Part 3:
The first book I read was “The Teenage Brain: a neuroscientist’s survival guide to raising adolescents and young adults.” I broke down the 300 pages of information into the following pages. It is an extreme trimming down of information and curiosity that I held. You might read it and get something completely different.
Jensen, F. E., & Nutt, A. E. (2016).The teenage brain: A neuroscientist’s survival guide to raising adolescents and young adults. Harper.
The Digital Invasion of the Teenage Brain –
This is a topic that I have become passionate about because I’ve seen firsthand the transformation of the student with the use of cell phones. Jensen and Nutt (2016) write that,
“today's teenagers and 20-somethings make up the 1st generation of young people exposed to such a breathtaking number of electronic distractions, and they are therefore susceptible to a whole new host of influences. Technology is another opportunity for novelty seeking, and because the brain of a teenager is so easy to stimulate, all it takes is the latest digital toy to tease it and to distraction” (Jensen & Nutt, 2016, p. 206).
It’s within this understanding that we, at the school level, sometimes see students who struggle with letting go of their phones and seem to be attached to them at an unhealthy level. Studies that the authors use show that there “is increasing evidence of an effect of excessive internet use on mood and adolescence, and several studies have shown a connection between depression, poor academic performance, and the inability to curb time spent online” (Jensen & Nutt, 2016, p. 207).
The authors suggest that we build healthy boundaries rather than practice extreme distance.
1. Move devices out of the bedroom – this can help with sleep and preventing risky behavior.
2. Monitoring Programs – can help you see what your student is doing online and what they are engaging with.
3. Access – parents should have access to their social media accounts
Finally, the authors state that we should look at it as another boundary. I think of this as the training wheels that we build on bikes, helping our students navigate a new skill and building them towards competency and resiliency.
Postscript
This last section of the book is the conclusion portion, where the authors summarize their findings and suggestions for parents and adults that interact with teenagers. In addition to the list that I’ll provide, I think that it’s essential to listen to what the authors argue when they write the following,
“You always want to remain as positive as you can because you want to empower your teenagers and help them understand what an amazing time of their lives this is, a time of opportunity. Your job isn't to stifle them but rather to help them channel their energies in positive directions” (Jensen & Nutt, 2016, p. 291).
I have forwarded these words to the teachers in my grade and have focused a lot on the idea that we teach kids, not content. Within this ideal, we seek to help the individual student and use our content to engage with them so that we can help them develop into adults capable of critical thinking and problem solving.
The following bullet points are other suggestions that the authors make for parents (Jensen & Nutt, 2016, p. 189-290).
- “Be tolerant of your teens misadventures, but make sure you talk to them calmly about their mistakes.”
- Don't be shocked when your teens do something stupid and then they say they don't know why. You now know why but explain that to them - that their prefrontal lobes haven't quite come online yet. And remember, even the smartest, most obedient, meekest kids will do something stupid before graduating from adolescence.
- Communicate and emphasize the positive things in your teen's life and encourage them to try different activities and new ways of thinking about things. Reinforce that you were there for them when they needed advice.
- Social networking tools and websites are an important avenue of communication with your teens. Some parents report that their most successful meaningful conversations with their teens occurred while texting back and forth with them. And if you don't know how to text yet ask your teenager.
Dr. Kidd’s Final Thoughts –
Though the book sometimes reads like a medical textbook, I enjoyed reading through the book and understanding more about why the teenager does what the teenager does. Its practical approach allowed me to better understand the students I’m working with and make sense of the journey I made many years ago. The combination of clarity allowed me to break apart the lessons learned and continue to hone my craft and confidence by working with students and other educators who equally care for the development of teenagers.
While I do not support all of the advice or have done the follow-up research to verify the findings that the authors suggest, I found it a very good read that made sense of the development of the brain and how it impacts the teenagers that I have the privilege of working with daily.
That brings us to the end of the final part of the book review. We hope you enjoyed reading about The Emotional Lives of Teenagers!
For any questions related to this book review, please feel free to email us at communications@rivertrailpto.com
Dr. Kidd will respond to your inquiries, offering insights from both his perspective as an educator and his detailed reading of the book.
