why are you so Moody
I’m not asking don’t make me tell you
again if you’re a parent these are some
of the cliches you tell your teens on a
daily basis now teeny adult sense grow
into teen
teenagers grow into adult sense of rapid
speed and so I’d like to ask if any of
you have gone through mood swings or
dramatic emotional moments but there
would be no point as we’ve all gone
through it
some of us teens are probably going
through it right now now first I would
like to talk about our brains chemistry
parents are quick to blames teenagers
reckless behavior on just hormones and
even though this does play a part
there’s a more logical explanation for
actions the brain now aside from
addiction there are two main study
focuses of the two of the teenage brain
which is maturity and emotional control
hopefully by the end of today I’ll be
able to change your mindset on the way
teens are now I personally have a hard
time managing my sometimes obnoxious and
out-of-control self I constantly fight
with my parents like the last time they
wouldn’t let me go out with my friends
or threaten to take my phone away now
this may seem ludicrous but us scenes
we’ve all been there the next day I
would go to school and find my friends
and rant about how horrible and unfair
my life is well despite having great
friends we’ll listen to all my dramatics
I’ve realized that everyone I surround
myself with at school is on the same
page this is why I started this research
now adults tend to think that we love
driving them crazy with our reckless
behavior and out-of-control self but
it’s simply more complicated than that
it’s proven that our brains are more
complex in scientists first suspected by
the 2000s brain imaging techniques had
had increased and our impulsive ‘no
sinned emotional control is due to a
partially developed brain and not our
hormones now by age two it by age 9 by
age six our brain is 90 to 95 percent
the full size and Jerry however during
teenage years we start to connect
passageways between the different
regions of our brain we undergo a
process called myelination myelination
strengthens and accelerates the
communication between the different
parts of our brain however there’s a
catch my
nation starts at the very back of her
brain and makes its way towards the
front which means that the first part of
our brain to mature is our temporal lobe
and the very last part of our brain to
mature is the prefrontal cortex now this
is an issue because our prefrontal
cortex handles all our decision-making
planning and self-control now the next
time your teens forget your books at 8
p.m. at night and realize this so late
with a test the next day this is
probably why we don’t yet have the
ability to tell we don’t yet have the
ability to think ahead of time so tell
your parents that our brain is
physically not matured yet next I would
like to talk about the psychological and
emotional controlling part of our brains
I’d like for you to think back to the
last time you made a really stupid
decision and thought it was the best
idea in the world at that time
well according to Scott woulding who’s a
very famous author and psychologist he
states that it’s very important for us
teens to feel the urge of making our own
decisions in other words it’s very
important for us to feel the need of
independence so while we make these
decisions we tend to weigh the pros
extremely high and yet ignore all the
negative outcomes so hopefully this
makes us feel better about making this
this decisions in the first place now
also a lot of parents constantly argue
that we’re changing the way we act dress
and speak differently and this is due to
our friends and who we hang out with
well this is in fact true according to
Time magazine our brain undergoes a lot
of plasticity and which means that we
adapt and grow depending on to our
environment it’s also true that our age
group as teens are the most reckless and
impulsive age group of all our lives
this is because the signals of our
prefrontal cortex which handles our
emotions don’t get to the back of the
brain enough fast enough and so this is
why us teens are going through a large
emotional roller coaster of fun now I
personally am a very passionate person
any movie or situation outside of my
comfort zone will make me react in a
Verity of ways all extremely emotional
now I’ve realized that there’s a logical
reasoning behind this as well while we
undergo the process of myelination our
brain reroute from the prefrontal cortex
that is not mature
to the amygdala which handles all of our
emotions so every single decision that I
make is handled by my emotions you can
see how this is a problem so emotional
judgment has its own name in a
scientific realm as well it’s called the
limbic system this occurs in the very
beginning ages of puberty which is ages
around 10 to 12 and this is also most
common where there’s a mismatch between
controlling our impulses and our
hormones our homework our hormones are
also known as the motion fueled part of
our brains otherwise known as why all
hell breaks loose once we reach puberty
this does control our risky actions but
it is dot it does not take
responsibility for emotional outbursts
now I’d like to stay a quote from a very
famous person called BJ Casey she sees
this about the prefrontal cortex the
prefrontal cortex quote communicates
with the brains emotional centers
through intricate connections this
pretty much states that our brain is
nowhere near close to full development
this is why we can’t shut off our
emotions when parents are being
overdramatic and saying saying that
we’re overdramatic and tell us to calm
down a bit
tell them we’re physically wired this
way because we’re supposed to be
overdramatic our decisions are dependent
on our emotions so dear parents please
understand that there’s a neurological
reason behind her actions that may be
insensible or even stupid at that time
hopefully this will be able to change
your perspective on situations teeny all
humans tend to be more sympathetic when
they understand the reasoning behind our
own mistakes so let us learn from our
mistakes by negotiating personal
boundaries and letting us take risks by
going through these natural transitions
with encouraging role models this will
lead to a more positive adulthood
through a different atmosphere and teens
we aren’t crazy
we’re simply developing into a more
mature state in other words our Breeman
is a lot like a computer constantly
upgrading to prepare us for the future
more complex and in-depth upgrades
simply take more time so while we’re
transforming into better members of
society please be patient with us and
just like every other adult we’ll get
there too thank you
[Applause] [Music]