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From Publishers Weekly
Strauch, medical science and health editor at the New York Times, sets out to offer reassurance to parents baffled by their kids' seemingly irrational and erratic behavior. She discusses the latest research, including brain scans that show changes in the brain's structure and function that could explain the crazy behavior exhibited by teens. In addition to reviewing various research projects around the country, Strauch also includes discussions with both parents and teenagers. Parents lament their inability to understand why a straight-A student suddenly loses interest in school or starts behaving miserably. The teens are surprisingly open about their often ill-advised behavior, but seem unable to offer reasons for such actions. One possible explanation, still debated by scientists, is whether adolescence is a critical brain period, that is, an important period of development. Particularly interesting is the chapter Crazy by Design, in which Strauch offers evidence of the cognitive and emotional development of teens. Just as there are growth spurts for babies and young children, there are developmental milestones for teens roughly ages 11, 15 and 19. For example, While a younger teen might see a parent as a hypocrite if he holds two opposing views, an older teenager would begin to understand how two things can be true at the same time, and weigh the evidence for each. While the book does not offer how-to guidance, readers will be struck by the wonderfully candid comments by those interviewed as well as Strauch's insightful narrative.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Contrary to what scientists have assumed until recently, teenagers act weird not because of hormones but because their brains are still trying to get all the wiring right. From the health and science editor at the New York Times.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and reassuring book.,
By
This review is from: The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids (Hardcover)
I don't have children, but I do have an interest in mind and the brain, so when an on-line friend, Steven Haines, recommended it I decided to read The Primal Teen. As catchy as the title may sound, the book is actually quite serious about the subject of the developing teenage brain. Although the author is not herself a neurologist or neuroscientist, she is a skillful journalist (New York Times and Newsday). The topic is well researched with primary sources taken from prestigious professional journals like Nature Neuroscience, Brain Research, Journal of Comparative Neurology, Cerebral Cortex, Annals of Neurology, etc. While some of those articles cited are late 1980s, most are 1997 to 2002 (the book was published in 2003). Ms Strauch also interviewed some of the researchers personally for their input on what the scientific data are likely to mean and how it impacts teens and their families. Topics covered are: where the new data are coming from; teens and impulsive behavior; the whens, wheres, and whys of changes in the structure of the brain; what animal studies have to say about development of the brain in adolescents; why teens take risks; why teens seem to keep late hours and sleep late in the day; the chemistry of the brain and puberty; and the effects of drugs, tobacco and alcohol on growing brains. I was a little frustrated with the lack of actual suggestions for parents on how to cope with their changing teen. To some extent the anecdotal stories of some of the researchers who had teenaged children and those from the author herself provided insight into possible approaches, but on the whole very little by the way of helpful problem solving was offered. This may well be because too little has yet been done to make definite statements. The book at least helps a parent understand that their teenagers are "normal" despite the apparent erratic behavior they exhibit, that patience is the most likely route to a successful rite of passage, and most importantly that "this too will pass." An interesting and reassuring book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Any Parent's "Must" Read,
By Michelle L. Klave (Pahrump, NV United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids (Hardcover)
Fascinating, informative and helpful to any parent who has raised, is raising, or will be raising a teenager. A definite "required reading" for anyone involved with teens, be it parent, teacher, judiciary, law enforcement, etc. Highly recommended. It certainly makes sense of this senseless creature!
1.0 out of 5 stars
What's Wrong with Adult Brains?,
By
This review is from: The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids (Hardcover)
I worked with children and teens in their families for 15 years, and what I saw isreflected in cold statistics--American adults don⤙t need flattering reassurances that we⤙re okay, we need a hard slap of reality. Sixty percent of American parents⤙ marriages end in divorce today, subjecting kids to unbelievable conflicts. American adults and parents are, by far, the most violent, drug-abusing, criminally arrested, imprisoned, obese, and unstable of any Western nation, and all of these adult crises have skyrocketed in the last four decades. Today, 20 million teens have been subjected to their parents⤙ family breakup, 10 million young people grow up with parents who are heavy drinkers or dug addicts, more than 1 million youths suffer parents arrested for felonies every year (several hundred thousand of whose parents are imprisoned), and hundreds of thousands of youths are confirmed victims of violent and sexual abuses in their homes every year. Compared to parents in other Western countries. Americans are far more likely to use psychiatrists, Ritalin, forced institutionalization, police interventions, harsh restrictions such as curfews and drug tests, violent punishments, and lengthy imprisonments on children and teens--and we complain we STILL can't control our kids! Strauch⤙s book, of course, sticks safely to abstract theories and pleasing anecdotes and touches on none of these disturbing realities. She gushes over pompous claims by a few self-praising bio-researchers that their overblown, post-1996 notions invalidate all the thousands of practical research studies on adolescents and adults that came before. Unfortunately, neurobiological research is notoriously inconclusive--conscientious experts (not numbered among the ones Strauch interviews) readily admit that our knowledge of how brain organization processes affect real-world behavior is woefully primitive. What counts is that decades of practical research tests involving real-life decision making have shown that teenagers and adults think very much alike. In fact, teenage rates of violent crime, homicide, suicide, unplanned pregnancy, HIV infection, heavy drinking, drunken driving accidents, smoking, obesity, and so forth, closely follow the corresponding rates among adults of their families and communities--a fact that is impossible to explain if teenage and adult brains are fundamentally different. The reason Strauch⤙s book has no ⤽practical advice⤠for parents is because this book has no relevance to practical, real-life situations beyond the self-serving anecdotes she chooses. No wonder Americans praise and make best-sellers out of books that skip over how alarmingly American middle-aged behavior has deteriorated and flatter us that the whole problem is that teenagers can⤙t think straight. Mike Males, Santa Cruz
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