- How are you Able to apply the content from chapter 5 to your personal life as a student, parent and or as a caregiver?
Write a 2 DOUBLE SPACED pages
C hapter 5
C hildhood into A
dolescence: F
urnishing the A dult M
ind, A ge E
ight and B
eyond
The grow th of a child's m
ind tow ard the capacity for adult thinking
is one of the m ost dynam
ic aspects of brain developm ent. N
ature builds the fram
ew ork; it is up to the child, parents, and school to
com plete the w
alls and do the interior decorating. Throughout childhood, developm
ent m oves upw
ard from the basem
ent of reflex response tow
ard the highest levels w here the frontal lobes
take over. A t least tw
enty years are needed to finish this process, and for adults w
ith active m inds the job m
ay never be finished! Children need tim
e to practice w ith fancier m
ental furnishings at each stage of developm
ent. The m ore they use the equipm
ent, the m
ore com fortable they becom
e w ith it-and the better their
base for the next level. The m iddle elem
entary years are an im
portant tim e for consolidating early foundations,
because som
etim e around age eleven the m
ind's top floors start to get a new
set of furnishings. N ew
types of thinking are suddenly possible, but the view
from the penthouse is often scary and
confusing. Let's explore som e of the perils
-and wonders-o f the
fascinating years that m ark this transition.
M E N
T A
L G
R O
W fH
IN A
C TIO
N
O ne bonus of m
y job, w orking w
ith students at all grade levels, is the opportunity to see m
ental grow th in action. For a bird's-eye
view
of children's thinking, consider
these responses
from
different ages to the question, "W hy do w
e have Jaw s?"
A ge six:
RICA RD
O : "B
ecause you m ight get hurt."
These children are all delightfully concrete thinkers, but there are som
e interesting differences in their answ ers. Suzie's answ
er is typical of a younger child-
caught by personal, very concrete experience. Peter has m
oved on a bit, pushing out beyond his playground to
one particular law
, and Ricardo
m anages
a rudim
entary generalization. Such different levels of abstraction are com
m on at age six and seven
-an im
portant transition point in children's ability to grasp ideas that go beyond concrete physical experience.
A geten
: G
EO R
G E
: "If w e didn't have law
s people w ould go out and steal
things. C ar crashes w
ould be to often because people w ouldn't
stop for red lights. O ther people w
ould shoot each other." N
A O
~!: "W e have law
s because if w e didn't, then the w
orld w ould
go biserk. If w e didn't have laws like 'D
O N
'T LITTER ' or 'D
O N
'T FISH
H ER
E' or 'NO H U
N TIN
G ' then people w
on't know if their
supposed to do this or that." A
N N
: "Law s w
ere m ade to protect us and to keep the w
orld or our country safe."
These typical ten-year-olds w rote their answ
ers-and their spelling is, as alw
ays,just as interesting as their ideas. N otice how
this age level loves rules, Jaw
, and order-o ne of the hallm
arks of late elem
entary years. H aving absorbed a lot of inform
ation about the w
ay the w orld w
orks, they are still inclined to relate ideas back to concrete personal experiences. Ann is one of the few in the class w
ho m anaged a m
ore abstract statem ent. At this age there is
usually less variability than at others. Let's see w hat happens in
three years.
SU ZIE: "B
ecause som e people eat bubble gum
and it's notfai,· if som
e people have it and others don't!" A
ge thirteen: T
IR O
N E
: "W e have Jaw
s to keep control of people. Law s help us to
be safe. They teach us to follow directions and obey them
. If you PETER
: "If you're driving too fast they m ight give you a ticket."
106 of 330
do not, you m ay be severely punished just as in school."
KATE: "The m ain reason is to keep this w
orld under control. For exam
ple: an eleven-year-old boy could go into a bar and ask for a vodka, but since there are law
s they prevent eleven-year-olds to be able to do that."
BIA N
CA : "Law
s are very im portant to have in any form
of group. They protect people from
others. N o one or group could or w
ould survive w
ithout them . If w
e had no law s w
e w ould have no
rights." FR
A N
K LIN
: "W e have to run by som
e sort of guidelines to live by and to run our society in an efficient w
ay. If w e did not have law
s, w
e w ould probably be the only anim
als that w ould not have som
e sort of system
."
