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Sam Bian

Instructor Andreea Corona

Linguistics 3C

10/22/2022

The Importance of Parental Education to the Growth of Adolescents

Teenagers always seem to be surrounded by risk. This is why teenagers are often

satirized in the media as trouble-makers, seeking excitement but often breaking the

rules. It is true that adolescents at this time are immature and emotionally unstable, so

they are easily involved in risky activities, such as smoking, drinking, taking drugs,

dangerous sports, and even suicide. Even the most well-behaved children may do

risky things during their teenage years. However, it may not be all their problem. In

the article, “Why Teenagers Act Crazy,” Richard A. Friedman proposes that teenagers

are not just reckless seekers and risk-takers; because of their outlandish pattern of

brain development, teenagers are particularly prone to anxiety and have a hard time

learning not to fear the danger that even has left them. In my opinion, and according

to evidence from sources, because the structures of the adolescent brain develop at

different levels, adolescents experience both a desire for adventure and a strong sense

of fear. At this time, parents’ reasonable reminders and encouragement can make it

easier for teenagers to adapt to future challenges.

To be more specific, teenagers take risks because of their precocious limbic

system and immature prefrontal cortex. In the Ted Talk, “The Mysterious Workings of

the Adolescent Brain,” Sarah-Jayne Blakemore indicates that the limbic system is
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deep in the brain, and it is involved in emotion and reward processing. Every time

people do something, the reward system assigns a score to the action, judging whether

it deserves a reward or a punishment. When the behavior is rewarding, people will

feel pleasure, so they will do it again in the future. According to Blakemore, teenagers

are more sensitive to the rewards of taking risks than adults. This means that when

teenagers take risks, they experience higher levels of pleasure, and then they would

continue to take risks. Moreover, Friedman points out that the prefrontal cortex, which

is responsible for reasoning and executive control, develops later than the limbic

system. The prefrontal cortex, in other words, is involved in most cognitive functions,

like decision making or planning. It can help suppress inappropriate behavior, like

stopping people from doing something uncivilized. That means for teenagers -- those

who have a more developed limbic system and an immature prefrontal cortex -- it can

be difficult to rationally judge danger and control themselves away from risk. This

explains why teenagers are often out of control and driven to do risky things. The

precocity of the limbic system and the immaturity of the prefrontal lobe make

adolescents constantly take risks, but in fact, this brain structure also makes

adolescents experience inexplicable fears.

The precocious limbic system provides adolescents with much more than a

greater desire for risk. As the limbic system grows, the amygdala, which is part of the

limbic system, matures too and leads to an enhanced sense of fear in adolescents.

According to Friedman, the brain circuit that processes fear -- the amygdala --

develops much earlier than the prefrontal cortex. This means that teenagers’ brains are
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more capable of fear and anxiety, but are relatively underdeveloped in calm reasoning.

This is a period when teenagers have both an expectation of adventure and a

heightened sense of fear, and what the parents do at this time can have a profound

impact on the youth. Blakemore indicates that adolescence is a particularly plastic

period for the brain because, during adolescence, there is a significant decline in gray

matter in the prefrontal cortex. The brain’s gray matter can be understood as

connections between cells, and its decline means the brain has decided to give up

some unimportant cellular connections. Just as gardeners remove weeds or dead

branches to prevent them from absorbing nutrients from flowers and fruits, the brain

does this to ensure that more critical cellular connections could be fully developed.

This is an important stage in the development of the adolescent brain and it can be

influenced by the environment. Therefore, in such a special stage, proper guidance

from parents can help teenagers pass through puberty smoothly and get ready for

entering the society. Otherwise, teenagers may suffer long-term or even permanent

psychological damage.

In order to properly guide their children’s growth, parents should first realize that

teenagers’ angst and boldness are normal. It does sound odd that teenagers have both

a greater capacity for anxiety and an increased desire for novelty. Friedman states that

when teenagers have more autonomy and start to explore the unknown, “an enhanced

capacity for fear and a more tenacious memory for threatening situations are adaptive

and would confer survival advantage.” He raises an important point: the unexplained

fear of adolescence allows teenagers to stay safe when they seek novelty and
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excitement. Friedman, in his essay, also illustrates that it is common for other

mammalian species to have such a developmental gap between the amygdala and

prefrontal cortex. In other words, this gap is an evolutionary advantage. Therefore,

parents do not need to worry too much about such changes in their children during

adolescence because it is normal and unavoidable for everyone and its presence will

bring benefits to the growth of teenagers.

In addition to understanding teenagers’ anxiety, parents should not blame them

for their anxiety or impulsiveness. In the report from Johns Hopkins All Children’s

Hospital, “Anxiety and Stress in Teens,” Jennifer Katzenstein points out that parents

could remind their children that other children are also anxious and try to avoid

negative labels such as “shy” or “anxious” for their teenagers. If a parent labels a

child, the child will fall into self-doubt. Such labels may act as psychological cues to

turn the child into what the label says. This can lead to a vicious circle. For example,

when a parent labels a child as “shy”, even though the child may just be afraid in front

of strangers. The “shy” label makes the child unconfident. Over time, the child will

gradually become so-called “shy”, and the parents will think that their own ideas are

correct and continue to give the child this label. As a result, parents should not label

teenagers with negative labels. Instead, when teenagers feel afraid, parents should

understand that their fear is difficult to eliminate and help comfort them.

Furthermore, parents should encourage their children to take risks instead of

telling them to stay in their "comfort zone". In the article, “Why Do We Teach Girls

That It’s Cute to Be Scared?”, Caroline Paul states that parents who prevent their
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children from trying new things often make their teenagers lose the opportunity to

develop new skills. From the failure, teenagers will accumulate experience from the

failure and develop valuable ability to deal with future challenges. Failure can make

adolescents aware of their own inadequacies and then stimulate them to learn new

skills or strengthen their skills. Those who do not experience mishaps would be

unable to cope with possible future failures. This is an indispensable lesson for them.

When they can get up again and again from failure and figure out ways to solve the

difficulties, they are ready for the unknown future.

To sum up, adolescents experience both unexplained fear and a strong desire for

adventure during adolescence. This is an important stage of adolescent development.

Facing the sudden changes in teenagers, parents should understand that such changes

are caused by the incomplete development of teenagers' brains, and comfort teenagers

that it is normal and inevitable. At the same time, parents should reasonably

encourage teenagers to pursue new things in order to exercise their skills.

(Word Count: 1255)

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Works Cited
Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne. “The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain.”
www.ted.com, 17 Sept. 2012,
www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adoles
cent_brain/transcript?subtitle=zh-cn.

Friedman, Richard. “Why Teenagers Act Crazy.” The New York Times, 28 June 2014,
www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinion/sunday/why-teenagers-act-crazy.html.

Katzenstein, Jennifer. “Anxiety and Stress in Teens.” Hopkinsallchildrens.org, Johns

Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, 12 Apr. 2021, www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/ACH-
News/General-News/Anxiety-and-Stress-in-Teens.

Paul, Caroline. “Why Do We Teach Girls That It’s Cute to Be Scared?” The New York
Times, 20 Feb. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/opinion/sunday/why-do-we-
teach-girls-that-its-cute-to-be-scared.html.