In my reading so far of the Teen Brain there are some basic understandings that I feel you need to have about what your children will experience as they develop, they will be very different once puberty kicks in.
The first thing the book makes very clear is that boys and girls need different things during puberty. For boys puberty is about taking risk, seeking thrills and experiencing situations that are Danger Seeking. For girls it is about approval, being liked, accepted and feeling a sense of belonging to a group. The early pages explain that brain development ( which takes a decade once puberty kicks in) is when the brain develops:
- Risk Adjustment
- Impulse Control
- Delaying Gratification
- Attention Span
- Empathy for others
The challenge for the teenage brain is that it primed to be wired in a way that there is risk of addiction. This could take many shapes or forms and in the pre-device statistically the addiction to Sugar, Alcohol, other drugs, sexual activity being much higher that post 2010 data suggests.
This is a win in some ways and is contributed to the moment in time where the individual device became part of our day to day lives. The changes and increases in addiction have also come with the device and centre around experiencing excitement.
Gillespie also shares that all of this has coincide with what he describes as “Child Centred Parenting” which basically describes how hard it has become for parents to say no to their children and he makes it very clear that in relation to devices, and perhaps parenting in general, that there needs to be rules:
- Parents make the Rules
- Access to Devices are restricted
- Rules are clear and followed through
- Breaches of rules attract consequences
- Sleeping is important.
Next week I will summarise the chapters about addictive behaviour and how this relates to hormones, I will particularly focus on games like Fortnite.
Important Dates:
Friday 3/5 – Grade 1/2 Barwon Heads Community Walk
Wednesday 8/5 – School Council Meeting
Thursday 9/5 – District Cross Country (Selected Entry)