W elcom
e to adolescence! N otice the striking contrast betw
een tw
o students' personal, concrete thinking (Tyrone, K ate), and
near-adult perspectives on society's needs and universal principles (Bianca, Franklin). The rigid law
-and-order em phasis of m
iddle childhood (rules should be follow
ed so you w on't be punished)
eventually gives w ay, for m
ost teenagers, to larger perspectives Oaw
s are necessary for the survival of a society), but tim etables for
this change vary dram atically. H
ow w
ould you like to be a teacher trying to plan a lesson to interest every student in this class? Som
ething exciting is taking place, but it hasn't fully happened to everyone.
Everyone know s that the physical changes of adolescence are
im portant, and neurological changes are also an im
portant part of the process. This chapter w
ill sum m
arize the m ost current
inform ation
on brain
developm ent
from
m iddle
childhood through adolescence, give you a look inside som
e schools, and suggest w
ays parents and teachers can collaborate to help.
FIN ISH
IN G
C H
IL D
H O
O D
: T
H E
Y E
A R
S F R
O M
E IG
H T
TO E
L E
V E N
"School's O
K , I'm
O K
"
A ges eight to ten are a relatively calm
period for m any children. As
academ ic skills from
previous years are practiced and refined,
m ost students feel capable and in control. T
he brain strengthens its
abilities for
learning as
m yelination
of fibers
speeds associations betw
een senses and ideas. Late elem entary grades are
an ideal tim e to apply skills already learned. R
eading to learn replaces learning to read; m
ath becom es useful in the shopping
m all or on the com
puter. R epeating skills and rituals lays a solid
base for m oving on to new
challenges. C
hildren at this age love to soak up inform ation and facts, but
they m ay not reflect very deeply about them
unless an adult guides them
. T hey painstakingly copy paragraphs for reports but need
help in paraphrasing them . Lots of practice is
needed-and instruction on organization skills. A
bove all, older children need plenty of tim
e for their ow n brands of play. They still learn best by
starting w ith concrete experience. The m
ost helpful parents and the m
ost successful teachers capture their w ide-ranging curiosity
in active, project-oriented learning.
H ands-O
n Ju stice
O ne creative teacher got w
onderful results w hen she capitalized
on a "teachable m om
ent." N oticing that all her "sophisticated"
nine-year-old girls w ere bringing their dolls to recess, she w
isely figured they w
ere expressing a need to be children for a little w hile
longer. A s she eavesdropped on the doll society, it w
as rocked by an argum
ent over playground territory (reptilian brain?). The girls set up a "court" to m
ediate the dispute, and soon the boys began to take sides, although no one w
as too clear on the judicial process. Sensing a golden opportunity to w
eave together interest, concept, and skill developm
ent, the teacher expanded her plans and suggested that the class investigate firsthand how
courts w ork,
neatly supplem
enting the
fourth grade
A m
erican history
curriculum objectives. In the follow
ing w eeks students searched
out books, new spaper articles, and Internet sources to w
rite about and discuss in class. C
hildren chose group or independent projects and practiced defending a point of view
w ith oral and m
ultim edia
presentations. A law
yer father cam e to discuss his experiences in
court and answ er questions. Parent volunteers organized a visit to
a real courtroom , w
here the judge w as so im
pressed w ith these young scholars' know
ledge that she let them sit in on a trial and
took them on an unscheduled tour of the justice center. Finally,
the dolls' ow n court w
as held, and the classroom new
spaper proclaim
ed the result-a hung jury. N
ot all teachers are this im aginative or hardw
orking, but all need parents' support if they try to flee now
and then from the tyranny
of w orksheets, overly abstract curricula, and from
artificial standards of"com
petence" that put lim its on intellectual curiosity.
The hum an brain learns and rem
em bers best w
hat it understands. Sim
ply restricting students to the m em
orization of facts for w hich
they have little conceptual grasp is poor preparation for grasping the com
plex issues of a com plex w
orld. Such "real" experiences are particularly im
portant in late elem entary years because students
need help witi! abstract concepts such as "justice" or "law ." A
t hom
e, parents1'iave an im portant role in seeking out opportunities
to supplem ent the school's efforts, capitalizing on children's ready
curiosity for m ind-stretching conversations, fam
ily trips, and activities. The follow
ing list m ay give you som
e ideas.
