Why Tweens Are At Such High Risk for Crime

As our children enter their tweens, they are spending more time away from us. This is a normal and healthy part of growing up. Yet tweens are at the highest risk for crime. Why?

Tweens are not as heavily supervised as young children but do not have the experience that their older teen counterparts have. Tweens are also more likely to be searching for their “identity” or easily taken in by what they might believe is “romance.” Sexting is also a growing problem with young teens and tweens. Tweens are eager to fit in with their peers and explore their expanding world. They are navigating a whole new world of risks and often with little or no understanding of healthy boundaries or red flag behaviors to be on the look out for.

Tweens: Literally not in their right minds!

The “CEO of the brain”—aka the prefrontal cortex that is located just behind the forehead—is in charge of controlling, planning, memory, organization, and modulating mood. Too bad that entire area of the brain is under construction in tweens. As the prefrontal cortex matures, older teens learn to reason better, and begin to develop more control over impulses and judgments. However, in tweens, this area is still developing and growing so until the prefrontal cortex matures your tween is getting signals from the amygdala, which is located deep in the brain, rather than the frontal cortex. The amygdala leads to impulsivity, or what
researchers label "risk-taking behavior." 

Practice your elevator speech: Talking to your tween about personal safety

So, how does a parent protect their child but still encourage normal growth and independence during these tween years? As parents, we want our tweens to be safe. It is a struggle to balance safety while nurturing and adapting to their growing independence. Some simple pointers for parents:

• Don’t use scare tactics or threats of punishment
• Keep it positive
• Be a good listener
• Be creative. Use text and email to get your message across.
• Talk about real life “what if” situations
• Talk about setting healthy boundaries by defining what “job roles” are (e.g. Coach’s job is teaching game rules—not help you change clothes)
• Share your own experiences about how you handled a personal safety issue
• Initiate safety conversations. Don’t expect your child to bring it up first.
• Short, simple conversations on a consistent basis are extremely effective
• Get your tween into the habit of "checking in" with you.
• Understand that you will have to repeat these conversations over and over.

It can be incredibly frustrating for parents when kids seem to be making blatently poor choices when it comes to safety. Keep working with them and try to keep calm. Tweens are bound to make mistakes. With open conversations and guidance, they have a better shot of getting it right the next time (or perhaps the time after that).

About the Author: Kim Estes is the founder of  and has been a parenting educator in the Puget Sound Area for 15 years. Kim believes every adult has the power to keep kids safer through prevention education.