Adolescent Brain Development

[Evelyn Simmons]

All,

I wanted to share this excellent piece by neurologist Sarah Jayne Blakemore about adolescent brain development. It is helpful context for the behavioral issues we see at McKinley and elsewhere — and, to an extent, at home.

I started having my family sit down and watch this together every so often when my oldest was about 12 or 13. It’s time to do it again.

I find it is useful for us to understand our kids but also for them to understand themselves and be prepared for the period of rapid and continual change they are in. They will now sometimes come to me and remark on changes they note in themselves. I believe this is because they are armed with the expectation that they will be changing and they have some background and understanding as to why. It normalizes and contextualizes the changes in mood, feelings, impulse control challenges, etc. and shows the universality of this period of development.

It also thought provoking that Blakemore points out the wide social acceptance of the tendency to demean and demonize this group. This Tre Talk helps me to be mindful — and on good days, less reactive and better able to parent firmly but patiently.

There is a hilarious Shakespeare quote. Another version of this talk contains an equally funny quote by Aristotle, I think.

There are several other versions of this talk that offer a bit more detail or have a slightly different focus. If you find this Ted Talk interesting, you might look for her other talks by Dr Blakemore this subject on YouTube.


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About 15 minutes

The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain (Sarah-Jayne Blakemore | TEDGlobal 2012)

15 minute

https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tedspread

Let me know what you think.

Evelyn Boyd Simmons

[Evelyn Simmons]