The Greeks understood that adolescence is a time of infinite possibility. Does our current narrow definition of achievement truly enable our kids to access that wide variety of opportunities?

 Our guest is Bryan Doerries, founding and artistic director of Theater of War. Bryan explains how the Greeks trained their young people for the vicissitudes of life and empowered them to express themselves. And while they trained their youth for participation in either the military and/or civic affairs-they balanced this with encouraging and empowering their youth to explore the world and take risks, so that they could and would experience challenges, engage their creativity and problem solving skills, struggle with discomfort on the physical and emotional levels, and be informed and emboldened to make difficult decisions.

 Adolescence is a time of dynamic change. Neuroscience has shown that not only are their bodies changing rapidly through the twenties, but their brains are still developing into their mid-20s. This is the time, the teenage years into young adulthood, where they should be exposed to a range of situations, experiences and opportunities so that they can flourish, even in the face of disappointment or mistakes.

Perhaps we've put up too many guardrails around them?