Teenage Brains Summary

Paul Thompson in the article, Startling Finds Teenage Brains, explains that a teen named Nathaniel Brazill was ruled by a Florida grand jury, who had previously ruled Brazill, was going to be tried as an adult. Thompson supports his explanation by first analyzing the problem and if Brazill had been tried before. He then investigates the situation and why teens decide to commit crimes. Lastly, the author explains how there was a university that researched why teens act the way they do. They were surprised at what they found out. They found out that massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years. Thompson’s purpose is to show why teens commit crimes and act the way they act in order so that their parents take care of their teens and so

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

Welcome everyone to the adolescent brain! Have you ever wondered why your older sister or your best friend is happy one minute then angry the next? Do not fret, it is a normal thing that happens to all of us once we become teenagers. a normal thing with puberty. Mood swings are things all teenagers undergo through because the hormones are in control of their body while you go through puberty. This causes the emotions to be out of whack with the rest of their body!They are all over the place; going up and down, side to side. Wanna learn more? Well then get your popcorn, get comfy, and let us dive into the truth of the adolescent brain. The adolescent brain is a rather young brain; it is not completely developed. There are a couple different

Juveniles are being treated as adults when it comes to crimes, and are receiving higher sentences than adults. Furthermore, juveniles do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. Juvenile’s brains are not fully developed and experience loss in gray matter. According to the article Startling Find on Teenage Brains by Paul Thompson, he states, “gray matter, which brain researchers believe supports all of our thinking and emotions, is purged at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year during this period” (Thompson). Gray matter makes up of people’s critical thinking and awareness. Juveniles are losing gray matter and are therefore forgetting the consequences of their actions. In addition, juveniles are coddled way too much by their parents and grow up without any discipline. Why is it that juveniles are segregated from adults in society in every aspect except when it comes to crimes? Juveniles do not deserve to be tried as adults when they commit heinous crimes because it is not constitutionally correct and

When one compares the structure of the adult brain and the teenage brain, there will be several differences between the two. Adults have stronger connections from one nerve cell to another, and they all have essential communication skills. However, teenagers have more synapses and have weaker nerve connections. Also, their frontal lobes aren 't fully developed. This causes adolescence to have impulsive behavior and they typically do not recognize consequences in a situation. In the early twenties the brain becomes fully developed, so people are very good at making decision and they are able to think abstractly. There are many factors that contribute to the construction of the brain; some things help the brain develop normally, other things interrupt the process. There is a substantial amount of distinctions between the adult brain and the adolescent brain, and these includes behavioral and structural differences.

The article “Inside the Teenage Brain” by Marty Wolner states that recently, brain researchers have been able to do a great quantity of detailed studies on the human brain. Despite previous thoughts about the teenage brain, development of the brain through the teenage years is very dynamic. The teenage brain is still learning how to process certain information properly in the thinking part of the brain, so often teens may not process all the information necessary to make responsible decisions. Nevertheless, the teenage years can be very stressful for both parents and for teens. Getting through the teenage years can be difficult, but with the right amount of healthy communication, discipline and support the road ahead won’t be so rough. At this

One juvenile justice author, Gail Garinger agrees that minors don't deserve on life sentences,cannot be treated in an adult- Justice system, and their minds aren't fully developed compared to an adult’s. Garinger importantly states that “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 fully developed.” I agree on Garinger’s statement on comparing a minor’s brain to an adult’s. Due to a minor’s immaturity and lack of irresponsibility are one of the major factors that lead minors to commit terrible mistakes. Thier brain is still in process of development until they reach adulthood which also proven by science. Garinger also states they are, “less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape from dangerous environments and their characters are still in formation.” The environment plays a huge role on how the minor’s behavior and thoughts can lead to the choices they

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

Teenagers often say that drinking will ease the pain and may often make them feel better about themselves. However, in the book The Teenage Brain, Frances Jensen shares her theory about her opinion on how alcohol is bad for the adolescent brain. Teenagers need to know that drinking destroys your brain and decreases dopamine which is the part in your brain that senses you to be happy and without it you’ll find yourself always angry. Alcohol usage slows down the brain and cause you to effect the brain and make bad choices Teenagers often say that drinking will ease the pain and may often make them feel better about themselves. However, in the book The Teenage Brain, by Frances Jensen shares her theory about her opinion on how alcohol is bad for the adolescent brain.

In the article, “Are Teenage Brains Really Different From Adult Brains”, it explains how teenager’s brains are different from an adult’s. The article describes the prefrontal cortex, which is a part of the brain that weighs outcomes, creates judgments, and controls a person’s impulse and emotions. This part of the brain does not develop in most cases until the mid twenties, which proves that a teenager does not have a fully developed mind to even commit a crime such as murder and actually know that the consequences of the mistake they are making. Another article that support those statements is one from CNN, “Kids Should Never Be Tried as Adults”, this article states that teens and children are too young to process information and plan a murder. It also expresses that the teens are harmless and not exactly aware of how brutal the crime is or the consequences that go along with the

Which means these offenders cannot reason, consider consequences, or have the maturity or insight to consider other options, as adults with fully developed brains can. The APA released a position statement in 2012 stating, “APA, along with the American Psychiatric Association and the National Association of Social Workers, has submitted an amicus brief presenting psychological research that shows adolescents are less mature than adults in ways that render them less culpable.”

Kolbert does not directly explain her viewpoint of terrible teens at the beginning of this article. Instead the article begins with an experiment related to mice at Temple University which are known as C57BL/6J  because their responsibility is to take the experiment. We can easily analyze that this design of the beginning breaks out the tradition and attracts audience with the using of anecdote,which is original and interesting . Secondly, she uses “Half of the test mice were four weeks old, which, in murine terms, qualifies them as adolescents.....than solo girls" to conduct her metaphor strategy. ,it is an appropriate apply of metaphor to compare these mice to people of different ages,which vividly presents us how differently people in

Juveniles know what sort of actions can make you a criminal. Starting at a young age they should know right from wrong. In the article “On punishment and Teen killers” by Jennifer Bishop states,“He reported to a friend, who testified at his trial, about his “thrill kill” that he just wanted to “see what it would feel like to shoot someone.” This situation reveals how they’re responsible for their actions because he didn’t have a reason to commit the crime. The criminal wanted to see how it felt to shoot someone without caring the effect it will make on others and himself. The author also states, “if brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world. They do not.” This states that brain development is not the problem. That is something that can be said to conceal the true meaning of their crime. Teenagers are responsible for their crime and they should be convicted as adults.

Juveniles do not only suffer from being too immature under the age of eighteen but, there are scientific statistics to prove the immaturity of brain growth in adolescents under the age of eighteen (ACLU, 2017). UCLA’s Department of Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, and the National Institute of Mental Health all agree the human brain is not fully developed until between the ages of eighteen to twenty-two years old (ACLU, 2017). This is because the frontal and pre-frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed yet and that part of the brain controls impulse control and judgment (ACLU, 2017; James, 2002). Juveniles cannot be considered to have the same impulses as adults. Fabian (2011) asserts, “juveniles have ‘diminished culpability’; in other words, they cannot be held fully morally responsible for their actions. Because juveniles struggle to define their

People obviously know that teenagers do not have a fully developed mind, but they do not know what causes these immature actions. In the article On Punishment and Teen Killers, “If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world. They do not” (Jenkins Par. 8). This shows that teenagers are not all killers or sociopaths, it states that teens do not think the same way as others do in different situations. In the article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains, “These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years” (Thompson Par. 7). This fact proves that teens do not have a mature mind to make correct decisions