Oct 9, 2026 · 27 min · 12 segments
In this insightful Q&A episode, Mark dives into some tough questions parents are facing with their older teens on the verge of adulthood. He tackles real-life situations like helping teens develop…
It's always interesting to me the number of questions that come in and, and how they kind of, um, line up with one another.
I've-- I received five questions that are all about 17-year-olds, uh, that are quickly turning 18 years of age.
And, um, I, I, I wanna make sure that everybody understands, uh, where I'm coming from when I talk about 17, uh, age 17.
Um, it's interesting to me that, that, um, that you can be 17 and 364 days, and you're just one day away from being able to get married, serve, uh, in the military, um, enter into a contract, and you're considered an adult.
And there's also 17 that is just 17 years and one day, and there's a big gap in between the two.
So I have more of a tendency to treat a 17-year-old, uh, like they're headed out the door pretty quick, and they ought to be able to step up.
And if they don't, then it's really kind of our role as parents to create the environment that helps a child get to the point where they can become independent, whether that's 364 days away or one day away, that there is something that we've gotta be doing to prepare our kids to survive in the jungle and to be able to function on their own without being connected to Mommy and Daddy all the time.
I just mean to say it in such a way that people truly understand that, that what we've gotta be doing is preparing our kids and training our kids for the next step in life.
It's always interesting to me the number of questions that come in and, and how they kind of, um, line up with one another.
I've-- I received five questions that are all about 17-year-olds, uh, that are quickly turning 18 years of age.
And, um, I, I, I wanna make sure that everybody understands, uh, where I'm coming from when I talk about 17, uh, age 17.
Um, it's interesting to me that, that, um, that you can be 17 and 364 days, and you're just one day away from being able to get married, serve, uh, in the military, um, enter into a contract, and you're considered an adult.
And there's also 17 that is just 17 years and one day, and there's a big gap in between the two.
So I have more of a tendency to treat a 17-year-old, uh, like they're headed out the door pretty quick, and they ought to be able to step up.
And if they don't, then it's really kind of our role as parents to create the environment that helps a child get to the point where they can become independent, whether that's 364 days away or one day away, that there is something that we've gotta be doing to prepare our kids to survive in the jungle and to be able to function on their own without being connected to Mommy and Daddy all the time.
I just mean to say it in such a way that people truly understand that, that what we've gotta be doing is preparing our kids and training our kids for the next step in life.
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