Summary Of Startling Finds On Teenage Brains By Paul Thompson

The first article that was discussed in class was Startling Finds on Teenage Brains (Paul Thompson) this article has strong ethos. Thompson belives that the teeneagers that have commited crime, for example on May 16 fourteen year old Brazil was charged in May because he shot a middle school teacher. Brazil was found guilty of second-degree murder. Thompson claims that the teenage brain isn't fully developed at a young age, because of this many teens are making reckless choices. The author Paul Thompson claims “my own research group at the university of California, Los Angeles, and our colleagues at the national institutes of health have developed technology to map the patterns of brain growth in individual children and teenagers. With repeated

Mascarelli, Amanda Leigh. " The Teenage Brain." Student Science. Society for Students & the Public, 17 Oct. 2012. Web.

For a long time, teenagers have been known for being foolish and not thinking through their actions. People once thought it was simply because of their personalities, but new research has proved that it’s actually because their brains aren’t fully developed. There are advantages and disadvantages to the teenage brain. A few disadvantages to the teenage brain is that the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed yet and they are wired to be independent. Some advantages to the teenage brain is: the brain is easy to reshape or mold into learning new things and they are more open to new, different things. Romeo and Juliet are partially responsible for their actions. Without the help of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse, they wouldn’t have been able to

Paul Thompson in the article,Startling Finds on Teenage Brains,claims that over the last several years,as school shootings have seemed to occur with disturbing frequency. Thompson supports his claim by first describes fourteen year old Nathaniel Brazill´s case because he shot middle-school teacher Grunow. He then explains his and other people's research that is about the thoughts of teens like how he was talking about how he was working on mapping the patterns of brain growth.Lastly, the author explores into the fact that teens have a massive loss of brain tissue. Thompson´s purpose is to inform the reader the thoughts that teenagers have and how when people are teens they have the most brain tissue loss so that they themselves know the thoughts

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

Consequently, teenagers are often impetuous and have a difficult time controlling their emotions. However, this does not serve as an excuse for committing crimes with great magnitude such as murder. In The Sacramento Bee, Greg Krikorian published the results of a study conducted by a University of Massachusetts professor in an article titled “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial.” According to the findings of the study, “performance in reasoning and understanding for youths ages sixteen and seventeen did not differ from those at least eighteen years of age.” (Greg Krikorian 7) Although younger teenagers may not have the same reasoning potential, based on the performed study, sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds, in comparison to adults, have very similar thinking abilities. Thus, the brain development of these teenagers is almost, if not completely, finished. As a result, trying teenagers ages sixteen and up as juveniles is not fair to adult convicts, considering the fact that both groups have the same reasoning abilities. Thus, juveniles ages sixteen and up should be tried as adults. However undeveloped their brains may be, teenagers fully understand the consequences of their

Among the reasons adolescents are incapable of the same reasoning and maturity as an adult is the fact that their brains have not yet fully developed. According to the “Young Adult Development Project” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), the human brain does not reach full maturity until at least the mid-20s. As a result, minors do not possess the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions. They cannot fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation until it is already too late. Teenagers are especially susceptible to this, which can lead to regret, guilt and many obvious mistakes. Researchers at MIT point out the limitations of the teen brain in their Young Adult Development Project, “At the same time young adults are experiencing new levels of sophistication in thinking and emotional regulation, their brains are undergoing changes in precisely the areas associated with these functions.” Additionally, The University of Rochester Medical Center writes in their article “Understanding the Teen brain” that “Good judgement is not something [minors] can excel in... yet.” In 2016 a 10-year old boy shot and killed his brother while they were playing cops and robbers with a rifle he did not know was loaded.

