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We have all witnessed the apparent ‘craziness’ of adolescence. Typically, the rebelliousness, risk-taking and contrary behaviour has been chalked up to raging hormones. It seems however, that there may be method in the madness – and that teenagers are, in fact ,‘crazy by design1’.
We now know that the changes in teenage behaviour are about more than just hormones. Adolescence is a time of massive restructuring2 in the teenage brain . Around the ages of ten to twelve, many of the neuro-connections that have been carefully crafted through years of interactions with parents and teachers (and which had led these children to behave in perfectly predictable ways), are suddenly broken. Quite literally, what had once been firmly connected parts of the neural system seem mysteriously to be suddenly ripped apart. It is the work of adolescence to make new connections and build new neural pathways based on the world they experience around them3. We are now coming to understand that this process of synaptic upheaval is a critical evolutionary adaptation that makes it possible and essential for youth to become independent and ready to start a life – and build a future – of their own. In this way, the biology of adolescence aims to stop children from merely becoming clones of their parents. Just as other predispositions to learn, this window of opportunity is probably time-limited. In other words, if the adolescent is prevented from experimenting and working things out for themselves (perhaps by too-careful parents, a lack of authentic real-world responsibilities, or an overly rigid system of formal schooling), the young person will lose the motivation to be innovative or to take responsibility for themselves when they become an adult4. And this has significant importance—both for individual development and for the survival of our species. For human children to grow up to be merely clones of their parents would be nothing short of a disaster. The next generation will need very different skills to be successful in the world they will inherit. Moreover, we as a species need our descendants to develop ideas, abilities and innovations far different from what we ourselves are capable of producing within our own limited context. This is surely the only way humans will progress and thrive in a rapidly changing world and an uncertain future. And as we sit on the verge of environmental catastrophe, our future could not possibly be more uncertain.
It may well be adolescence, then, that drives human development – and forces individuals in every generation to think beyond their own self-imposed limitations and to exceed their parents’ aspirations. |
The source of intellectual growth is conflict: conflict between an old belief and a new experience, conflict between two beliefs that prove to be mutually exclusive, or conflict between your belief and mine. Featured Video
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1 John Abbott. Crazy By Design: Adoloescence, a Critical Evolutionary Adaptation. 21st Century Learning Initiative, 2005
2 Sue Gerhardt. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain. Routledge, East Sussex. 2004.
3 Jay Giedd interview, Inside the Teenage Brain – with Dr. Jay Giedd, Frontline PBS.
4 Barbara Strauch, The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids. Anchor Books. New York, 2003.
2 Sue Gerhardt. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain. Routledge, East Sussex. 2004.
3 Jay Giedd interview, Inside the Teenage Brain – with Dr. Jay Giedd, Frontline PBS.
4 Barbara Strauch, The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids. Anchor Books. New York, 2003.
