Child and Youth Studies CHYS 1F90

Dr. J. McNamara
Fall/Winter 2023

Midterm Assignment

 One large essay with 4 sub-questions

 Write as one essay – not 4 separate questions
 You may use sub-headings
 1000 words (don’t exceed)
 Double-spaced, 12-pt font
 Submission to Assignment portal
 Turnitin (integrated with Brightspace)

 Due by Oct 27th at 11:55pm

– If you submit by this time, you will receive a grade and comments on your paper
 If you would like another week, extended Due date is Nov 3rd at 11:55
– If you submit anytime after Oct 27th but before Nov 3 at 11:55, you will receive a
grade with no comments
 Anything after Oct 27th at 11:55pm will be late

 Turnitin
 You can re-submit paper as many times as you like until the due date
 Call these versions “DRAFT…”
 We will know that you’re complete when you label your file as “FINAL…”
 If you forget to do this, we will still consider it in draft format
 How to think about Turnitin

 Tips for writing

 A case study
 Integration of ideas
 Bridge research and practice
 2 external sources
 APA
 Writing in first person?
 Transitions
 Good flow

Adolescence
Traditional ways we think about teens
 Increased risk taking
– Alcohol
– Drugs
– Delinquency
– Etc.
 Highly emotional
 Decision making
 Struggle with parents

Stats
 13,000 adolescent deaths each year
– 70% of these are motor vehicle, accidental, homicide, etc.
 72% of teens have used alcohol
 44% have tried smoking
 10% have tried illicit drugs
 13% have driven under the influence
 34% had unprotected sex

Increased Emotional Reactivity

Why does this occur?

 Looking toward the short-term benefits rather than the long term consequences

Nathan’s Explanation
“For Reasons I Can’t Explain…”
Don’t worry Nathan, we can explain them…

The Case of Omar Khadr

 Built and launched an IED killing an American soldier
 He was 15
 Arrested and detained at Guantanamo since then
 Interrogated repeatedly for years

The Boys’ Defence Council

 Were these boys criminally culpable at the time of the event?

Look to the Science of Adolescence

Frontal Lobe
 Executive functions
– Planning
– Decision making
– Self regulation
– Consequences
– Does not develop fully until early 20’s

Myelination
 Myelination in regions involved in higher cognitive abilities, such as the prefrontal cortex, is
not complete until early adulthood.

Why all the “Drama”

 Adults use their pre-frontal cortex when making decisions (fMRI)
 Teens’ pre-frontal cortex is not yet developed
 So, teen brains use the “amygdala” when making decisions (fMRI)
 The amygdala controls emotions

Living on the Edge!

 Serotonin and Dopamine are fluctuating and peaking
– Serotonin has a “calming effect” that controls impulse levels
– Dopamine has a “feel good” effect that can inhibit decision making

Conclusion
 The human brain does not settle into its mature adult form until after the adolescent years
 Due to neurological developmental patterns teens are prone to:
– Short-sighted decision making
– Emotional Over-reactivity
– Etc

The Boys’ Defence Council

 An offender who is, by virtue of developmental immaturity (i.e. adolescents) impulsive,
short-sighted, and easily influenced by others should be punished less harshly than one
who is better able to control him/herself, anticipated the future consequences of his/her
 behaviour, and resist the antisocial urges of those around him/her

Individual Differences

Positive Risk Taking

 An alternative perspective
– Taking leaps into unknown
– Well calculated risks about future
– Trying new things
 Related to an increases in:
– Well-being
– Confidence
– Resiliency
– Problem-solving
– Success
 Youth inclined to take positive risks:
– Tend to have long term goals
– Are supported by family
– Have a well-established value system
– A strong peer group

Implications for education and parenting

 Encourage positive risk-taking
 Encourage independence
 Encourage adventure

Back to Science
 Adolescence should be studied as a separate stage of development—one distinctly
different from the life stages of children or adults.

Other Policies
What time does high school start in the AM?

Sleep
 Melatonin is a chemical that induces sleep
 Melatonin is released two hours later at night and stays in a teen’s brain later into the
morning, as compared to the brain of a child or adult

Sleep
 Due to rapid brain growth teens require approx 9 hours of sleep per night
 Teens often get 6
 Symptoms:
– Attention
– Depression
– Irritability
– Etc

School Bell Policies

“In the last decade, school districts in 20 states from Alaska to Florida have pushed back starting
times. Their actions were influenced by research suggesting that teenagers simply are not
cut out to wake up early, due to the peculiarity of their developing bodies” LA Times
An Alternative Perspective
 A period where humans (in North America) become independent

Our roles then change

 What is the role of parents if the assumption is that adolescence is a time to become
independent?
 Fostering Independence
 Allow decision making
 Don’t step in too quickly
 Allow responsibility
 Allow mistakes
 Foster Independence
 Don’t launch the helicopter too quickly

What about culture?

 The Study: Netherlands vs USA
 Both countries have an average age of 17 for first sexual intercourse
 Teenagers in Netherlands are far less likely to either become pregnant or contract an STD
than are their American counterparts

Why the differences?

 Interviewed parents in both countries
 Example question
– Would you permit your son/daughter to spend the night with a girlfriend or boyfriend
in his or her room at home?
 USA – 9/10 said “No”
 Netherlands – 9/10 said “Yes, under the right conditions”

Difference in approach
 Dutch parents believe that adolescents are fully capable of making informed decisions
about sex and capable of having intimate emotional relationships
 American parents believe that adolescents “don’t yet have the tools to make these
decisions on their own”

Recognize that “adolescence” is also a social (cultural) construct

Adolescents
 A time of increased risk-taking and heightened emotional reactivity
 Positive risk-taking is important
 Marked difference in neurological differences
 A distinct period of development
 Cultural considerations