Humanity's survival literally depended on teenagers pushing boundaries. We shouldn't suppress that impulse — we should design environments that channel it well.

That heightened reward-seeking and risk-taking is what drove prehistoric adolescents to leave the safety of their clan and explore beyond their known world

Prefrontal cortex development runs into the mid-20s regardless of factory or classroom. Plus, teenage rebellion isn't misbehavior.

Your examples aren't exceptions to adolescence. They were adolescents who channeled that exploratory drive into work instead of school. The risk-taking didn't disappear because they had jobs. It's neurobiological.

Only the words are modern constructs. The developmental phase isn't. Aristotle described youth as "passionate, irascible, and apt to be carried away by their impulses." Socrates reportedly said the young "have bad manners, contempt for authority... they contradict their parents."

Boring