Don’t you just love when teenagers and young children push limits? We all did it ourselves, but that doesn’t mean we like it.

I’ve noticed in my reading lately that teenagers making poor decisions or keeping secrets they shouldn’t is quite prevalent. I understand this. But it also annoys me when they take it to an extreme – and they are supposedly the hero or heroine. I must say I was pleasantly surprised in my current reading to have the heroine actually spill her guts before things got too out of hand.

So, the question is – how much should writers create tension and suspense because of people’s stupidity? I am all for realistically portraying the consequences of poor actions, but I also like to see the opposite, how it is better in the long run to try to fix something early on. This is hopefully what we are actually learning during our sojourn on this earth.

What are your thoughts?