Doug Jackson Teen Brain Photo

Teen Brains

Every brain is wired differently. Wired differently from birth and changing all the time as we interact with our environment. So generalizations about "The Teen Brain" are broad simplifications of an infinitely unique process. Yet current research shows that the human brain is not fully developed until the early twenties and that the onset of puberty adds additional neurological curveballs to the mix. When you work with adolescent delinquents housed in detention centers and long term facilities; these differences are worth knowing. The youth we work with may appear to be fully grown adults; but their brains are still construction zones.

I've produced a set of four videos to help security staff in these facilities understand some of the basics of how the we process intense emotions and why adolescents process emotions a bit differently. The series show how the 5 Step Hard Style Kata (JKM Training, Inc) makes use of what we know about the adolescent mind to reduce the likelihood of a confrontation with youth escalating into security staff having to use force in order to regain control of the situation. In this first video, I give a brief overview of the brain. It is followed by a Jeopardy type quiz to test what you've learned. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you'd like to have on-line training customized for your organization.

play teen brain video