ST R
E T
C H
IN G
T H
E B
R A
IN S O
F P R
ET E
E N
S
• H elp them
begin challenging literal fact:
"W hy do w
e go to school only on w eekdays? W
hy.five days a w
eek?" "W
hy shouldn't people steal?" .
, Let them see that there are m
any points of view on issues,
and probably no one right answ er on m
any questions. , Play gam
es w ith open-ended questions:
"W hat w
ould happen if … every day w
ere M onday?
autom obiles w
ere declared illegal? com
puters needed to be fed three tim es a day?"
"W hat w
ould you do if …
108 of 330
w e w
on the lottery? w
e lost all our m oney?
you w oke up one m
orning seven feet tall?"
• H elp them
articulate their feelings, and don't be afraid to talk about yours. ("I really felt scared w
hen I thought G randm
a w
as seriously ill. I bet you did, too.") • Play gam
es of strategy that require w eighing alternatives,
planning m oves ahead, or view
ing a situation from the
opponent's perspective (Stratego, B attleship, U
no, chess, checkers, gin rum
m y, hearts).
• Play Tw
enty Q
uestions. Show
how
to ask
categorical questions. ("Is it an anim
al?" rather than "Is it a dog?") • Practice allow
ing the child to m ake som
e reasonable choices and to experience the natural consequences. ("If you use your allow
ance on the CD , you w
on't have enough to go to the m
ovies on Saturday.") D on't w
eaken and bail them out of
m inor consequences.
• If your child has trouble understanding a school assignm ent,
look for a w ay to present it w
ith pictures, tim e lines, m
aps, or objects that can be m
anipulated. H ave fun acting out ideas
or situations. Your child still learns best from concrete
experience. • Get a book of sim
ple science experim ents and try som
e at hom
e. Talk about possibilities of w hat m
ight happen. M ake
guesses together, w ithout w
orrying about w ho's right or
w rong.
• H ave dinner together and talk w
ith your child. • W
atch TV together and talk about w
hat happened. Listen to w
hat your child is saying. G ood fam
ily conversation tim es
produce good students, and psychologists know that parents
w ho
are good
listeners tend
to have
better-adjusted teenagers.
• D on't stop reading aloud. Encourage m
em orization of fine
poetry or prose. T ry round-robin fam
ily reading. • A
ppreciate those childlike qualities even w hile you help
preteens stretch. Rem em
ber, they still reason differently
from you.
ST U
M B
L IN
G B
L O
C K
S T O
L E
A R N
IN G
A lthough brains w
ork quite sm oothly for m
any children of this age, untreated learning differences m
ay finally be recognized as schoolw
ork places m ore com
plex dem ands on basic sensory
system s and executive function. As described in chapter 4, parents
m ay need to press the school for needed services or consult w
ith outside
specialists. Tw
o com
m on
and baffling
quirks are
particularly likely to show up now
.
A Problem
of O utput
Som e children are fine until required to w
rite som ething dow
n presentably or get it organized and executed in som
e other w ay.
They understand and reason as w ell as anyone else but can't "get
it together" for hom ew
ork or w ritten assignm
ents. They m ay score
adequately on standardized tests w here all they have to do is check
the right answ er, but if asked to produce a report or project, their
output m ay resem
ble a childish-looking m ess even after hours of
effort. This puzzling problem often gets blam
ed on lack of effort or "carelessness," but m
ore likely results from som
e sort of glitch in the nervous system
that causes far m ore anguish to the child than
to anyone else. O
ne young friend of m ine, Jules, bad trouble from
the early grades, w
hen he couldn't organize his fingers around a pencil. H e
alw ays found w
riting slow and frustrating-even though he w
as one of the brightest children in the class. Jules m
anaged to get by until he arrived in the m
iddle school w ith serious difficulties in
producing decent w ritten w
ork or even getting organized to do his hom
ew ork. By now
he had a secondary problem -avoidance of
norm al am
ounts of practice. His parents becam e really w
orried and altered their busy schedules to help him
every evening. Pitched battles ensued as they pushed and Jules dug in his heels.
