Watching A Beautiful Boy is like witnessing a parent do everything possible – read, reason, plead, love – and still watch their child slip away into addiction. Not because they didn’t care, but because sometimes love, when not paired with limits, can become helpless.
The Netflix series Adolescence, featuring Jamie Miller, offers another window into this fragile stage of life. Jamie is not a bad kid. He’s thoughtful, confused, emotional – and like many teenagers, quietly overwhelmed. There’s no one moment of collapse. Just a slow drift, enabled by absent boundaries and unclear guidance.
Both stories are unsettling because they’re so familiar. These aren’t cautionary tales from troubled homes. These are stories that could belong to any family. And they highlight a hard truth: adolescence isn’t just a phase. It’s a vulnerable, high-risk time – and it needs adults who are not only loving, but also strong.
Because here’s the reality: teenagers need rules. They may argue against them, but they need them. Boundaries give them a sense of safety and structure. Adults often hesitate – fearing confrontation, or wanting to be seen as supportive. But when understanding turns into over -indulgence, or when guilt replaces discipline, the results can be damaging.
Respect for money, time, and discipline doesn’t come naturally. It must be taught. And it starts at home – with consistent boundaries, with the courage to say no, and with conversations about effort, responsibility, and consequences.
Yes, adolescents need to be heard. But they also need to be challenged – gently but firmly. Giving in to every emotional outburst, rescuing them from every discomfort, or handing out money and other resources without context teaches the wrong lessons. That actions don’t have consequences. That limits don’t exist.
What A Beautiful Boy and Adolescence make painfully clear is that presence alone is not enough. Adults must also be anchors – calm, firm, and sometimes unpopular. Young people watch more than they listen. They learn from what we tolerate. And in a world that pulls them in every direction, they look to adults for signals – of what’s acceptable, what’s valued, and what’s not.
So yes, be patient. Be calm. Be kind. Listen. Respect. Reason. Forgive. Encourage frankness. But also be clear. Set rules. Teach restraint. Insist on respect – for self, for others, for money, for effort.
Because adolescence isn’t imaginary. It’s messy, confusing, and very real.
But it’s also an opportunity – for growth, for resilience, and for adults to lead – not just with open hearts and patience but also with strong minds steady hands.
An ordinary life 