Most of what is said about connecting with teens assumes the teen you're connecting with is typical (but really, what does typical even mean?). The fact is there are millions of teens across the U.S. who face some challenge or another. As the father of one of these teens, I thought it might be useful to talk a bit about how my son experiences the world, what he wants from life and how the people, institutions and businesses around him can help.

When Millennials were in high school, getting into the best college was paramount in their lives. As the largest generation on record, they knew there would be stiff competition to be accepted into their dream university. For many, the entirety of their secondary education was devoted to achieving this goal. This caused them plenty of stress in the build-up, and, in the end, their reward for achieving the desired result was a heap of student debt-which rose to more than $35,000 for the class of 2015. As Gen Zs have replaced Gen Y in high schools, their approach to college …

When I was a teen, getting a job usually meant one thing: flipping burgers at a local fast-food chain. Today, teens are just as likely to launch their own businesses as to take an entry-level job.