Adolescents Right To Make Autonomous Medical Choices

As Albert Einstein once said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” Seeing that I agree with Einstein, I stand in firm negation of today's resolution which states Resolved: Adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices. For simplicity in the debate today, I would like to give the following definition from the Black’s Law Dictionary: Adolescence is the age which follows puberty and precedes the age of majority. It commences for males at 14, and for females at 12 year completed. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary says that the word ought is used to indicate a desirable or expected state. Autonomous, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, is having the freedom to act independently. The negative will support the value of paternalism, which as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is the interference of a state or an individual with another person, against their will, and defended or motivated by a claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm. The value of paternalism will be defended with the criterion of knowledge and experience.

What do you think when you hear the word “teenager”? Most people think of teenagers as pugnacious and restless human beings. Their rebellious and rambunctious behavior usually leads people to believe this. Teens tend to participate in jeopardous activities such as dangerous driving, binge-drinking, or fighting that could land them in serious trouble, the ER or the police station. Although engaging in these exercises is strongly frowned upon, some studies show that most of these actions cannot be controlled. Adolescents are drawn to risky acts due to specific messengers in the brain, peer pressure and their odd methods of apprehending the outcomes of a situation.

The article “Dude, Where’s My Frontal Cortex?” by Robert Sapolsky talks about the delayed maturation of the frontal cortex in teenagers and how the underdeveloped frontal cortex is the cause of erratic behavior of teenagers. Sapolsky explains to the reader how the frontal cortex does not fully develop until the age of twenty for a person and how that part of the brain is important for extensive reasoning, impulse control, and emotional regulation. He shows the reader how particularly emotional situations affect both a teenager and an adult differently due to either having or not having a matured frontal cortex. This example that he uses allows for the reader to see how a teenager responds to situations with extreme thoughts and behavior which

Adult decisions should have adult consequence many minors don’t think about their actions and how it affects others around them. According to

Research studies have been conducted to demonstrate that adolescent brains are without full adult potential thus, adolescents should not be charged with adult sentences for crimes committed under the age of 18. Several doctors note that the under development of the brain, though it does not excuse criminal behavior, should not result in a life sentence or any other irreversible or extreme punishment (Beckman, 2004, p. 1). Beckman (2004) also states that “eight medical and mental health organizations, including the American Medical Association cite a sheaf of developmental

Researchers can look at the brain of a teen to examine their behavioral decisions.Teenage brains these years are more active and dynamic which means it’s still developing.Processing in the Limbic system is a result of risky behavior.The construction of a teenage thinking brain is not cable of fully processing necessary to make responsible decisions.At this stage the brain is still developing.The brain changes depending on interactions, helpimg the teen make changes. At this time the brain will need focused and support for a healthy connection.Surrounding impacts the child faces such as challenging situations is an effective technique.Parents need to consider the teens emotional

The article “Inside the Teen Brain’ by Marty Wolner, states that the human brain provides parents with shocking new evidence to possibly explain the sometimes irrational, illogical, and impulsive behavior of teenagers. Teenage years are radically more active and dynamic than they previously thought. So teenagers are left with most of the information reaching their brains being processed in the emotional part (limbic system). Information processed in the limbic system without benefit increases the processing in the prefrontal cortex. It may result in impulsive, egocentric, and maybe even risky behavior choices. The prefrontal cortex of the teenage brain does not excuse inappropriate or irresponsible behavior from the teen. The brain is not yet

Adolescence is a critical time of development. During this period there are significant changes in brain development, emotions, cognition, behavior, and personal relationships. It is during this time that most major mental health disorders appear, many of which carry over into adulthood. Behavior patterns such as substance abuse also often develop during this time and may continue throughout adulthood. Many adolescents struggling with mental health issues begin to exhibit symptoms such as acting out at home or in school, showing a decreased interest in activities that they previously enjoyed, or bringing home poor grades. Others ultimately are charged with offenses ranging from status

Many parents or adults wonder why adolescents act the way they do and want answers as to why. Numerous of these actions adolescents make are because of the prefrontal cortex(PFC). The PFC isn’t developed until the mid 20s which causes teenagers to lack on seeing the consequences before they make a risky or impulsive decision. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, he illustrates that adolescents show impulsivity, decision making, and risk taking.