The juvenile court was founded on the belief that juveniles just don't posses the cognitive capacity to fully understand the repercussions of their actions. The juvenile court used to use all its resources to focus on how to rehabilitate juveniles, now all the court proceeding are to establish the legal guilt of a juvenile offender and a small percentage of the legal process establishing adequate punishment. Research on the brain over the last twenty years gives us more knowledge about how children develop and think. Until recently scientists believed the brain was fully developed by age 12. With brain imaging research we now know that this is not true(4 walker). The May 10, 2004 issue of Time Magazine discusses the development of the teen brain in great detail. Dr. Ruben Gur, a professor and director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania states that impulse control is the last area of the brain to develop and the first to fail as we age(4 walker). Teens do not think like adults due to the lack of impulse control and raging hormones. Hormones fuel emotional responses in teens. Drug use during these formative years damages brain development. How teens spend their time may affect the development of the brain(4 walker). Other research at the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that full

“I think it's important for us as a society to remember that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most of the time, youths who simply haven't had the right mentors and supporters around them because of circumstances beyond their control,” (qtd. in Brainy Quotes) are wise words from Q'orianka Kilcher, a human rights activist. Many Americans feel adolescents should be held accountable for their behavior; however, trying them as if they are adults is not always the optimum course of action. Because the teenage brain matures from back to front, the prefrontal cortex is not established until mid-twenties. Ordinarily adolescents can be rehabilitated in order to avert future offending; yet when tried as an adult, all hope for rehabilitation is lost. A one time mistake will follow an adolescent around for the rest of his/her life, dramatically decreasing the opportunities for success. Trying adolescents as adults is an injustice due to their lack of rationality and potential for rehabilitation.

and why they should not be tried as adults in the justice system. It also shows the actual differences in the brain of a juvenile and the brain of an adult. In an article in the New York Times called, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” Gail Garinger explains why juveniles and adults are different. He states, “Young people are biologically different from adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the adolescent brain responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not yet fully developed.” (Garinger 93). I do not believe it is fair to treat a teenager the same as an adult knowing teenagers brains are not yet fully developed and do not possess the same level of neurotic connections. In some ways it is like expecting a child with down syndrome to act and behave the same as a normal child of the same age.

Paul Thompson the author of “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” claims that teenagers must be charged as juveniles, and not adults because their brains are not fully developed.In Thompson's article, he mainly uses logos and hardly any ethos.”These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years(7)”In this quotation, Thompson doesn’t mention who or where he found this information so therefore it makes it weak in ethos. It seems like the only time he does use ethos is when it's reported in the news already and he doesn't have anything to back it up.”In terms of cognitive development, as research on the human brain has shown...young teens are far from

After reading all four articles on juvenile justice it is clear that Paul Thompson who wrote the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” (2001), has the strongest ethos. His main argument of the article was that teens should not be tried as adults in adult court system. Paul Thompson is an assistant professor of neurology at UCLA who studies brain growth as he states, “My own research group at UCLA...have developed technology to map the patterns and brain growth in individual children and teenagers” (5). This information that he is a neurology professor and has mapped teenage brains tells the reader that Paul is a very trustworthy and credible

Many young adolescents who have committed horrendous crimes have been a huge topic amongst the Supreme Court. Whether young adolescents are viewed as innocent, naive children to the public, this not changed the fact they can commit brutal crimes. In spite of the fact that adolescents have committed brutal crimes such as murder, one needs to understand that their brains are not as fully developed as an adult brain would be. Adolescents should not be trialed to a life sentence or attend adult prisons; however, they should be punished for their actions and undergo rehabilitation programs to help them be prepared to fit in with the rest of society.

A number of researchers have suggested over years that teenage brains are not yet fully developed. At the National Institute of Mental Health researchers have studied the human brain ever since the stage of birth all the way to adulthood, to prove that the brain is not complete. When it comes to this topic, Americans assume that if a teenage commits a crime than they should not be held accountable because of their age. Yet they must consider that teens are capable of understanding the situation they are in, how they are looked upon as young adults,, and how they should learn from their mistakes.

According to the article,”Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” , on paragraph seven the teenager’s brain is not aware about the the risk taking, self control and controlling impulses. This shows that teenages don’t have a clue on what they are doing until they do the crime. The lost of brain tissue is seen in every teen no matter how intelligent they are and therefore they can’t control what their about to do because the brain isn’t thinking properly and isn't thinking about the consequences their action will bring. People who disagree will bring up to have someone supervise the juveniles 24/7 and there already is and they’re called parents but if they’re being supervised a lot how will they become