How many times as parents or educators do we look at adolescents with total confusion and ask the above question? (To be fair to teens, this is a query that could also be posed to many, many adults.) However, the answers will vary based on the age of the person we are asking. Over the past few years, as brain research has become more sophisticated, we have learned a great deal about the physiology of the teenage brain. For example, we have found that the plasticity of adolescent brains is greater than that of adult brains, and as a result, can be molded more by their experiences.
A recent column in Independent School Magazine, “The Power of Teen Brains,” by a University of Pennsylvania professor, Frances E. Jensen, M.D., summarizes some of Jensen’s research that led to her new book, The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. Although we may be frustrated or perplexed at some of the risk-taking actions of adolescents, Jensen says that understanding the teenage brain may enable us to comprehend from a physical standpoint why certain things happen. “Research shows that adolescent brains are not yet as fully internally connected as in adulthood and that the last place to fully connect is the frontal lobe area, which is the brain region devoted to executive function, impulse control, empathy, and judgment….Thus, we know, the risk-taking behavior of teens is largely due to the lack of rapid access to the modulating influence of the frontal lobe.”
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that knowing this means we excuse our children’s actions when they do something inappropriate or wrong. However, it may explain why they sometimes do things that are beyond our comprehension. In addition, knowing more about the brains of teenagers may provide us with important knowledge on the neurological repercussions of their risk taking. As Jensen points out, “It is somewhat ironic that teens' ability to reflect, to have clear insight, is not well developed at this point in life, and this results in young people taking risks that can imperil their brain health. Indeed, substance abuse, such as binge drinking and daily cannabis exposure, can cause more injury to the adolescent brain and leave long-lasting effects compared with the adult brain. Furthermore, neuroscience reveals that adolescents can get addicted more easily than adults.”
However, Jensen offers some suggestions on initiating discussions with our children about the impact of the choices they make. She points out that teens have respect for data, and if we can support our points with facts, we may be able to influence our children more than if we rely on anecdotal information. As someone who has worked with teens for over 25 years, this makes perfect sense; from what I have seen, teens want adults to be honest with them and give them valid information, so they can make decisions from a factual viewpoint rather than from an argument based solely on emotions or stories.
I hope you find the linked article helpful, and it provides you with information and solace when your child does something that may leave you bewildered.
