• 2005 Study (chart #1 above): Teenagers and adults played a virtual driving game that tested their willingness to take risks. Adolescents responded to the risks as well as adults did and performed about equally when playing alone. But in the presence of peers, risk-taking surged among 13- to 16-year-olds—while remaining flat among adults.

• 2014 Study: Rodents of different ages were exposed to the equivalent of an open bar: They could drink alcohol at their leisure. Adolescent mice drank about as often as adult mice when by themselves. But in the presence of other juveniles, they drank 25% more of the time. There was no change in the drinking of adult mice.

• 2012 Study: Risk of death for teenagers driving alone increased by 44% per mile when traveling with one peer, and quadrupled with three peers in the car. By contrast, traveling companions are actually a “protective factor” for adults over 26, who are less likely to crash if they have a passenger than if they’re alone.

• Adolescent rodents and adolescent humans are susceptible to peer pressure—and members of both species take risks at much higher rates when in the presence of companions their own age.

"For teenagers, there’s just something about the presence of peers that is transfiguring: They understand the risks, and take them anyway."

• 2014 Study: Gathered brain images of 33 people and plotted the growth rates of:

1. Limbic system (nucleus accumbens) = responsible for primal instincts like fear, lust, hunger, and pleasure

2. Prefrontal cortex = responsible for things like self-control, planning, and self-awareness

• The results (chart #2 above) show that the nucleus accumbens changed only modestly during adolescence while the prefrontal cortex experienced a dramatic shift in volume, shrinking and reorganizing as it pruned away unused synaptic connections.

• This shows that:

1. The system which gives teenagers the rewarding feeling of taking risks is structurally more developed before the system which stops them from taking risks.

2. Hence, it’s not youthful irrationality or a flair for the dramatic at work; teenagers actually experience things like music, drugs, and the thrill of speed more powerfully than adults do.

3. Peer influence also lights up the same reward system that are aroused by drugs, sex, food, and money.

4. However, we should be careful to not discount social factors like changing schools, or overlook individual differences in teenagers.

"The brain’s reward system (a.k.a limbic system) is mature and firing on all cylinders in teenagers, while the brain's self-control system (a.k.a prefrontal cortex), is still busy developing."

• 2002 Study (chart #3 above): shows the electrical response in both adolescent and adult mice to a novel piece of information (represented by the red arrow). Like a bell struck more sharply, the brain of the adolescent mouse produces a more dramatic reply—and then sustains it for longer.

• New information is written into the gray matter of the brain itself—expressed in structural changes to synapses, which, through repeated exposure, form increasingly durable webs of memory.

• The teenage brain is by nature more receptive to learning and shows faster learning curves than adults (just as in adolescent animals).

"The same circuitry that makes teenagers vulnerable to risky behavior and mood swings also confers significant advantage on adolescent learners."

1. Explain to students why they experience some things more powerfully

I agree with the article that "teenagers have the right to know... what's happening in their brains" as well as "we know that people like biological explanations".

Talking to them honestly about their brain development can

(1) provide useful context for their emotional worlds, and

(2) reset expectations about their potential for continued emotional & intellectual growth.

Students will get to better understand how the mismatch in the development of their brain systems could lead to them experiencing certain things more powerfully - that this is natural and normal.

2. Emphasise the need to hone self-regulation

The powerful thing about these studies is that it is not all doom and gloom - my students need to know that they are not powerless over how they feel. In fact, the teenage years are “the last, great neuroplastic era in our lifetimes”.

The prefrontal cortex, which governs executive functions, is still developing and remains highly responsive to the environment and to training during adolescence.

Hence, they must seize the opportunity (and limited time left) to develop precious life skills such as self-regulation, stress management, long-term planning, and empathy. Moreover, such functions generally improve focus and self-discipline too, which will set them up for academic / professional success well beyond their school years.

When I shared this with my form class, I provided a series of pictorial examples of how some bad habits (or poor development of life skills) at their age could lead to undesirable consequences in their adult years:

• being lazy / slothful / a procrastinator at home (or at school)

• being disorganised / untidy / forgetful in their school work

• being careless in managing finances now, and how this might affect future lifestyle and decisions

• being impatient / getting angry easily / hurting others with words / growing violent / struggling with anger management, and how this might affect future relationships

• being quick to blame others / having difficulty in admitting one's mistakes, and how this might affect future relationships

• being rash in making decisions / having poor self-control and self-awareness, and how this might affect the future

Hence, I want them to reflect on how much effort they're putting in to hone their self-regulation, and wish to highlight to them that it's not too late to start!

(The article also mentions that "efforts to improve the self-regulation of teenagers are far more likely to be effective than those that are limited to providing them with information about risky activities”.)

3. Encourage them to make good use of peer pressure

When I shared with my class, I helped them understand the immense power of peer influence, and also guide them to see that they can harness this power positively.

According to a research on smoking, teens ignore warnings about long-term health consequences of cigarettes, but respond to the social effects such as “give you bad breath, or put younger children in danger” or “it is an adult industry that is exploiting them to make money".

As a school, perhaps it is more effective to make use of "teen leaders", "social influencers", and appeals to "fairness and justice" to change behaviors around issues such as vaping, bullying, and academic cheating.