it. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t thinking.”	Impulsivity/Foolishness

As adolescents are drawn to normal risk-taking on their coming-of-age passage, they are continually testing themselves because there are a lot of new experiences to try and a lot of growing up to do. Meeting developmental milestones such as establishing one’s identity and independence, requires youth to be willing to try things that they might not like or at which they may fail. This requires a tolerance for risk-taking.

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Positive vs Negative Risk-Taking

Decisions made by youths can have deep and long-lasting impact on their lives. Therefore, it is important to be aware of what you are getting involved in. People tend to perceive risks as inherently negative. This is untrue. Risk behaviors fall along a spectrum: On one end of the spectrum are negative risks, which are generally antisocial or dangerous. On the other end are positive risks, which are socially acceptable risks with the potential to benefit adolescents’ well-being and with less severe potential consequences. Although the outcome can be uncertain for some circumstances, you can deliberately choose to take risks in safe environment where there is adequate support to help you navigate the risks.

Examples of negative risk-taking:

Skipping school can create problems that can eventually cause teenagers to feel stressed out and frustrated when schools and teachers expect them to be accountable to take responsibility for their actions.
Having underage and unprotected sex
Experimenting with drugs, vaping, alcohol or cigarettes
Meeting up with someone whom you have met online
Getting into a car with a stranger or someone who might be drunk

Negative risks can have harmful consequences on a teenager’s health, safety and wellbeing. Thus, instead of being involved in negative risks, choose to take positive risks!

Examples of positive risk-taking:

Joining a new CCA, taking up a leadership role in class, school and/or CCA.
Volunteering for extra-curricular activities (Eg, being a school emcee, performing in a school play or dance)
Exploring new interests and developing new skills (Eg. Kayaking, swimming, basketball, archery, painting, drawing, robotics, designing games or composing songs)
Setting academic goals and working hard to achieve it. Being involved in competitions organised by the school

These activities help youths to get out of their comfort zone to develop new skills and gain confidence. They also allow youths to form stronger bonds to their parents and communities. Youth are more likely to receive support from people around them for taking positive risks.

Before being involved in something, ask yourself these questions:

Will my parents/teachers be supportive of what I am going to do? If they will not approve, do not go ahead. If you are unsure, please consult parents and teachers.
Will my actions benefit my physical, emotional and mental well-being? If no, do not proceed. Find alternative activities that will help develop yourself.
Am I doing things because I want to impress others or due to peer influence? If you often find yourself succumbing to peer pressure, or following the trend at the moment, you may need to find ways to distance yourself from the current clique that you are hanging out with and find peers who make wise choices and encourage you to make positive risks that lead to growth.

All in all,

healthy risk taking is:

Socially acceptable
A necessary part of adolescence
Something that allows teens to explore and develop their own identities, and
gives teens opportunities to make their own decisions.

By practising taking healthy risks, teens have an opportunity to develop their cognitive control system, narrowing the developmental gap between reward seeking and self-regulation. The job of parents, guardians and teachers is to talk with teens about controlling their risks, and ensuring that they’re healthy, safe and wise risks. This is where supporting their autonomy becomes vital.

If you would like to experience more understanding and support from your family members or guardians, do direct them to some of these links below to help them learn more about what you may be going through: