Qondio
Front
Intel
IntelMart
Shares
My Qondio
Account
Huttriver of New Zealand > Intel > This post is to provoke comment - how old's a teenager...

qondio.com/RLqt PRINT EMAIL

This post is to provoke comment - how old's a teenager...

By Peter Petterson of huttriver, kiwi riverman and other blogs

I'll ask you this question fellow writers. How old really is a teenager?

New research that has emerged questions the way society puts the various age groups into little pigeon holes: babies, toddlers, infants, children, teenagers, young adults, middle aged, seniors, geriatric etc.

There is now much thought being put into the classification of "teenager". So how old really is a teenager? Thirteen to nineteen?

The research I mentioned above is in relation to the maturation of the prefrontal cortex lobe: the part of the brain that determines our reaction to complex situations, cognitive behaviour etc. Scientists now believe young adult brains may not be fully matured up to 22 years of age, or in some cases 25 years of age.

This is a real concern considering what pressures society puts on young adults and expects them to succeed. We let them drive motor vehicles and drink alcohol in their mid-teens and send them off to war as soon as they are 18 years of age. Even the voting age has been reduced in many western countries. When they stuff up we are ready to jump on them , condemn them, threaten them with violence and prison, but fail to realise they may not actually be mentally mature enough to succeed at the tasks we give them as a society in the first place; mentally they are still young teenagers, even if physically they are fully mature adults!

Think back to an earlier generation who didn't let their older children(teenagers were unknown then) drive motor vehicles, drink alcohol or go off to war until a later age? The pre-world war two generation didn't need research scientists to tell them that young adults didn't fully mature mentally until their early twenties, did they?

What do you think of that fellow writers?



Contributor's Note

Thought provoking?

This intel first appeared on: http://blogevolve.com/blog/huttriver12

External Links

The Writer's Lounge

Contributed by Huttriver of New Zealand on November 4, 2008, at 9:21 AM UTC.

Reactions

No reactions yet.

Rate This Intel

Please login or sign up to rate this intel.

Comments

Please login or sign up to add a comment.

Share

Copyright Notice

The copyright for this content entitled "This post is to provoke comment - how old's a teenager..." has been specified by the contributor as:

All Rights Reserved

This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.

Login Here with
Any Email Address
Any Password
No account? Sign up.

Intel Contributor
This intel was contributed by Huttriver of New Zealand


Huttriver of New Zealand

Qondio Archive
May, 2012
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031


2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May

Sign Up
Not a member yet? Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to promote, we can help. Sign up and get in on the action.

About Qondio
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.

ABOUT
SUCCESS GUIDE
FEATURES
FAQ
ADVERTISE
CONTACT
USAGE POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY


TWITTER
FACEBOOK