Candice Odgers

And it doesn't match what they tell us.

There is a massive gap.

And as I've tried to make sense of this gap, I keep coming back to a simple truth that we all know.

Scary stories sell.

They always have.

And the more often you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it's true.

I'm going to say it again.

The more often you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it's true.

Right?

And scary stories are really easy to sell to parents.

We are an anxious lot.

The hypervigilance, it hits us.

When we hold that tiny baby in our arms, our entire world changes.

It hits again when they hit puberty, and they begin to change in these dramatic and rapid ways, when our sense of control over them and what comes next begins to feel less certain.

I get this.

My 15-year-old is six foot four.

My 12-year-old is embracing independence like she's leaving for college next week.

But the good news is that the real story about teens today is far more positive and far less frightening than the stories we all read.

They have made remarkable progress on metrics that really matter, and we know a lot about how to keep them happy, safe and well.

OK, the bad news.