Guiding a Child or Teen in Risk Assessment

(1) Healthy risk-taking is a positive tool in an adolescent's life for discovering, developing, and consolidating his or her identity.

(2) It is important to remember that learning how to assess risks is a process that we work on throughout our lives; children and adolescents need support, tools, and practice in order to do this.

(3) Young children give clues about how they do or don't take risks (e.g., how they ride a bike or skateboard, how they handle a new social situation); these clues contribute to styles or patterns of risk-taking.

(4) Although there are many styles, certain patterns can be seen, such as the cautious risk-taker, the middle-of-the-roader, the adventurer or high-end risk-taker, the teen whose risk-taking increases when he or she is with friends.

(5) Risk-taking can be accelerated in one area -- social, physical, intellectual, artistic, or sexual, for example -- and not in others.

(6) Helping a child or teen understand or define his or her own risk-taking pattern is important, this includes helping the child understand how and why he or she makes both healthy and unhealthy choices.

(7) Role-playing risk assessment with children and teens is crucial. Have them try out different roles, adults can share what they have learned about risk-taking.

(8) Risk-taking can be practiced and learned in healthy, supportive situations; a nonjudgmental and nonbragging manner is most helpful, it is often most important to share feelings and mistakes.