The Teenage Brain and My ToDo List

I was listening to ABC radio last night and Rebecca Levingstone interviewed a scientist who specialises in studying the teenage brain. Wow! The latest research says that the teenage brain doesn’t mature in girls until about age twenty three. Boys? Twenty seven! Serious. A teenage brain needs between 8.25 and 9.25 hours sleep. Most teens get less than eight. From onset of puberty until the aforementioned maturation age, the brain essentially undergoes a complete reconstruction. Billions of cells with disconnected neurons.
Right now, I should be laughing and making a joke about this. But it just blew me away. He explained in a biological sense, why teenagers have problems with being ‘told’ to do something. The teenage brain copes better with requests & flexibility. He gave the following example:
“Get up and wash the dishes” is almost an abuse of their sensibilities. However, “When in the next 20 minutes would you be able to do dishes?” apparently works better. The damned boffins have also proven that negotiation works better than ultimatums or orders when it comes to teenage brains. ‘Closed For Reconstruction’ is how he summarized the workings of a teenagers head.
So cut your teens some slack & learn to negotiate for the outcome you want. Remember, we wuzz all messed up teens at some point. 🙂

My ToDo List

Send special box to Sarah, Vicki, Alex, Loren & Ella.

Send special things to Lill

Get another 4 wheel drive (or a bus)

Sort out getting a camera, computer, and a very good printer. Then start marketing my work. Every day I see brilliant photo opportunities. Stunning things. Scenes, landscapes, animals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, plants. Clouds forming in between the steep ridges that climb towards thousand metre peaks. Just beautiful stuff *everywhere*.

Head to Rocky towards the end of May for Lills mums 50th. Then take Lill on holiday in June

I should be able to accomplish all this.


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