Luckily, Jules attended a school w here special help w
as available. At his parents' request, he w
as tested by a psychologist, w ho
confirm ed a high
IQ and
a specific learning problem . The
psychologist leveled w ith Jules and they developed a plan together.
H is teachers w
ere asked to shorten som e w
ritten assignm ents, but
to insist that Jules keep up his end of the bargain and com plete a
reasonable am ount. H
e w as encouraged to shine in oral reports
and class
discussions. H
is parents
w ere
counseled in
understanding his difficulty and helping him plan hom
ew ork tim
e and proofread assignm
ents without taking over his share of the responsibility.
As the tension eased, Jules began to try harder. H e practiced
keyboarding so he could use a w ord processor and developed som
e basic strategies for tackling hom
ew ork. H
e still w rites the bare
m inim
um , but w
hen I saw him
in the hall recently, he confided that he had decided it w
as "w orth it" to keep trying.
It is not too late for such early difficulties to be overcom e in the
m iddle grades if parents and teachers w
ork together. Like Jules, m
any students 1i
uffer from
w
hat D
r. M
elvin Levine
calls "developm
ental output failure," w hich m
ay go unnoticed until an em
phasis on "decoding"-reading w ords-changes to a need for
"encoding," w
hich requires
organizing, rem
em bering,
and restating inform
ation. N eural system
s for input are w orking just
fine, but im m
aturity at the output level causes trouble. Such youngsters also have trouble organizing their thoughts. Pulling together inform
ation from m
any sources, m anaging tim
e and m
aterials, and handling heavy dem ands on m
em ory m
ay be too m
uch for them . "M
ind-m apping," as described in chapter 11, can
be a big help. Calling such a child "lazy" m
akes the problem w
orse, as Levine's book, The M
yth of Laziness, asserts. I have seen m any boys and
girls like Jules, and I believe this problem is one of the m
ost pervasive-
and difficult-of the m iddle childhood years and is a
hidden com ponent of underachievem
ent, attention deficits, and problem
behavior later on. N ot all schools are as enlightened as
the one Jules attends. M any teachers and even som
e psychologists are not inform
ed about this type of learning problem , so parents
m ust becom
e the first line of defense. H elp from
an expe1t tutor m
ay be required. M eanw
hile, don't let a child like this develop habits of"Iost" hom
ew ork and deception. ("The dog ate it." "It blew
out of the school bus.") U
nderstanding children's problem s does
111 of 330
not m ean w
e stop expecting anything from them
. H ere are som
e points to keep in m
ind:
• Som e neurological differences, particularly in later-developing
parts of the brain, m ay not show
up until those areas are called upon for new
kinds of school learning; w hen children run into
trouble in m iddle years, do not rush to blam
e the teacher or the child.
• Be alert for a negative change in attitude tow ard school, or
avoidance of hom ew
ork or classroom assignm
ents. • M
ake yourself available (or, if necessary, inescapable) to help w
ith assignm ents that are genuinely difficult for your child.
• K eep in close contact w
ith the school and ask for the teacher's advice about helping at hom
e. Y ou m
ay need to help organize study tim
es, assignm ent books, and long-range projects.
• If problem s
persist, get an evaluation from
the school psychologist or a learning disability specialist.
• A sk the school to provide special support services, or m
odify dem
ands for w ritten output. K
eep the child's ego intact so he can com
pensate for his difficulty. • The w
ord processor and spell checker are life rafts for this child, along w
ith good instruction in keyboarding skills. Som e com
puter softw
are also helps organize thoughts for w riting, although it does
not substitute for good
educational therapy to
teach basic
organization skills and strategies. • Your hardest job w
ill be to let the child suffer the natural consequences if he falls dow
n on his end of the bargain. Refuse to "ow
n" his school responsibilities if they are reasonable. • Be patient! If a task is genuinely hard, your child suffers enough
from feelings of "stupidity" w
hen he yearns to be com petent.
R em
ind him and yourself that, even in very sm
art people, all parts of the brain do not grow
equally fast, and som e need tim
e and extra practice to do their job.
• If you cannot w ork with your child without dam
aging self- esteem
( even the best parents get into "scenes"), find som eone w
ho can. Look for a tutor w
ho understands this type of problem .
