Does the Adolescent Brain Make Risk Taking Inevitable? Adolescence College students and adolescents are more daring in taking risks than adults and children as evidenced by data and statistics on binge drinking, automobile crashes, crime and contraceptive use. However, trying to understand why adolescents take such risks than in any other developmental stage has been a challenge for psychologists for decades. Several theories to explain the adolescents more involvement in riskier behaviors have been developed, but only a few of them withstood empirical scrutiny (Harding, 2007). One of such theories is by Laurence Steinberg, who holds that brain science demonstrates that the adolescents’ brain plays a big role in influencing adolescents undertake riskier behaviors.
SOWK 505-FALL 2012 Assignment #1 Dominique Bush October 1, 2012 Tosha Sweets What Makes Teens Tick Many parents go through a time of misunderstanding and deliberate disobedience with their teenage child, however many do not understand the reasons behind the repetitive actions. The article titled, “What Makes Teens Tick” written by Claudia Wallis had many scientific points as to what the teens are affected by during the time of adolescent maturation and growth. A major project that the article focused on was the imaging of teen brains with a focus on several twin brains. Seeing the difference in exposures in addition to the normal development was a great insight to see how different parts of the brain operate. Another topic that is widely discussed and possibly links too many disorders such as ADHD and or Autisms is pruning of the brain.
The Merchants of Cool An undeniable paradox: “coolness” for teens coincides with the culture of media and is extremely difficult to separate. Frontline was able to open a window into the teenage world through their documentary The Merchants of Cool to attempt to decode this mystery; however, news correspondent, Douglas Rushkoff, found himself coming to the understanding that teenagers and media are chasing after each other in order to discover what “cool” really is. The popular culture formula and “Funhouse Mirror” images both grasp a hold of this concept. The pop culture formula states that something will be more popular if it reflects the society’s zeitgeist, or spirit of the era. In this film, for example, when MTV emerged onto the television scene it was popular.
This entire story was sort of a coming of age story for Sammy, and a realization of his mistakes while admiring girls in the A&P, and acting as the adolescent he was, making irrational, and perhaps un-wise decisions too fast and without enough thought. Although his brain and the girl’s brains may not be quite as developed as the adults, they still share many of the same qualities, and perhaps if they really wanted to, make rational decisions as adults do. The adults on the other hand could also go “backwards” and make irrational and perhaps bad decisions as Sammy and the girls do. Throughout life this is seen, with almost every living thing, something like it was meant to be, and like most things in the world it can either be a wonderful thing, or a viscous sort of circle of bad things. Who knows, the world’s scientists might never know what goes on in a teenagers
Good Morning class as you may already know of me and for those who don’t know me , today I will be presenting about smoking , Why people do it , What it does to your health and why we should prohibit it Why People Smoke First of all I would like to talk about "Why people smoke" , 1. Most people start smoking when they are in their teens and are addicted by the time they reach adulthood. Some have tried to quit but have returned to cigarettes because smoking is such a strong addiction. It is a habit that is very difficult to break. There are many different reasons why people smoke.
* biological factors * genetic factors * psychological and social factors * conscious choice * Others (please specify), 5. Sexual orientation is . * a choice * a Mental Illness * an Emotional Problem * Others (please specify), 6. Being with a homosexual/gay/lesbian/bisexual makes me feel (choose ONE answer only) * Very comfortable * Mostly comfortable * Comfortable * Uncomfortable * Very uncomfortable * It depends 7. Adolescent sexual behavior (like prevalence of sexually-experienced 15-year-olds, loss of virginity, same gender attractions) is the most problem that teenagers experienced because they don’t have enough knowledge about what sex really means.
Practicing abstinence may be the most utterly method for minimizing this rate, but it’s an irrational method. It would not educate them on the life changing risks correlated with sexual intercourse. Providing a clear and precise curriculum in sex education focussed on career goals, sexually transmitted diseases, healthy relationships, the results of being a young parent, and facts on contraceptives would be most beneficial. Educating minors on how sexual activity at a young age can drastically change their lives would greatly impact the reduction of teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy proceeds as a major issue with more than half of all teenagers in the United States stating that they had participated in sexual intercourse at least one point before high school ended.
Tweens Must Navigate Difficult Currents Kay Hymowitz ‘s article , “Tweens : Ten Going on Sixteen ‘ describes the timeless phenomenon of pre-teen children who try to act and look older than they are . Many factors , internal and external , spur this desire toward early maturity , but children who watch vast amounts of television are undoubtedly fooled when they see late-teen , and even early- 20 ‘s actors playing adolescents and teenagers in TV shows and movies .“Tweens ‘ defined in this article as eight- to twelve-year-old children , are pushed by these false media images along with peer pressure and the age-old internal desire to become grown-ups as quickly as possible . The iconic movie , The Karate Kid ‘ featured twenty two-year-old Ralph Macchio playing a teenaged high school wimp who became a karate champion . Similarly , almost every television show that tweens watch includes multiple actors who are older than the age of the children that they play . Impressionable tweens are deluged with mature ,sophisticated , attractive actors playing younger roles than the actual ages of the actors .
Teenage years is probably one of the most challenging periods of life. It is a stage of identity versus confusion – knowing oneself compared to losing oneself. Belonging and being accepted in a group is very important and being "cool" as well. During these years of growing up, teenagers encounter their share of positive and negative experiences. Peer pressure, curiosity, and the availability of drugs are factors that some youthful and vulnerable teenagers have to deal with in their adolescent lives.
Teen-Parent Communication About Sex When young people feel unconnected at home, family, and school, they may become involved in activities that put their health at risk. However, when parents affirm the values of their children, young people often develop positive, healthy attitudes about themselves, therefore delaying in sexual activity. The writer’s purpose(s) for writing these articles is because risky teen behavior is on the rise, and what are parents and families doing/not doing to promote safe behavior? I chose these articles because I am a teen parent, and I feel that if I had been able to have “the talk” sooner, more in depth, and more often, that it may have prevented my pregnancy. Teen Sexuality’s research showed a few things: Adolescents who stated that they were connected with their parents were more likely than other teens to delay sexual intercourse.