Dr. Debra Pepler, Ph.D., C. Psych. – Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, York University and Senior Associate Scientist, Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

It’s a Teen’s World: Wired for Sex, Lies and Power Trips

As evident in her last documentary – It’s a Girl’s World, Lynn Glazier is a pioneer in moving into youths’ worlds to reveal what we as adults seldom see or consider. In her documentary, It’s a Teen’s World, Glazier tells an uncomfortable, but true, story through the voices and perceptions of youths, themselves. By building relationships and trust with youths, Glazier is able to hear their tales of the pressures, supports, and challenges that they encounter in their vibrant, sexualized, and technological worlds.

This documentary and the accompanying educational materials are essential viewing for anyone involved in the lives of adolescents. Glazier and her young collaborators portray the dilemma of personal technology, which connects youth to each other and the world and at the same time rockets some into disconnected sexuality and sexual relationships. Although all youth move to full sexuality over the course of adolescence and early adulthood; Glazier shows us the potential problems that arise when some youth race into the adult world without the benefit of mature social skills and understanding, and a fully developed sense of self.

Teenagers today grow up in a sexualized world. Glazier poses a challenge for her viewers as we watch youth talk about sex and participation in sexual activities without the safety and trust afforded by trusting and intimate relationships. We are left with uncomfortable questions about the implications of their disconnected sexual activities for their sense of self, of trust, of control, and of relationships.

This documentary is a call to all adults involved with children and youth. We know that children and youth thrive and avoid troubled pathways when they grow up with adults (parents, teachers, coaches, and others) who set appropriate expectations and are at the same time warm and supportive. We need to model healthy trusting relationships, open non-judgmental conversations with youth, and foster critical thinking skills so they can differentiate between risky and safe relationships. Adults at home and at school have an essential role in helping them to understand themselves and others and in helping them find healthy boundaries and norms. Adults are needed to provide balance and promote personal connections in teens’ worlds where they are often highly connected through technology without the critical personal elements.

I urge you to watch this film. It provides an unprecedented glance into the confusing, pressure-cooker sexual worlds of teens in every class, school and community. As they become independent and move out into the adult world, adolescents need connections with caring and thoughtful adults who will help them develop understanding and find their moral compass to navigate the rough waters of relationships and influences on behaviour throughout life.

Dr. Debra Pepler, Ph.D., C. Psych.  Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, York University and Senior Associate Scientist, Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Dr. Pepler is the author of numerous world-renowned studies about bullying. She is also the co-scientific director of Prevnet, a national organization of researchers and community organizations who promote healthy relationships among children.