The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet

[GreatLakesGramma]

Quote:

March 1, 2010

When adolescence hit Frances Jensen's sons, she often found herself wondering, like all parents of teenagers, "What were you thinking?"

"It's a resounding mantra of parents and teachers," says Jensen, who's a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Like when son number one, Andrew, turned 16, dyed his hair black with red stripes and went off to school wearing studded leather and platform shoes. And his grades went south.

"I watched my child morph into another being, and yet I knew deep down inside it was the same Andrew," Jensen says. Suddenly her own children seemed like an alien species.

Jensen is a Harvard expert on epilepsy, not adolescent brain development. As she coped with her boys' sour moods and their exasperating assumption that somebody else will pick up their dirty clothes, she decided to investigate what neuroscientists are discovering about teenagers' brains that makes them behave that way.

Read the full story here .

[phkrause]

That's for the link.

pk

[Dottie]

I've heard that the brain doesn't fully mature until around age twenty-five.

Also, if she didn't like what the boys were wearing to school, maybe she should not have given them the money to buy such things.

My son wanted his hair bleached when he was about 14. I told him I wouldn't buy the hair dye, so I bought him plain peroxide. After having orange hair until it grew out, he never "dyed" his hair again.

[bonnie]

I've heard that the brain doesn't fully mature until around age twenty-five.

Also, if she didn't like what the boys were wearing to school, maybe she should not have given them the money to buy such things.

My son wanted his hair bleached when he was about 14. I told him I wouldn't buy the hair dye, so I bought him plain peroxide. After having orange hair until it grew out, he never "dyed" his hair again.

Many parents seem to be afraid of the word NO

[SivartM]

Disclaimer: Not all teenagers do crazy things.

[GreatLakesGramma]

True, kids can be taught to be responsible, and parents should be responsible enough to teach them to be. But I think the most significant point to me was the part where she said that it's slower for them to access that part of the brain. Parents need to be even more diligent when their kids are at that age, to protect them from their own immaturity. Too many parents give up instead, because it's so much harder when they're that age.

With my very strong-willed, daughter, who tried to boss me when she was little, by the time she reached her teens, she had learned that it was much easier to just do as she was told without fighting it, because she was going to have to do it anyway, in the end. I didn't have a bit of trouble with her as a teen, or with my boys.

But I also feel it isn't fair to kids to expect them to have the maturity and common sense of an older person. Some parents expect maturity the kids aren't capable of, and put them down harshly when they act their age. My mom did. So did my husband with our kids, though neither I and my siblings, nor our kids, ever behaved as irresponsibly as today's average teen.

[bonnie]

Disclaimer: Not all teenagers do crazy things.

Please don't keep adding or interjecting what you wish I may have said.

God intended for children and yes,teenagers to have two parents whenever possible. That was for a reason. Whether they do crazy things or not,they still are not fully mature in their teen years.

Our oldest boy was in a big hurry to be 18. Couldn't wait,he would finally be an adult and could make his own decisions. His first big dental bill hit him between the eyes. He called home and said "Mom,can yo tell me why I was in such a hurry to be an adult". The few rules they were bound by as teenagers did not seem so unreasonable then.

Our boys had fun as teenagers,they worked hard and basically kept their nose clean. They still needed their dad and I.

[Amelia]

Bonnie, I don't think Sivart was responding to you, but to the article. He just didn't reply to that post and tacked it on to the last post which happened to be yours.

[bonnie]

Bonnie, I don't think Sivart was responding to you, but to the article. He just didn't reply to that post and tacked it on to the last post which happened to be yours.

Possibly. But we have had very similar discussions before where he was responding to me. If he wasn't I apologize,if he was it is not that big of a deal.

Not all teenagers do crazy things,all teenagers need or should have the guidance of their parents.

[SivartM]

Bonnie, I don't think Sivart was responding to you, but to the article. He just didn't reply to that post and tacked it on to the last post which happened to be yours.

Um... yes, that would be correct. Thank you.

And bonnie, I didn't say anything about whether or not teenagers needed parental guidance anyway (which we do).

I just meant that... well... not all teenagers do crazy things. I have never desired to have blue hair or a nose ring or anything of that nature. The whole "crazy teenager" stereotype just irks me...

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: Amelia

Bonnie, I don't think Sivart was responding to you, but to the article. He just didn't reply to that post and tacked it on to the last post which happened to be yours.

Um... yes, that would be correct. Thank you.

And bonnie, I didn't say anything about whether or not teenagers needed parental guidance anyway (which we do).

I just meant that... well... not all teenagers do crazy things. I have never desired to have blue hair or a nose ring or anything of that nature. The whole "crazy teenager" stereotype just irks me...

There are times a stereotype is well deserved. Not all teenagers are into the blue hair and nose rings. Sufficient numbers of them are and gives the impression that "crazy teenagers" are the norm.

Many teenagers do not go in for that,but that is not always remembered.

You sound a bit defensive on teenagers.For me the teenage years with my sons and nieces and nephews we raised were fun.

Thankfully we did not have substance abuse to worry about,stealing or much of what we saw our friends go thru with their teenagers.

[SivartM]

I think people who defy stereotypes should be allowed to express annoyance with stereotypes. If I was blonde, I would not want to be categorized as a dumb blonde. I have similar feelings about women who act as if all males were incompetent dolts.

If I sound defensive, it's probably because I'm being defensive. That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying being a teenager. You sound a bit defensive on conservatives, but I doubt that you'd rather be liberal. :)

[Neil D]

Disclaimer: Not all teenagers do crazy things.

And Why, if I may be so incredulously curious, not?

How else are they to grow up into the sedate adults thier parents are????

[Outta Here]

GP, not directed at ANYONE in particular.

Whose opinion attempts to define these acts as "crazy"?

[bonnie]

GP, not directed at ANYONE in particular.

Whose opinion attempts to define these acts as "crazy"?

I don't know as I am not the one to use the term.Crazy was not a behavior I was referring to.

Crazy can be fun and harmless and as long as my boys were not rebelling or causing potential harm to themselves or others it wasn't an issue.

They knew the rules and they needed to conduct themselves within those guidelines.The rules were few but non-negotiable. That didn't rule out what some may term as crazy. I had two that would keep testing and push right up to the limit.If the other two had been our only children I don't think much discipline would have been necessary

[SivartM]

This post is not directed at anyone, including bonnie, who happened to post before me.

Some people will disregard anything you say if you're a teenager. Unless everything I say is wrong, which is improbable, then those people are ageist.

[bonnie]

This post is not directed at anyone, including bonnie, who happened to post before me.

Some people will disregard anything you say if you're a teenager. Unless everything I say is wrong, which is improbable, then those people are ageist.

That is very true.It is unfair to many teens. Some people do think you have had to weather many years. I know many are more willing to listen and not disregard what a teenager says if the teenager looks like he at least lives on this planet.

We have a local teen I run into from time to time.He is one I don't think I would listen to. He has white blonde spiked hair. Spikes are roughly 2 inches high in various colors of the rainbow. Depends on the day but usually you can count 15-20 rings on his face and ears.

His pants are worn so you get a birds eye view of what most of us don't care to see. Can't tell you what a temptation it is to reach over and pull them down the rest of the way.

Listening to him speak is almost painful. The best he seems to be able to utter coherently is "and like you know what I mean"

What gives the worst impression tho is his rudeness to his mother and others that he perceives to be in his way. Combine his attitude with his appearance and it is not very confidence inspiring.

Many teenagers have a lot to offer.All should not be lumped together but frequently happens.