10 things we all need to know about teenagers

Researchers define adolescence as the

ages between 11-19 but maturity and full development is not realized until 24-25

years of age.

Sometimes teens and parents do NOT want to accept the reality because teens

sure do LOOK mature!

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1. A critical period of development

• The years between 11 and 19, adolescence is considered a critical time of development – and not just in outward appearances.

• "The human brain continues to change throughout life, but there are huge leaps in development during adolescence." (Johns Hopkins University, 2009)

• Just as a teen may go through awkward growth spurts, new cognitive skills and competencies may come in spurts all through teenage years. (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.)

• This period of development has POWERFUL

impact on the rest of their life.  

2. Blossoming Brain•

Scientists used to think only infants have an overabundance of neuronal connections, which are "pruned" into a more efficient arrangement over the first three years of life. NEW brain imaging studies have discovered that a second burst of neuronal sprouting happens right before puberty, peaking at about age 11 for girls and 12 for boys.

• The adolescent's life experiences – from reading Facebook pages to learning to

drive – shape this new grey mattershape this new grey matter that eventually becomes ‘hardwired’‘hardwired’ as their adult brain. There is no going back to ‘fix’ this.

• The brain goes through a "use it or lose it""use it or lose it" which means the neurons

used mostused most during adolescence get strengthened.get strengthened. Those that do not Those that do not wither and do not reach healthy adult potentials.wither and do not reach healthy adult potentials.

• The greatest structural reorganization of the brain continues until the age of 25! Especially decision making area.

1999 in Nature Neuroscience1999 in Nature Neuroscience

As brain matter increases, the teen brain becomes more interconnected

and gains processing powergains processing power..

Adolescents start to have the computational and decision making skills

of an adult –ifif given time, access to accurate information and given time, access to accurate information and opportunities to practice. opportunities to practice. 

In the heat of the moment, teen decision-makingdecision-making can be overly overly influenced by emotionsinfluenced by emotions, because their brains rely more on the emotional emotional

seatseat of the brain than the more rational prefrontal cortex.

The duality duality of adolescent competence can be very confusing for all involved. Sometimes teens do things, like punch a wall or drive too fast,

when, if asked, they clearly know better.

3. New THINKING skills

4. Tantrums!!??• Adolescent brains are focused on acquiring skills sets connected to social behavior and abstract thought.social behavior and abstract thought.

• They must experiment – and sometimes they use their parents/teachers as guinea pigs. May view conflict as a type of self-expressionconflict as a type of self-expression and may have trouble may have trouble focusing on an abstract idea or understanding another's point of focusing on an abstract idea or understanding another's point of view.view.

• Helps all involved to realize, they are dealing with a huge amount of huge amount of social, emotional and cognitive flux and have social, emotional and cognitive flux and have underdeveloped abilities to cope. underdeveloped abilities to cope.

• They need their parents – those people with the more stable adult brain – to help them by staying calm, listening and being good role models.

5. Intense emotions• Puberty is the beginning of major changes in the part of the brain that are

critical to the formation of memories and emotionsmemories and emotions..

• The amygdala is most powerful segment of brain at this stage and connects connects sensory information to emotional responses.sensory information to emotional responses. Its development often creates

newly intense experiences of rage, fear, newly intense experiences of rage, fear, aggression, excitement and sexual attraction.aggression, excitement and sexual attraction.

• As years pass, the prefrontal cortex gains greater control which is associated with planning, impulse control and higher order thoughtplanning, impulse control and higher order thought but is not fully mature until mid-20’s.

• Older teens gain some equilibrium and have an easier time interpreting others. • Until then, they often misread the intentions and feelingsmisread the intentions and feelings of others especially in

facial expressions.

6. Peer Pleasure

• As teens become better at thinking abstractly, their their

social anxiety increases.social anxiety increases.• Newly developed abstract reasoningabstract reasoning makes it

possible to be overly concerned/sensitive about what others are thinking of them. In particular, peer peer approvalapproval has been shown to be highly rewarding to the teen brain, which may be why teens are more likely to take risks when peers are around.

• Friends and peer interaction provide teens with opportunities to learn skills such as negotiating, learn skills such as negotiating, compromise and group planning.compromise and group planning.

• The “brakes of reason and caution”“brakes of reason and caution” gain control somewhat later than the accelerator or “gas pedal”“gas pedal” of the brain.

• engaging in risky behaviors, such as trying drugs, having engaging in risky behaviors, such as trying drugs, having sex, getting into fights, stealing or driving unsafely.sex, getting into fights, stealing or driving unsafely.

• impulse control and long-term perspectiveimpulse control and long-term perspective taking is thought to begin helping them reign in some of the behavior they were tempted by earlier.

7. Measuring risk

8. Adult role models are still important

• One of the tasks of adolescence is separating from the family and establishing some autonomyautonomy, but that does not mean a teen no longer needs parents.

• They still need structure and are looking to their parents to provide that structure. Adults that treat a 16 or 17 year old as an adultas an adult is behaving unfairly and setting them up for failure.  

• Teens need adults to be good listenersgood listeners, good role good role modelsmodels, especially when especially when dealing with stress and dealing with stress and other life difficultiesother life difficulties.

9. Need more SLEEP…

• They need 9 to 10 hours a night9 to 10 hours a night, although most fall short.

• Circadian rhythms

• Teens rack up sleep debt and become increasingly cognitively impairedincreasingly cognitively impaired as the week continues and need weekends to ‘catch-up.’

• Sleep-deprivation exacerbates moodiness moodiness and cloudy decision-makingcloudy decision-making and can make learning more difficultlearning more difficult.

10. A false sense of self-value

“I am the center of the universe” syndrome

• ““I am far more mature than everyone else or I am far more mature than everyone else or than others think I am. So I am fully capable of than others think I am. So I am fully capable of acting and behaving like an adult!”acting and behaving like an adult!”

• Teen brains begin asking: What kind of person do I What kind of person do I

want to be and what do I want to want to be and what do I want to be in the world?be in the world?

• Teenage brain