The Real Teen Crisis? Lack of Reps

Lately, I’ve been noticing a pattern—one that keeps showing up in sessions, classrooms, and everyday conversations with teens.

It’s not defiance. It’s not a lack of effort. What I’m seeing is a developmental gap. A delay in resilience. A lack of emotional reps that never had the chance to form when it mattered most.

Teens today aren’t short on awareness. They’re more informed than ever. They can name anxiety, trauma, and burnout. They talk about boundaries, emotional safety, and mental health with impressive fluency.

But here’s the difference: they know the language, not the lived experience.

For many, the space to apply these concepts in real time—through face-to-face conflict, repair after missteps, risk-taking, and reflection—has been limited. Not because they don’t care, but because the rhythm of development has been disrupted.

Yes, the pandemic was part of it, but it’s not the only piece. Chronic screen time, social disconnection, exposure to adult content too soon, and cultural shifts in how we connect and communicate have all played a role.

So now we have teens navigating adult-sized stress, relationships, and decisions without the emotional tools to manage any of it. And it shows up in ways that are often misunderstood: shutdowns, outbursts, pushback, avoidance.

This isn’t about blame. It’s about pausing long enough to ask: "What are they still missing?"And how do we respond in a way that helps them grow?

Because right now, what they need isn’t more content, more rules, or more labels.

They need tools. They need coaching. They need reps.

• Reps to calm themselves when anxiety spikes

• Reps to set boundaries without guilt

• Reps to bounce back after failure or rejection

• Reps to express emotion without shutting down

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These aren’t soft skills—they’re survival skills. And they don’t come from lectures or perfectly worded conversations. They come from connection, curiosity, and consistent opportunities to try, fail, and try again. They come from mentorship, not management.

At Healthy Routes, this is the shift I’m making. I’m not just naming the behavior or labeling and normalizing it—I’m decoding it, translating it, and looking deeper. I’m teaching life skills, offering tools, and guiding the reps they need to build real-world resilience.

This isn’t a call-out. It’s a call-in to educators, clinicians, caregivers, and anyone supporting youth.

Let’s stop assuming they’re equipped. Let’s stop waiting for them to just “get it.”

Start giving them what youth development truly requires: Real skills. Real reps. Real recovery.

Let’s stop rushing to fix. Start giving them the tools; step back and let them use them.

Let them stumble. Let them get back up. Let them try the rep again.

That’s how resilience is built.

Because saying the word “anxiety” isn’t the same as knowing how to move through it.

And growth doesn’t come from perfection—it comes from practice.

This is the work. This is the shift. This is the moment.

I’m not waiting for youth to figure out how to become resilient on their own—Healthy Routes is helping them build it, one rep at a time.

We’re not just supporting teens, we’re equipping them with the tools, the space, and the guidance to grow.

This is what we do at Healthy Routes. And we’re just getting started.