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In our Wellness program, we have taken the idea of Challenge by Choice one step further by working to adopt this mind-set throughout the year. We believe that learning to take healthy risks is particularly appropriate for teenagers.

In the Western world, the term adolescence is often viewed as synonymous with bad decisions—early sexual encounters, reckless driving, parties without parental supervision, and other impulsive deeds done without regard for consequences. We know that the teenage years are tumultuous, that middle schoolers teeter between childlike and adultlike behavior, and that high schoolers often push the limits of the rules.

In The Romance of Risk, Lynn Ponton (1997) states that "risk-taking is the major tool that adolescents use to shape their identities" (p. 275). She emphasizes that parents (and, we can safely assume, teachers) need to "promote opportunities for their adolescents to undertake positive challenges, not simply as an alternative to more dangerous risks but also because of their intrinsic value in contributing to the development of healthy, confident adults" (p. 280).

Cynthia Lightfoot (1997) suggests in The Culture of Adolescent Risk-Taking that sharing risks offers a way for adolescents to show a new side of themselves to others and to recreate themselves in relationship with their peers. Lightfoot considers adolescent risk behaviors a developmentally natural form of play, just as normal as imaginative or fantasy play in elementary school children.

Generally, as students move up in grade level, the amount of play that schools provide or encourage significantly decreases. Yet teens are in desperate need of creative play. Their transition between childhood and adulthood—wavering back and forth from dependence to independence— means that they still need to be able to relax, be silly, and act like kids. If adolescents naturally play by searching for novel and exciting experiences that make them feel alive and that bring them closer to their peers, doesn't it make sense to try to channel this developmental need into positive activities at school?

Many of the social aspects of our physical activity classes can replicate some features of traditional play, as students negotiate rules and develop ways to act toward one another. By offering activities like capture the flag or other games that allow for spontaneity, flexible thinking, and imagination, we can begin to integrate opportunities for risk-taking and play into our classes.