"Inside the Teenage Brain"

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http://www.parade.com/news/2010/11/28-i ... brain.html

I was NOTHING like this as a teenager.

Any thoughts, guys?

This whole meme about teenagers' brains not being fully developed so x,y and z really makes me sick. I'm almost thirty years old now, but I remember that crap from when I was in middle school. I won't deny that teenagers are different from adults, the part that is sickening is how that idea is used to automatically dismiss anything teenagers say or want. (And then they wonder why teenagers are apathetic!)

People should be treated as individuals, period. When I was teenager I was more mature and thought about the long-term consequences of my actions more than most people ever do as an adult. I'm not saying that is typical, but it's not physically impossible like this meme implies. I was smart enough to see that the adults around me were stupid and wrong, and I still they think were stupid and wrong.

Throughout history, teenagers have worked full time jobs, have been married and raised families. In modern society, teenagers have pointless boring lives, and childhood just gets stretched indefinitely. I don't doubt that if you compare the brain of a teenagers who have the rights and responsibilities of an adult scientists would find that it develops much more quickly.

This article is pretty stupid. The examples don't make any sense, they are trying to prove something by pointing out that people make mistakes when they are doing things for the first time? Drinking oneself into the hospital is something adults do very often, or getting lost and scared while driving somewhere unfamiliar.

This all reminds me of when people would argue that women can't do math because because they have a uterus, etc.

Anyway, again, I'll admit, most teenagers are morons, but the way we treat teenagers is oppression. They are always subject to the whims of their parents no matter how stupid or insane or cruel the parents happen to be. The tone of the article is all like "teenagers are soo weird and alien! we can never understand them!" Meanwhile in real life parents are usually too stressed out or busy or mean to actually pay attention and listen to their kids, and are not really interested in anything their teenager has to say, they are not interested in seeing for themselves how mature and responsible their individual teenager is. Instead they just read stupid articles like this and say "science says your brain is not fully developed!" to "win" any disagreement.

Also, when I was teenager, (I wouldn't call myself an aspie, but I have aspie-like qualities), I was very cautious and calculating. I was anxious and would over-think everything. Now that I am older I am definitely much much better at reading other people's reactions and emotions, and paying attention to that sort of thing. My parents were overly-strict but I did not rebel, I just counted the days until I was moving away to college and could finally be free.

Thanks, BlueMage.

I remember reading about some of this stuff in Psychology courses and thinking "what bulls**t." Generalizations are too broad, conclusions are sketchy...well, you can see it already.

I always thought ahead re: consequences. I did not "rebel." The only example that even REMOTELY makes ANY bit of sense is the need for more sleep (though I noticed that more in college).

And yes, there are some adults I know who behave just as badly, if not worse.

Stereotypes don't help anyone.

I used to be a teenager and I'm sure I was a total pig and pain in the ass to my parents.

What goes around comes around. My daughter was the teenager from hell but now that she is married with children of her own we can be friends again.

Before I read this, I was already planning out my "what bulls**t" response, but I must admit that this is pretty accurate for the majority of teenagers.

I was a weird kid and a holy horror as a teenager.

Yet I was an apprentice electrician at the age of 16 and owned my own motorcycle.

In Australia in the 60's and 70's girls married at the average age of 19 and boys at 21.

Now young adults are treated as children until they are 25 or so while they go to university.

How degrading is it for a 25 year old man to have to ask his father for the car keys and 50 bucks to take a girl to the movies?

A lot of my friends had their own house and two or three children by the age of 25.

i'm not sure what to think of most of the article, but the suggestions at the end bug me. the whole thing about how teenagers "lose" homework and to ask them for their ideas on how to fix it... my mom always asked me for my "input", and it terrified me because the only ways i could think of that would have made me do better i couldn't say for various reasons, or i simply couldn't think of anything. then when i didn't say anything my mom would flip out at me for not knowing what to do, when it's not like SHE had any ideas!

So it is, too, with tragedies like Columbine. "There have always been adolescents who feel enraged, who want to get even, who feel ostracized. The adolescent brain is less able to control those stresses," says Daniel Weinberger of the National Institute of Mental Health. "The difference is that while 50 years ago there might have been punches thrown, now there are automatic weapons. You put one of those in the hands of an immature prefrontal cortex, and it is more likely to go off."

This has got to be the stupidest statement I have read all week. The only teenagers who have access to automatic weapons are in the military, where they have much more pressing issues to attend to, like not getting killed by an IED, than worrying about getting teased in highschool or college. They might have access to semi-automatic weapons, big difference, but probably less access than they did 50 years ago, not more. The difference is that 50 years ago, they would have been encouraged to settle the problem with their fists, whereas these days, they would be kicked out of school and charged with assault. Morons who write false statements about topics they know nothing about (firearms) really piss me off.

Thank you fellow WP-ers! I'm a teenager and I hate being dismissed without consideration because of my age. (I also get this from other people that are my age: I look much younger than them.) I know my brain is physically different as a teenager with an ASD. I would definitely consider myself immature and inexperienced, actually more than most of my peers, but that doesn't mean that our experiences aren't as meaningful and that we can't have valid, considered opinions. Many of us are stupid, but since we're warehoused in mostly crappy public schools and kept sheltered in our houses and supervised outside activities, that should be expected. In my experience, adults (people over 27?) are bad or worse as teenagers, and more dangerous because they're powerful.

Nearly all media portayals of teenagers and adolescence infuriate me. I read an article about teen sleeping habits that very nearly compared us to animals, even after noting that there are biological reasons for our later sleep and wake times. I read the newspaper every morning (really, a bad idea) and often there is an article about a violent teenager or young adult on the city section front cover. When I read those articles, I note whether the offender's age is mentioned in the headline (unusual if it isn't), and how many times it is referred to in the body (perhaps at least 3 times in two paragraphs is normal). Sometimes I try it with middle-aged criminals, but obviously those things are uncommon.

It is over-generalised.

As a teen I was thoughtful until 14, a love-fool until 17, a rebel until 20, before settling down into adulthood.

There is no one specific starting age and no specific length of time for all people, and any stages can happen in different orders. I've known people who started at 10 and 16, one was not a rebel, the other wasn't interested in love and dating until his 20's.

I think the commonality is the changes in the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system, as noted in the study, however the degree over which the changes occur can vary widely. also not noted is differences in hormone ratios, production, and sensitivity, which also affect teenage behaviour and perception, including how passionately (or not) they fall in love and seek relationship-bonding at that time.

And when will I see a study like this noting the fact that 10% of women have masculine brain structures and 15-20% of men have feminine brain structures?

(I'll stop ranting now)

I can't see this article. Is it anywhere else?

I remember guides for teen girls. I used to read them and learn human behaviour. They told me I wanted love and romantic relationship. And other things I shoult have felt and done as a teenage girl. Total BS.