Someone sent this article to me today. It might help:

Daydreaming

Absent minded! Lazy! Wasting time! These are some of the common reactions to those who sit back and let their minds wander. Daydreaming does no good when it is focused on repetitive or meaningless thoughts or on the past. However, daydreaming has its benefits. It has no limits. The daydreamer can go anywhere and do anything. A daydream is more than a flight of fantasy. It is a vision of possibility. These visions can encourage a person to turn a dream into reality.

For teens, the future is just beginning, so it’s a great time to daydream. However, for many teens, the changes they are going through―physically, socially, and emotionally―make it difficult to see beyond their daily lives and surroundings. For some, difficult family and community circumstances make it hard to envision a bright and open future.

Thinking it through

Although daydreaming can open the door to a world of possibilities, it takes more than a dream to shape the future. Putting oneself into the picture means understanding alternatives and sorting out those that are beneficial from those that are not. In the end, it’s about choices. Making good choices calls for an active mind and the ability to think critically.

In today’s fast-paced, high tech world, critical thinking skills may not develop as well as they should. Information flows rapidly. Messages are often packaged slickly and designed for specific purposes. Entertainment and advertising often stimulate the senses without requiring much thought. Many tasks can be performed effortlessly at the push of a button. It becomes easy then, especially for impressionable teens, to act without thinking and to accept without question what’s delivered to them.

Teens are usually ready to try something new. They tend to think nothing bad can happen to them. While they may be anxious to assert their independence, they have a tendency to go along with the crowd. As a result, teens without well-developed critical thinking skills have an increased risk of putting themselves into dangerous situations without considering the consequences.

Poor choices

Some of the most important choices that teens make are about substance abuse and other risky behaviors. Unfortunately, when it comes to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, too many teens are making the wrong choices:

 The use of illicit drugs rises dramatically through the teen years. For example, in the 2001 Monitoring the Future survey, about 1 in 5 8th grade students reported using an illicit drug in the past year. Among 12th graders, the rate was more than twice as high.

 Teen alcohol use is especially common. The 2001 Monitoring the Future survey also showed that 1 in 6 8th graders and over half of 12th graders had been drunk within the twelve months prior to the survey.
In the case of substance abuse, one bad choice often leads to another. For example, studies have shown that adolescent alcohol users—regardless of whether they are heavy, binge, or light drinkers—are more likely to use marijuana and other illicit drugs than non-drinkers. Reduced academic performance, disease, injury, brain damage, and death are consequences of substance abuse that can push exciting daydreams aside.
Get involved

Parents can do a lot to help teens make the right choices regarding substance abuse. Tips for effective parenting include talking with teens every day, praising and encouraging them, doing things together, making and enforcing rules, setting a good example, teaching teens to choose friends wisely, and keeping track of their activities. Tackling the issue of substance abuse head on can also make a big difference. Talking with teens regularly and specifically about substance use reduces the chance that they will use alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs. So, it is important for parents to have the facts.

Encourage the dream

Exposing teens to various activities, people, places, and ideas can arouse a teen’s imagination and provide a menu of appealing and positive choices. Promote reading, talk about issues and events that occur outside the home or neighborhood, ask teens for their opinions, take trips, look at art, gaze at stars, and play games. Question advertisements, and discuss the meaning of movies. Activities that call for planning, creating, building, fixing, or solving involve making choices and considering possible results. These pursuits will add fuel to the fire of a teen’s curiosity while fostering creative thinking habits. Find out what interests a teen. For every interest, there are activities to try.

So, when teens seem to be in another zone, unaware of the world around them, they may be doing something important―daydreaming. When they return to reality, they may bring a glimpse of their highest potential.

“Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.”
Henry David Thoreau