Good morning, Andy,
Well, another troubled teen-ager has shot up his high school, and everyone is scrambling for explanations. Curiously, one important recent discovery has been widely overlooked.
It used to be generally believed that the human brain was fully developed in the first 18 months of life. But last year the National Institute of Mental Health concluded that the synapses in the brain–those complex connections that link cause and effect, information and action, acts and consequences, and so on–continue to develop well into the 20s.
If this is true, it would explain a lot. It would explain why many teen-agers don’t seem to “get it.” It would explain why so many college graduates live at home with their parents for a year or two before venturing into the real world. It would explain why they don’t start holding serious jobs, paying rent, or taking full responsibility for themselves until they’re 25 or so. (Come to think of it, it might explain why George W. Bush didn’t get with the program until he was past 40. Maybe his synapses just took a very, very long time to develop, but they’re OK now.)
I first encountered this theory in the Autumn 2000 issue of my own magazine, Family Business. The author, consultant Ellen Frankenberg of Cincinnati, was using this discovery as a guide for owners of family companies who want to bring their kids into the business. It has colored my thinking about adolescents ever since.
For instance: My tiny block of row homes in Center City Philadelphia is mostly inhabited by families and couples, except for two houses occupied by art students from the University of the Arts nearby. These kids hold loud parties, block the sidewalks with their cars, skateboard down the street at 3 a.m., and so on. We’ve tried to reason with them, but it’s hopeless.
“Look, we’re your neighbors,” I told one of them. “We’d rather be your friends. We don’t want to call the police.” The kid shrugged, “Call the police!” and skateboarded away. In the old days, I would have called down the law. But now I told myself, “Not his fault–his synapses aren’t fully developed!”
This synapse research (assuming it’s correct) suggests one inescapable conclusion: Teen-agers need more structure and guidance from their elders–not the greater freedom and independence they’ve been getting at younger and younger ages. What do you think?
Dan
