Some Facts About the Teenage Brain...

Some facts about the teenage brain.  Did you know...

• That the teenage brain spurts out an extra dose of dopamine compared to adults, which causes them to do risky things.  Also their frontal lobes are only loosely wired, which causes them to have a hard time with self-control.
• That the young person rebels against authority, parents, teachers and anyone else to explore their individuality and find their independence.  
• Teenage brains can't take too many instructions and they have trouble multitasking so write down instructions, only give one or two at a time, help them organise their day with calendars, etc.  
• Provide them with safe boundaries and teach that actions have consequences so they can grow up to be a responsible and caring adult.
• Teenagers have an ideal of perfectionism and when those around them don't meet their perfect expectations they will criticise.  They will imagine a perfect family, religion, and moral systems and want to explore them.  While this can seem daunting to others (especially parents), it will help the teenager work for social change because through their explorations they will learn about society, learn about people's strengths and weaknesses and learn how to form positive relationships.  Parents will need to continue to love their faultfinding teenager, and have lively discussions about exploring options, strengths and weaknesses of current and other options and to help them make positive choices.  Through this they will learn about their independence, interdependence and their identity.