we all know teenagers like to think of

themselves as unique the first time I

saw a teenagers brain on the console of

the scanner it was just like that's what

makes you different from any other human

on the planet that's you my name is Jen

Pfeiffer and I'm a professor of

psychology at the University of Oregon

I study adolescent development it feels

like pretty much everything changes in

adolescence from your nerve I ology to

your social world I study how these

changes are intertwined with each other

and how they affect mental health

well-being and risk behavior there are a

lot of myths and misunderstandings about

adolescents that I'm trying to change

one misunderstanding is about when

adolescence happens or who is an

adolescent most people probably imagine

like a rowdy bunch of sixteen year old

boys let's get the class stuffed into a

car and are speeding down the road to

get lunch or maybe a pimply

thirteen-year-old whose body is

reshaping itself before their own eyes

in embarrassing and confusing ways but

the truth is adolescence is a much

longer and more complex period of life

it has a biological beginning with

puberty which can start as early as 9 or

10 years of age and a social end with

the assumption of adult roles and

responsibilities typically sometime in

your 20s I often say that means

adolescence doesn't have a capital A

it's not just one or two big things that

happen or a couple of problems that get

solved but a long series of changes with

different timing and patterns and your

body brain behavior and relationships

since teenagers can drive adults up the

wall at times it's important to

reconsider how we interpret their

behavior of really damaging myths about

adolescents is that these changes in

their bodies and brains make them do

crazy things we often hear the media say

teens have an immature prefrontal cortex

or it's underdeveloped or even broken or

missing on the other hand they also say

their systems for processing emotions

and rewards are hyper responsive in

overdrive left unchecked because the

prefrontal cortex isn't ready to take

control yet there are two really

important things to know about this myth

one it's just not that simple you can

also use your prefrontal cortex to plan

how to achieve any kind of goal

including one's adults might call risky

but - and this is maybe the surprising

part it's actually really important for

adolescents to take risks a risk is just

a decision where the outcome is unknown

and trying things we don't know the

answer to is how we learn adolescents is

this magical time where your biology and

your social environment both work

together to create opportunities to take

risks so you learn more by exploring by

trying out these unknowns do I like

playing soccer am i any good at it I

like being on the team more than I

thought I would does that guy or girl

like me whoa dating someone is more

stressful than I thought it would be

it's a good time to try new things

because as an adolescent you're in

between you have more capabilities and

more independence but you've also got a

safety net in your family

that highlights a third misconception

the parents don't really matter anymore

in adolescence while it's true that peer

and romantic relationships become

increasingly important parents need to

realize they still matter to adolescent

well-being a lot the learning and

risk-taking adolescents do is fueled by

a need for social connection although it

can feel like it

parents aren't being replaced but

adolescents do need to develop their own

relationships and networks of social

support outside the family it's just

part of growing up so maybe a better way

to think about adolescents then as a

crazy immature time is as a stage where

the brain naturally becomes hungry for

new experiences and social connections

teens seek them out and soak them up

because that's their job it's how they

grow and learn that means the teenage

brain isn't flawed it is perfectly

designed to help young people grow into

the adults they will become if we as

parents and as a society can help them

do that in safe supportive ways they can

all reach their fullest potential

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