• Rem ind yourself that children are not by nature lazy!
T he H
om ew
ork Issue
Supervising schoolw ork at hom
e puts parents on a tightrope over tw
o fearsom e chasm
s. O n one side lies the danger of m
aking a child overly dependent, negative, or dow
nright defiant; on the other- school failure. W
hat a choice! W hile perfect solutions are, as
alw ays, only dream
s, here are som e suggestions that have helped
other parents.
R ule N
o. 4: The final product m ust represent the pupil's
w ork.
I H E
LPIN G
W IT
H H
O M
EW O
R K
R ule N
o. 1: W ait to be asked.
If your child is succeeding in school and neither he nor his teachers ask for your help, it probably is not needed. Trying to force a child to w
ork w ith you m
ay short-circuit his desire to com e
to you in the future. If you sense trouble, m ake an appointm
ent w
ith the school for advice. R em
em ber that schoolw
ork is the territory of the child, w
ho needs to feel responsible and in control.
R ule N
o. 2 : B
e available and supportive w hen help is
requested. Your attitude tow
ard the im portance of hom
ew ork w
ill shape your child's. If a TV program
is m ore im
portant to you than his need to practice m
ultiplication tables, don't be surprised if he agrees.
R ule N
o. 3: F ocus on process, not product.
O ften the ultim
ate product (the answ er, the perfect paragraph,
one day's assignm ent) is secondary to the process of learning.
Think about the learning you are encouraging:
D on't deprive your child of valuable learning because you're
afraid of a bad grade. The college student w ho is still relying on
M om
to w rite her papers by e-m
ail (yes, this happens!) is a poor candidate for future success in any job. D
on't let this happen to you! If your child isn't up to the w
ork, it is everyone's job to figure out w
hy and get som ething done
-not to enable her to sink deeper into a situation she can't handle.
R ule N
o. 5: C hildren are often hardier than they w
ould like us to believe. If assignm
ents seem unreasonably long, check the follow
ing: Can she organi~
tim e effectively? A
re study tim es at school used
productively? A re job, telephone conversations, or I-m
essaging interfering? If the child is truly overloaded, a conference at school should be scheduled w
ith you, your child, and the teacher present to discuss the problem
and develop a plan. AB m ore and m
ore schools lay on m
ore and m ore academ
ic dem ands, parents need
to talk together, organize, and raise a m ajor fuss if exaggerated
expectations-o r too m
any extracurricular com m
itm ents-are
grinding the youth out of their young.
R ule N
o. 6: L et him
fig1V his ow n battles w
henever possible.
.. .
Your m oral support is essential, but it is the student's job to learn
to get along w ith people in the w
orld= including teachers!
a. "If I w hine enough, I can get som
eone else to do m y w
ork for m
e."
R ule N
o. 7: Provide the tools necessary for success. Your child needs a quiet, w
ell-lit place to study, a regular routine, and a m
oratorium on w
eeknight TV, video gam es, and nonschool
com puter use until hom
ew ork is satisfactorily com
pleted. Be tough; this is im
portant. O lder students also m
ay need a tape recorder, a good dictionary and thesaurus, a w
ord processor w ith
a spell-checker, Internet access for research, and transportation to libraries (if they give you advance notice).
b. "Every tim e l ask for help, w
e w ind up in a fight because the
w hole thing isn't perfect enough."
c. "It w as sort of fun figuring out the answ
ers, even though neither D
ad nor I really understood the questions at first."
113 of 330
R ule N
o. 8: Y ou don't have to know
everything. Parents feel uncom
fortable w hen they don't know
everything, but adm
itting your confusion and w orking problem
s through with your child m
ay be the best teaching you can do. Even if you don't get
the answ
er, you
have both
experienced "cognitive
dissonance" – the basis for the m
ost lasting learning.
T he E
nigm a of A
utom aticity
A nother sticky w
icket for som e children during these m
iddle years is getting "autom
atic" on basic learning skills. A utom
aticity is at the heart of m
ost daily behavior, helping us tend to routine m atters
so our brain's w orking m
em ory can deal w
ith m ore challenging
problem s. For exam
ple, m ost people can w
ash dishes or pull w eeds
at the sam e tim
e they carry on a conversation. W hen driving a car
along an uncrow ded freew
ay, they m ay plan a dinner m
enu or listen to a talk show
. If a truck roars into view , how
ever, neural control instantly m
oves to conscious attention, pushing aside everything else until the danger is past.
