I can only say that my son came across as so mature and so confident, but the whole time he was doing all of the irresponsible things mentioned that adolescents do. However, my son was 21 so he was so close to being an adolescent anyway. My 17 year old has been "40" since he was 8 years old, he has never really been adolescent.
Just my 2 cents.
I think our A's can and will survive and they must face what everyone faces, CONSEQUENCES for the actions. It really is about cause and effect.