Are Your Teens Driving You Crazy?

If your teen is driving you nuts, do not despair. They are going through some major hormonal changes.

When I was in college I majored in French, Spanish and minored in psychology. I loved psychology so much I ended up taking so many classes in psychology that I am actually qualified to teach it at the high school level, but instead chose to just teach French and Spanish. My love for adolescence psychology led me to continue to read and keep up with it. What I have learned is that many teens experience some major hormonal changes and that their brain is not fully developed until 25 years old. That is why some teens do some pretty irrational things.

New research stipulates that the last areas of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for processing information. The teen years are the most tumultuous time of life because that part of the brain is responsible for making judgments, controlling impulses and foreseeing consequences. Many teens experience major mood swings and engage in too many risk taking activities.

Having taught middle and high school students , I have a deep appreciation and empathy for that age group. Most of the time what they need the most is support front parents. Parents play an important role in working with their teenagers in attaining successes and minimizing risks.

I was inspired to write this article, because I ran into one of my former student. I had this young man in both middle and in high school. My oh my!! What a transformation. He will be a senior in college next year majoring in pre-med. This young man failed my Spanish class because he constantly ditched , got caught smoking weed in the boy's bathroom. I can go on and on... Well, he is a new person, he is living proof that teens can change . I hope this article will be a tremendous help to all parents . Please do not give up on your teens, they need your support more than ever.