M ost adults can listen to a lecture and take notes w
ithout using m
uch of their brains to spell w ords or form
letters, but if they m ust
w rite an
unfam iliar w
ord w
ith several
syllables, they
m ay
tem porarily lose the speaker's m
essage as w orking m
em ory is
redirected to the m echanics of the task. W
hen talking, m ost people
give their conscious effort to the ideas they w ant to get across.
Som e children have difficulty form
ing or using w ell-w
orn neural pathw
ays for such "easy'' tasks. Infant brains are busy starting a base of autom
atic connections as they absorb know
ledge about the frequency of norm al events,
how to use their bodies, and w
hat can be expected in everyday situations. W
ith practice,
m ost
learning probably
becom es
condensed and reallocated to different areas, leaving the rest of the brain free to w
ork on m ore com
plicated problem s. If you had
to devote conscious aw areness to how
this book feels in your hands, you w
ould m iss a lot of the content!
A utom
aticity is essential in school. Instant recall of phonics and a
core of "sight w
ords" underlie rapid
reading and good
com prehension; if higher
thinking centers are cluttered up
sonnding out
w ords,
fluency and
understanding suffer.
A
youngster w ho needs to stop and w
orry about spelling or letter form
ation w hen w
riting a w ord w
ill have trouble w riting originally
or taking notes in class. In m ath, addition m
ust be autom atic
before m ultiplication becom
es easy. M iddle childhood and early
adolescence are the m ost critical tim
es to firm up autom
atic skills before the child is besieged w
ith higher-level processing dem ands.
"M ultitasking," w
hich requires a certain degree of autom aticity,
is not new , but it is new
ly trendy in a culture buzzed on technology. M
any parents ask m e if I really believe their child can instant-
m essage to several friends, listen to m
usic, and do hom ew
ork all at the sam
e tim e. M
aybe, but w hen attention is divided in this
m anner, none of the tasks get done very w
ell or w ith any degree of
depth. C om
bining tw o tasks from
the sam e m
odality (as in doing tw
o language tasks-talking on the phone and w riting m
essages at the sam
e tim e) is m
ost difficult. Even if your child is a quick m
ultitasker, do m ake sure she can also "task," as doing one job
thoroughly and thoughtfully is a far m ore im
portant ability in the long run.
M ak
in g L
earning A utom
atic
• Children differ in the ease w ith w
hich they m aster routine skills.
• D ifferent types of autom
aticity are learned at different ages. Babies and young children m
ust get an autom atic feel for their
bodies and space and for taking in and understanding sensory inform
ation. School years are the tim e to practice academ
ic and other skills, since adults m
ust w ork harder to get new
learning effortlessly em
bedded (e.g., your golf sw
ing, a
new foreign
language). • R
em em
ber that a child w ho is using cortical energy on poorly
autom atized
"basics" w
ill have
little left
for reasoning
or com
prehension of the task. • Repeated practice seem
s to be the key to autom aticity; children
learn to becom e fluent readers and w
riters by reading and w riting.
• D rill and practice are m
ore effective if they are varied, because the brain responds to novelty. Sensitivity to the child's response helps balance these com
peting needs.
• Synapses m ay get "tired" w
ith repeated use over a long period of tim
e. T hey need a short rest before becom
ing effective again. C
hanging activities for a w hile unblocks the pathw
ays. • If m
ovem ent, em
otional content, or personal interest is com
bined w ith practice, m
em ory should im
prove. Long periods of boring repetition m
ay cause daydream ing as higher centers seek
stim ulation.
• Positive feelings im prove neurotransm
itter conduction for efficient learning. M
iddle grade children love
any concrete evidence of their ow
n progress (e.g., keeping individual progress charts or portfolios of a year's w
ork). • Sufficient sleep and physical exercise enhance connectivity in
the brain. It is shortsighted for schools to lim it or elim
inate physical education, especially in the m
iddle years. C om
petitive team
sportst1re not as im portant as having everyone participate in
som e sort of exercise on a regular basis. B
eing outside in a natural, relaxing setting can enhance one's m
ental state. • Stress, such as tension over exam
s, can reduce autom aticity.
