BORN TO BE WILD

Jerome Burne (2004) “Why teens are born to be wild”

News.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=540175

June 12^th, p.1-3.

New research suggests that MRI studies of human brains make some old bromides not workable. The age of reason is 7. Well, it’s not. Moral reasoning may start as early as 20 but for many it is around 23to 25.

When you are arguing with a fully grown teen they may look like adults but in terms of the maturity of the brain and its neural connections, it is still a bit mushy.

The last complete growth of the brain is in the middle 20’s.

This could partially explain how teens in many or most cultures appears to be narcissistic, lazy, impulsive, rude, infuriating; At least half of this or more is explained by the maturity of the brain.

To add injury to insult, the industrial, and information society warehouse teens in schools and give them second hand facts to memorize. If the brain studies continue to be viable, one would suggests that active learning may be a good strategy for teens to learn. Active learning can be involved in the most conservative to the most progressive forms of schooling.

It depends on how one interprets this, but the sociological/anthropological orientations suggest that environmental part of the problem is that teens are caught in extended adolescence and thus are marginalized. This marginalization causes juveniles to violate social norms of adults. In other words, one can make a debate of mushy brains vs. marginalization, but it would be a phony debate. It is both and the two can compliment each other in a downward spiral into trouble. For the Amish today and the agricultural societies of the past, teens are treated as adults and take on adult responsibilities. That does not mean that they are in any way, actively involved in the leadership, but are very much part of the adult society.

One must also add the psychological dimension. Again, one does not need a debate here.

As a group that has mushy or incomplete brains, marginal status, then comes question of psychological identity. The identity problems can translate into trouble.

Others have held that 12 is the age of adulthood and thus there are religious rites of passage into adulthood. Again, no they aren’t ready and may have little thought about life and death and the morals for dealing with both. However, religious rites of passage are not the business or concern of this article.

It would appear that teens need structure, later start times for school, active learning, and a recognition that life in one’s teens are trouble. The difficulty lies both inside the individual and the surrounding environment.