WHY DO TEENS BEHAVE THE WAY THEY DO? What science has to say.
Hello Teens,
I know that for no
matter how short the period, you must have at some point wondered why you
behave the way you do? Why did you suddenly become so rebellious? What happened
to Daddy’s princess? Well thank God for science cos there is now an answer to
every question. At this point, 'anti-scientists' may get bored because we are
about to enter into the world of medical science and elementary psychology; but don't worry it’ll loosen up towards the end the end.
Paediatric
neurologists have tested the teenage brain and have discovered that most of
weird, wild, and rebellious behaviours characteristic of teens (us) is as a result
of their underdeveloped pre-frontal cortex of our brains. Scientists used to
think that the brain of a human should have fully developed all it features by
the tender age of ten. However, current research has proven otherwise. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is
responsible for decision making and the ability to decipher the effect one’s
words or actions have on other people or on a particular situation. The
prefrontal cortex communicates with the other sections of the brain through
connections called synapses. These
are like the wires of an entertainment system. There is a lot of growth that
occurs in synapses during adolescence. As these changes occur, and as the
teenager approaches adulthood, the brain begins a pruning process where it gets
rid of old synapses and replaces them with new ones that help in more effective
communication and reasoning. It also happens that this pruning process begins
from the back of the brain and gradually approaches the frontal lobe of the
brain when this process is said to end (i.e. when the brain has attained full
maturity). This implies that the prefrontal cortex of the brain is about the
last to get developed and this means that the potentials of this part of the
brain is not fully utilised until adulthood. Scientists have also proven that
this part of the brain attains full maturity in ones mid-20’s. Another
scientific backing for the teenage behaviour is the presence of a
well-developed area of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens which is very responsive to rewards and all forms
of gratification. If you combine these two scientific discoveries, a lot can be
deduced to explain various attributes of young people from the pre-teen stage
to their full-blown teen stage.
The most common
teenage behaviour is impulsiveness. We act based on impulse 78% of the times
and that is an outrageously high percentage. Take for example, a group of
teenagers may wish to skateboard from one roof of a building to the next
without minding the consequences, but looking for just a moment of excitement
and pleasure. This is something an adult would not wish to do in such a hurry
because adults are quicker in discerning the effect of such an action on
themselves and others should anything go wrong. It is noticed that most of the
decision making done by teens is done with the posterior area of the brain
whereas, an adult can easily make use of their frontal lobe which is more
effective. This allows an adult to easily find out loopholes, faults, or risks
in carrying out a given action in an amazingly fast speed of about 80
milliseconds whereas it would take an average teenager up to five seconds or
more.
Also as a result of
the incomplete pruning of synapses in the brain, the brain of a teenager still
has a high plasticity. Plasticity is
the ability of your brain cells to change in form or structure in order to
absorb new information and retain it. That is why teenagers find it very easy
to acquire new habits and behaviours very quickly. The teen years are said to
be the time frame in which one’s character is moulded. Ever wondered why? It is
because of this high plasticity. This is why teenagers get addicted to stuff
easier than adullts. If a teenager smokes pot and an adult smokes the same
quantity of pot, the adult would be quicker to regain mental stability and
clarity whereas the teenager would still experience mental fogginess for a few
more days. The teenager also stands a greater chance of getting addicted to the
pot that he smoked than the adult. The same high chance of addiction applies to
other stuff such as smoking, drinking of alcohol, porn addiction, and even sex
addiction.
Instead of using this
high mental plasticity to get ourselves addicted to all these crappy stuff, let’s
use it to learn stuff, to become someone. This is the time you have to easily
learn how to play that guitar, how to play that piano, how to solve that math
equation, how to learn that new language, and stuff like that. At this teen
age, it’s very easy for you to learn and retain stuff. Do not waste this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn as many stuff as you choose to. This is
the time in your life when you get to shape your character, choose your
friends, set your goals, and begin to work towards them. Let us use our mental
resources for good stuff. This is the time to get creative. Never feel
intimidated because of your age; age is only a number. I have come across teens
who are even more mature in character and thought than most adults. That’s what
I’m talking about. That’s what I want you to become—Super Teen!
Finally, I’ll also use
this scientific backing to explain the rebelliousness which has become a characteristic
of most teens. As I said earlier, teenagers have a well-developed nucleus
accumbens area of the brain which is responsive to reward and pleasure. For
this reason, most teens spend most of their time doing stuff simply for the
gratification they get out of it. For example, you might have a homework to do,
but you’ll ignore it and spend hours chatting; this is not because you are
unaware of the consequence of not doing your homework, but because you just
want to satisfy that momentary pleasure you get from chatting with your friends.
This is why whenever anyone, usually parents, try to get in the way of us getting
our pleasures satisfied, we rebel, we try to break the norms just to get our
way. I just love science! At least now there’s an explanation to why most of us
teens would host the thought of cruising around town in our family sports car
all in a bid to satisfy our friends and our desire for a slice of the cake of
independence and adulthood.
So now you know what
science has to say about teenage behaviour and how it all springs from a tiny
little change which goes on in our brains as we approach adulthood. So next
time Mummy asks you “Why did you do that? Why do you behave the way you do? Do
you think at all?” You know what to tell her… “I read from The Teenager that it
is as a result of the under-developed state of the prefrontal cortex of my
brain.” Lemme tell you what would happen. First, she’ll be startled that you
have a reason, then she’ll be proud cos you’re beginning to sound smart, then
she’ll want to find out more about this blog, she may even buy you regular data
bundles to make sure you keep following this blog…hahahaha..just kidding!
So That’s it!! If you have any contributions or comments
or questions, please do leave a comment!
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