R ecent studies also suggest, by the w
ay, that excessive stress connected w
ith exam s can tem
porarily im pair the im
m une system
. Y
oungsters w ho are taught thoroughly, w
ho learn to prepare system
atically, and w ho take exam
s that are fair tests of w hat they
have actually been taught should not be at risk for these problem s.
The m ilder stress of a m
anageable challenge actually im proves
brain functioning. • C
om puter drill and practice m
ay help prom ote autom
aticity. This type oflearning should not replace original problem
-solving, how
ever, because there is a difference betw een autom
atic and conceptual responses. All children should be encoum
ged to develop proficiency w
ith original thinking and reasoning as w ell
as w ith m
em orized skills.
• Som e people are better than others at "incidental learning."
Even w hen concentrating on one task, they pick up and rem
em ber
extraneous details. A child w
ho is encouraged to investigate, be actively curious, and notice details m
ay get in the habit of picking up m
ore inform ation than a frightened, passive child w
ho is stifled by fears of being "w
rong."
116 of 330
B eyond A
utom aticity: P
arents at School
C hildren w
ho achieve autom aticity easily are not necessarily
sm arter, but it is ridiculous for them
to spend tim e drilling on
m aterial they have already m
astered. L ate elem
entary years are a prim
e tim e for
everyone to enlarge vocabulary, investigate
scientific and m athem
atical challenges, and participate in creatjve activities. B
ecause of m yelination that Jinks different cortical
areas, activities
connecting language w ith
the arts
m ay
be especially appropriate here. If your child is stuck in a classroom
w
here drill and boredom replace intellectual stim
ulation, you should consider carefully w
hether you ought to becom e involved
– tactfully, of course. C
hildren older than age eight are m ortified if their parents hang
around school, and you should bew are of fighting their battles for
them . N
evertheless, a teacher w ith a large class w
ill som etim
es w
elcom e specific offers of help. In one school, volunteer parents
developed a reading club and led sm all book-discussion groups.
Field trips and theater and m useum
visits can be initiated by parents, as can career talks by adults in different vocations. Y
ou m
ight explore possibilities of creative dram a, puppetry, debate, or
a videotaped production. The issue of parent involvem
ent in schools is a sensitive one; the child's need for autonom
y is just as im portant as his need for
intellectual stim ulation. Som
e fam ilies prefer to concentrate on
developing a hom e environm
ent that encourages intellectual excitem
ent and creativity. These years are a good tim e for refining
artistic skills, and experiences in the arts or sports provide a base for
future achievem
ents. There's another trap,
though-the insidious danger of overprogram
m ing and getting hung up on
"child as product."
P erfectin
g th e P
rod u
ct
Several years ago I w as leaving school one afternoon w
hen I saw a
forlorn little nine-year-old shape hunched on the curb near m y car.
"W hat's the m
atter, C elia?" I asked, w
ondering w hat had reduced
one of our m ost prom
ising students to such a pile of m isery.
"I m issed m
y ride, and no one's hom e, and I'm
going to be late
for ballet," she snuffled. w
hile it lasts. N
aturally, I drove her hom e so that she could change clothes in
tim e for her next carpool. "Y
ou m ust like ballet," I ventured.
"N o, I really hate it, but m
y m om
w ants m
e to be good." D
eciding to change the subject, I asked, "W hat do you like to do
best?"
U N
D E
R SfA
N D
IN G
T H
E A
D O
L E
SC E N
T B
R A
IN
Furnishing the Frontal L obes
"I don't know . I have ballet on M
onday, French on Tuesday, gym
nastics on W ednesday, art on Thursday, and piano on Friday.
Som etim
es I w ish I could just not do anything."
Celia's parents had fallen into the trap. Like m any couples, they
w ere both successful in business, accustom
ed to setting goals and m
easuring achievem ents. Trying to give their daughter the best
chance, the m ost com
petitive edge, they arranged an "enriched" environm
ent that ultim ately convinced her that she w
as loved m
ainly for her m easurable accom
plishm ents.
