Judgment Call: Maturity, Emotions and the Teenage Brain

by Amy Williams

In today’s connected world, it may seem like truly understanding your students is out of reach. Between the limited amount of time spent with your class, and the vastness of their lives both at home and through social media and modern communication, understanding the teenage mind has never been more puzzling.

Never before has the current generation and the one that preceded it been so different. Today’s students are exposed to more words, ideas, and images at one time and in one day than were ever thought possible.

So how do you stay connected and sincerely engage with your students on a level that is beneficial to their growth both as students, and as people?

It begins by understanding some of the fundamental differences between the educator, and the student. All the clichés in the world won’t save you if you don’t possess a legitimate understanding of the teenage mind. This is not limited simply to your now adult perspective on your own teenage mind, but a basic knowledge of how a teenager’s brain works as compared to adults.

We all look back on our decisions as younger folk and sometimes wonder how on earth we made the decisions we made, and what we would do today. Most people if asked have changed their political ideals, their ethical guidelines, and even their life aspiration since their youth.

Many will comment that it was their experiences that forced them to mature and think about things in a different light, shedding the naiveté that once controlled them, but this is not entirely the cause.

The reality lies in that our change in thinking, is not only emotional and by choice, but biological as well. The teenage mind is not yet fully developed, and a teenager’s frontal lobe or decision-making center has not completed maturation. It is this underlying truth, that serves as the root for what is deemed a “childish” way of thinking. The adolescent brain is not simply an adult brain with fewer experiences.

Educators connecting with their students are vital to the progress of education in today’s world. Whereas a simple lecture-listener relationship sufficed in a world with fewer distractions, today’s students more than ever need a reason to stay connected to their education and their educators. The job is not simply one of teaching, but of guidance and nurture as students become prepared and groomed for the “real world”

The way the teenage brain develops is responsible for a great many traits common among teens. Impulsivity and lack of judgment are not choices made to unnerve parents and authority figures; they are the result of an immature brain.

Take a look at this infographic “Judgment Call: Maturity, Emotions, and the Teenage Brain” for some insight into what separate adults from adolescents, and how the very makeup of our minds shifts from year to year. It is not only the experiences in life that define our behavior, but our minds ability to interpret and respond to that behavior in different ways.