Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“What makes an apology feel real to you, instead of just someone saying the words?”
What to listen for
If they mention things like changed behavior, understanding the hurt, not making excuses, they've developed a mature sense of accountability and expect real repair in their relationships, not just smoothing things over.
If they describe being burned by empty apologies before, that context matters more than the definition itself, let them tell that story if it comes up, without steering it toward advice.
A short answer like "just meaning it" is enough, you don't need to turn this into a lecture on conflict resolution.
What this tells you
What they require from an apology shows you how safe they currently feel trusting people who've hurt them to actually repair it.