While teens tend to eagerly and confidently desire more freedom, to run ahead on the trail of life, their parents are generally more cautious. Parents realize that their teens are not as independent as they might think; that they rely upon them, as parents, more than they realize, expecting three meals, clean clothes, and a comfortable home each day. Having hiked many of life's trails, parents realize more of the possible dangers along the way - the power of peer pressure, wrong friends, and sinful temptation.

From a spirit of genuine love and concern, parents will want to caution their teenagers, to hold them back, to slow them down, to warn them about the various possible dangers to be faced on the trail ahead.

It is a lack of understanding the opposing tendencies of the self-confident, freedom-seeking teen and the cautious, possible problem-seeing parent which often produces tension in the teen years. When misunderstandings of this nature become established, communication barriers grow, as displayed in the sketch below.