Teens are not broken. The systems around them are.

In this conversation, social worker, researcher, and educator Dr. Will Dobud joins me to zoom out from individual teen "problems" and look at the bigger picture of youth mental health. We talk about what he calls "planet mental health," where there are more therapists, diagnoses, and medications than ever, yet kids are still struggling. Will walks us through how numbers and labels can start to define young people, why phones have become an easy scapegoat, and how school culture, academic pressure, and compliance-driven systems shape so much of what we call "behavior."

We also explore what gets lost when we treat kids as empty vessels or passive recipients of interventions instead of as resources. Will shares stories from his work with teens across three continents, digs into why social-emotional learning can backfire when it is done to kids instead of with them, and lifts up older ideas from John Dewey and Jane Addams about democracy, shared work, and treating young people as full participants in their communities. This episode is a grounded, hopeful invitation to see teens differently and to start changing the environments they are growing up in.

Key Takeaways

1. Trying to "fix" teen behavior in isolation does not make sense. Behavior always exists within systems adults have built, including school, home, and the wider culture.
2. We are living on "planet mental health," where more people than ever are diagnosed, medicated, and in treatment, yet many teens do not feel better. What we choose to count and label shapes how young people see themselves.
3. Phones and social media are often symptoms, not root causes. Boredom, disconnection, and rigid environments drive kids to screens just like adults reaching for phones on a plane.
4. School was designed as a compliance-based institution for a narrow group of learners. For many teens, it feels more like a factory than a place that values curiosity, autonomy, or real-life problem solving.
5. The youngest kids in a classroom are statistically more likely to be diagnosed with attention-related conditions, suggesting that developmental stage and fit matter as much as any "disorder."
6. Social-emotional learning can become a "regrettable substitution" when it is standardized and delivered to kids who never asked for it. Teens need co-regulation and relationship, not just lessons about feelings.
7. Teachers and parents are also trapped in compliance systems and high-pressure cultures. When adults are dysregulated and overburdened, they cannot provide the steady co-regulation kids need.
8. Teens are never just a cluster of symptoms. Traits that feel "annoying" in adolescence often become strengths later when they are understood and supported.
9. The healthiest classrooms, families, and communities function more like real democracies. Young people get meaningful work to do, not just things to memorize.
10. Shifting how we talk about "kids these days" changes everything. When adults treat teens as resources instead of problems, kids feel more hopeful, engaged, and willing to participate in their own growth.

About Will Dobud

Dr. Will Dobud is a social worker, researcher, and educator who has worked with adolescents and families in the United States, Australia, and Norway. Originally from Washington, DC, he now divides his time between the U.S. and Australia.

Will is an award-winning researcher and educator recognized for excellence in research, teaching, and crime prevention. He is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Charles Sturt University, Australia's largest social work school, and an invited international speaker who conducts workshops for therapists and families around the globe.

His research focuses on improving therapy outcomes for teenagers and promoting safe, ethical practices. He has written extensively about the Troubled Teen Industry, particularly wilderness therapy, and works alongside advocates, survivors, researchers, and clinicians to protect youth from institutionalization and harm. He is the coauthor of Kids These Days, a book about youth mental health for adults.

About Your Host, Gabriele Nicolet

I'm Gabriele Nicolet—toddler whisperer, speech therapist, parenting life coach, and host of Complicated Kids. Each week, I share practical, relationship-based strategies for raising kids with big feelings, big needs, and beautifully different brains. My goal is to help families move from surviving to thriving by building connection, confidence, and clarity at home.

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