This perhaps may explain why Joseph may be the ideal Patron Saint for teenagers, as well as for parents of teenagers. Consider the new challenge facing Joseph as the father of a teenager, following the perplexing situation when Jesus was found in the Temple after having been "lost" for three days. You see, the role of Joseph has perhaps only begun, just when even Joseph may have thought it was nearly finished.

 Returning to Nazareth
Jesus, at the age of 12, was approaching what would be considered today as "Confirmation," in this case, His Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13. It was, according to Talmudic Law, the responsibility of Joseph to prepare Him for this. According to the Law, it was also the responsibility of Joseph to teach his Son a trade. Although all of this could have conceivably been accomplished by Jesus exclusively (given that He was God), our Heavenly Father apparently had so much confidence in Joseph that he made him responsible for both of these tasks, both the material (carpentry) as well as the supernatural (applying the Law Incarnate "in the world")

 Certainly, Joseph must have felt totally inadequate for this task, not knowing, from one second to the next at times, just how to accomplish the preparation of the Son of God for His ministry, and His Life "in the world." Certainly, following the situation in the Temple, the nature of the training would take on greater challenges, but also opportunities.

 As a teenager, Jesus was no longer a child, but not quite a man. Certainly, for Jesus, as it is for any adolescent, it was a period filled with moments of swaggering confidence (like when He was in the Temple, ready to begin His mission in life), but also filled with moments of great doubt. And, should anyone doubt that Jesus had doubts, consider His doubts while in the desert, when He was older, or in Gethsemane.

 Do Teenagers and Young Adults Need Their Parents? Ask Jesus and Joseph
Perhaps one of the ultimate lessons concerning the scene in the Temple is that teenagers and young adults in general need their parents, and particularly their fathers, in order to truly grow. Sons, perhaps, especially need their fathers during the pioneering, adolescent years of doubt, confidence, and temptation, particularly with regard to issues of sexuality and relationships with women in general (consider the numerous women that became disciples, and their faithfulness to the end).

 Relationships Change, But They Are Still Necessary
The point is that, just as the relationship between Jesus and Joseph was taken to a new, more complex and challenging level after the scene in the Temple, so does the teaching relationship between parents and their teenagers change with the beginning of adolescence.

 Although it is generally understood that Joseph died before Jesus began His public life, there is a growing belief that it occurred not too long before then, and that his death was perhaps the final lesson that Joseph taught Him: how to die. Perhaps this is why Jesus needed His father(s) to help Him during His hours of doubt in Gethsemane just before His arrest. Likewise, perhaps it was Joseph who showed Jesus, during His critical years as an adolescent and young man, how to "mortify the senses," and possibly "mortify the intellect," and whose lessons and example helped sustain Jesus during His days of temptation in the desert just before His public life.

Although such situations should be relatively rare, even teenagers may still need a whipping occassionally from their parents. Below are two links of possible interest:
Was Jesus Spanked?? Quite Possibly
Parents: When Your Kid Needs a Whipping