The Teenage Brain
EARLY ADOLESCENCE AGES 12-14
* Struggle with a sense of who they are
* Experience Moodiness
* Express feelings by actions rather than words
* Begin to place more importance on friends
* Pay less attetion to parents
* Search for new people to to love
*Worry about being "normal"
* Begin testing limits and rules
MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE 15 to 16
* Complain that parents interfere with independence
* Worrry about appearance and body image
* Withdraw from parents emotionally
* Accelerate efforts to make new friends
* Adopt a pronounced group identity
* Grieve the psychological loss of their parents
*Internalize experience privately (diaries, journals ect)
* Begin to value intellectual qualitites
*Respond to personal Conscience
* Start to experience passion and love
LATE ADOLESCENCE 17-19
* Consciously delay gratfication
* Thinks most ideas through
*Express ideas verbally
* Develop a well-rounded sense of humor
*Understand and make use of compromise
* Become more concerned about others
* Have better defined work habits
* Begin to consider serious relationships
* Have a clear sexual identity
*Stress personal dignity and self-esteem
* Struggle with a sense of who they are
* Experience Moodiness
* Express feelings by actions rather than words
* Begin to place more importance on friends
* Pay less attetion to parents
* Search for new people to to love
*Worry about being "normal"
* Begin testing limits and rules
MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE 15 to 16
* Complain that parents interfere with independence
* Worrry about appearance and body image
* Withdraw from parents emotionally
* Accelerate efforts to make new friends
* Adopt a pronounced group identity
* Grieve the psychological loss of their parents
*Internalize experience privately (diaries, journals ect)
* Begin to value intellectual qualitites
*Respond to personal Conscience
* Start to experience passion and love
LATE ADOLESCENCE 17-19
* Consciously delay gratfication
* Thinks most ideas through
*Express ideas verbally
* Develop a well-rounded sense of humor
*Understand and make use of compromise
* Become more concerned about others
* Have better defined work habits
* Begin to consider serious relationships
* Have a clear sexual identity
*Stress personal dignity and self-esteem