Page 43 - Kyalami Issue 4 2022

Kyalami Estates Corporate Brand Bible Design 26
3.0 Folder (Inner)
TODAY'S CHILD

Recent ground-breaking research shows how

brain changes that occur during adolescence can

be used to help teenagers achieve their potential.

or some adolescents, the incapable of considering the UNDERSTANDING THE CHAOS
teenage years are a breeze; consequences of their actions. And During adolescence, teens start to
for others, this developmental all this happens while having to cope develop more sophisticated ways of
Fphase is a difficult journey; with academic pressure. Given these thinking. Abstract reasoning comes
and for too many teens, it is a soul- factors, coupled with the inner conflicts into play. However, it’s also a time
destroying period dominated by and emotions that define adolescence, when teenagers are experimenting;
feelings of low self-worth, depression many teenagers may not realise their they are often judged for risky
and anxiety. full intellectual potential. behaviour and for being impulsive and
irritable. This behaviour is attributed
These changes can be extremely In a bid to decode and understand the to raging hormones, an increased sex
challenging. Teenagers may suffer brain’s evolution, scientists have been drive and immaturity.
mood swings which are often hard to charting the neural changes that occur
control or they may undergo an identity during adolescence. Insights from Teenagers feel misunderstood
crisis. Some teens rebel or discover this research are helping to explain and isolated. Their turmoil is often
a taste for adventure and risk-taking; why teens behave the way they do. ridiculed. As neuroscientist Sarah-
this may be spurred on by the need Moreover, researchers suggest that Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing
for peer approval, which becomes certain traits or skills learnt during the Ourselves: The Secret Life of the
paramount at this age. teen years – traits which even an adult Teenage Brain, says: “It is not socially
would find challenging – can be turned acceptable to mock and demonise
By the same measure, they seem into strengths. other sectors of society ... but it is
strangely acceptable to mock and
demonise teenagers.”

On the one hand, teens seem to
be doing all they can to separate
themselves from their families in an
effort to assert their independence.
They often challenge authority and
boundaries. Yet teens crave approval
from the adults in their lives as well
as their peers. This period of conflict
is normal and may be less evident in
teens with stronger self-esteem who
come from stable, supportive homes
where the communication channels
are open.
How teens interpret their world
is based on their changing
social environment, the physical
transformation their bodies undergo
and the shifting expectations placed
on them. These can contribute to
teenagers feeling alienated.
Mood swings can be explained by
the interplay of psychological and
physiological processes associated
with maturing. Teenagers experience
greater fluctuations in hormones and
neurotransmitters such as serotonin
Photo by Antonika Chanel Photo by Tyler Nix There is also the matter of sleep. It
(one of the feelgood hormones), GABA
and cortisol, which affect moods.

has been extensively researched and
reported that teens have a different
body clock to adults and require far
more sleep. This is because their
melatonin (a hormone made in the

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