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Brain Development
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Surging hormones are
often blamed for adolescent anxieties and behaviors – this is an issue, but
more & more very recent neurological research shows that teenage brain
development plays a major role in the behaviors, actions and decisions of
teens. Spurts in brain development
explain why kids begin to care about different things, act in different ways
and take risks as they make the transition into adulthood. When I work w/ public librarians who serve
teens I encourage them to think about the teenage brain as being “under
construction.” Some interesting
facts, in our presentation are:
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The brain’s frontal
lobe undergoes major development during the teen years. That’s the part of the brain that controls
social activity & that’s the time of life when kids start to care more
about friends and what other people care about them.
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Social networking,
then, is one way to address this development and the developmental need to be
with others – to be social
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The frontal lobe
also controls decision making and risk calculation, so it’s no surprise that
teens are much more likely to take risks than adults whose brains are fully
developed. This is why it’s important
to be clear to teens about our expectations – they may not have developed the
skills necessary to make good decisions.
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