Every generation revolts against its fathers
and makes friends with its grandfathers.
- Lewis Mumford,
The Brown Decades

Rebellious kids do the strangest things.

Some time ago children played a strange game. One child would lie in the street and jump up just in time to escape from an oncoming vehicle. Usually the child made it in time. Sometimes he didn’t.

Do these children come from bad homes? Were they trying to prove something to their family, to their friends, or to others? Did they have deep-rooted problems? Did they just want to leave everything behind?

Not necessarily. True, this may have been the case in some circumstances. But since this trend was exhibited by children from various social strata, we can assume that another issue was at play here – peer pressure.

Peers may encourage your child to do unusual things in order to be seen as a hero. Thus, children who would not rebel as strongly may try to prove themselves by attempting to gain attention, or to act as the class clown or the class queen.

It is often wise to withhold judgment about people who do strange things until obtaining more information or evidence. It is entirely possible that the situation that you observe does not necessarily reflect the deeper and more complex reality.