It's tough to be a teen.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

Adolescents are taking longer to become fully productive members of society, Reed Larson, professor of human development, University of Illinois, Champaign, told the World Future Society, Bethesda, Md. "What we expect of young people is extraordinary," he argued. They must go to school for 12 years or longer without any guarantee their education will mean career success or relevance when they become adults. Furthermore, they do so without financial remuneration, accept an identity defined by society, and delay starting a family, all of which keeps adolescents in a kind of limbo for years.

Larson says that "There should be way stations along the climb [to adulthood] that allow young people to rest, gather themselves, and consider alternatives." The success of government, business, and private life in the next 50 years depends on it.

Education, literacy...