A 16-year-old girl visits a birth control clinic and asks to be put on the pill. Since she is a minor, the clinic doctor who writes the prescription for her notifies her parents of the action. As of the year 2016, there are only 26 states that allow minors to obtain contraceptives without parental consent. There are 20 states that allow certain minors to obtain contraceptives without parental consent and those include minors that are married or who have already been pregnant. Four states have no laws on parental consent (Gutimacher Institute, 2016). This ethical controversy leaves room for an open interruption of whether or not minors should need parental consent to gain access to birth control, to apply ethical reasoning to this controversy one must examine the ethical principles of utilitarianism, rights-based, duty-based, justice based, and virtue-based ethics.

When it comes to the teenage brain it’s obvious that they aren’t fully developed. According to Frances Jensen “a mother, author and neurologist” (83), a teenager is missing the frontal and prefrontal lobes of the brain in which adults possess. “The frontal lobes are the seat of what’s sometimes called the brains executive function and is responsible for planning, for self-awareness, and for judgement” (84). Being that a teenager lacks planning, self-awareness and judgement due to a missing brain function, they are subject to not thinking and being aware of circumstances in a difficult situation. For example, Kolbert states that her adolescent sons participate in a “fun pastime known as a ‘case race’” (83). A case race is when “participants form two

| Girls reaching physical maturity.Boys still developing (until mid 20’s.)“Adulthood.” Legally responsible for own actions partially

Steinberg explained that “Asynchrony in brain development during adolescence” (Steinberg & Scott, “Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence: Developmental Immaturity, Diminished Responsibility, and the Juvenile Death Penalty,” 2003)” is that certain processes occur/develop prior to other processes during adolescence. In other words, speech comprehension occurs prior to speech production. It is complicated for adolescents to make sound decisions if perhaps myelination hasn’t happened in the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for decision making. Therefore the adolescent will choose a more risky behavior because they are unable to access their higher cognitive functions. It has been proven that individuals mature at different rates given certain policies where a 16 year old cannot be held up to the death penalty because they aren’t psychosocially mature enough, but can make a sound medical decision without the consent of an adult. Steinberg thought that we should move away from using a 2 class category system (child/adult) and use a more realistic classification system (child, adolescent, adult). Only during the stage of adolescence, is where there are age restrictions because at certain ages adolescents are only allowed to engage in particular activities, but reversely are limited by those same age constraints according to public policy. “Medical decisions are those where

First, most adolescents are not mature enough to make decisions that will change their lives forever. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius state, “Some older adolescents have the cognitive ability and capacity to reason similarly to an adult. However, neuroimaging studies

Adolescence is the distinct transitional stage between childhood and adulthood in human development, extending primarily over the teenage years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached (Rathus, 2014). However in some instances, this biological, cognitive, social and emotional maturity may not be reached until a later stage and may be dictated by gender. Adolescence is characterised by rapidly changing and unpredictable behaviour (Freud, as cited in Rathus 2014), heightened and unstable emotions (Hall, as cited in Rathus 2014), disturbances in identity, the gradual development of one’s moral reasoning (Kohlberg, as cited in Rathus, 2014) and the gradual establishment of one’s independence. Several of these changes may occur at differing phases in adolescent growth. This development is categorized into three separate stages; early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Early Adolescence, commencing from the ages of eleven or twelve until the age of fourteen, comprises of several features such as rapid biological development and maturity, heightened stress levels and limited coping capabilities. On the other hand, middle adolescence, from the approximate age of fourteen to sixteen, involves the gradual cease of biological change, an increase in coping strategies and declined stress levels. Furthermore, late adolescence, commencing from the age of sixteen until the age of eighteen or nineteen, encompasses physical maturity, whereby the