These attitudes carried over into schoolw ork. C
elia's teachers w
orried about her com pulsive concern over grades and her lack of
tim e for relaxation. O
ne of them said, "W
hat that child needs m ost
is to forget about her 'schedule' and go sit under a tree for a w hile.
I don't think she has any idea w hat a w
onderful little kid she is –
she thinks her parents love her only because she's good at adult sorts of things. I keep telling her it's okay to be a child, but she doesn't know
how l"
W hen Celia w
as a straight-A student in high school, she w
rote a them
e about "The Price of Perfection"- her obsessive inner
pressure to perform "not w
ell but brilliantly." She felt "special" only because of her academ
ic success and w ould "stay up all night
studying if it m eans the difference betv,een an A
m inus and an A
." H
er w orst fear w
as that one day she w ill lose "w
hatever I have that m
akes m e special and capable of achieving that w
hich others cannot." She confided, "I am
not sure I will ever be satisfied, and that is, perhaps, the m
ost terrifying thought I have ever had. The panic caused by the idea of failure is overw
helm ing. I only hope
that one day I w ill be free of it."
Externally, Celia is a perfect product. W hat a tragedy that she has
never learned to feel "special" inside herself. H er story is a good
rem inder that the m
ost central-a nd m
ost elusive- elem
ent of finishing childhood m
ay be sim ply for parents to appreciate it By age nine, m
ost youngsters have basic processing skills in place, and som
ew here around age eleven, dram
atic new m
ental events begin to unfold. H
aving m astered the w
orld of objects, the early teenager
m ust m
ove on to
m anipulating abstract ideas-a
transition from the security of concrete skills and rules to a w
orld of infinite possibilities and points of view
. A s w
ith adolescent physical developm
ent, the tim ing of these changes varies w
idely am
ong individuals and can be troublesom e and confusing. Som
e believe that only about tw
o-thirds of adults ever reach the stage of abstract thinking that Piaget labeled form
al operational thought. Probably very few
reach the ultim ate stage, term
ed "problem
finding,"lgenerating creative solutions for abstract issues, w hich
m ay not appear until age tv,enty or thirty. O
ur society needs m ore
people w ith these capabilities. H
ow can they be developed?
Intellectual grow th during adolescence depends on several
factors: (1) inherited potential and tim etable; (2) the quality of
previous brain developm ent in reception and association areas; (3)
cultural expectations; (4) the am ount and type of stim
ulation given by school and hom
e; (5) a balance of support and challenge at hom
e; (6) the child's ow n em
otional' strength and m otivation to
m ake sense out of new
inform ation and practice skills. Do these
sound fam iliar? The principles rem
ain the sam e, w
hether w e're
building the foundation or furnishing the penthouse.
T he "B
rain's B rain"
From preadolescence to adulthood, the prefrontal cortex of the
frontal lobes, often called the ''brain's brain," is a m ajor focus of
grow th. The diagram
in chapter 2 illustrates its location. W hile the
earlier-m aturing areas in the back of the brain are a vast
storehouse of inform ation, the front is a control center for selecting
and acting on accum ulated knowledge. A
dult patients w ith frontal
lobe disease act a lot like im pulsive children. They have trouble
w ith initiative, w
ith analyzing the steps of a problem , thinking
119 of 330
ahead, and planning actions; they act unrestrained and socially tactless and have a childish sense of hum
or. They get som e kinds
of m em
ory all m ixed up and lose the ability to guide actions with
w ords. D
octors observe frontal lobe patients w ho talk about w
hat they w
ant to do but are unable to do it. If you look back to the diagram
, you can see the prefrontal cortex is right next door to the frontal m
otor strip, w hich gets a grow
th spurt right after birth and develops quickly during the early m
onths. N o w
onder m any believe that adult learning is based on
early physical experiences! In the norm
ally developing brain, prefrontal areas becom e active
soon after birth, undergo spurts of developm ent during the first
few years, and experience a m
ajor explosion of synapses som etim
e around ages eleven to tw
elve. O ther fiber tracts are late-m
aturing as w
ell; som e studies have show
n peaks in brain electrical activity at around tw
elve, fifteen, and eighteen to nineteen years. O nce the
developm ent occurs, the brain m
ust refine and prune the system s
as the youngster learns to use these im pressive new
connections. As at younger ages, the quality of the individual's experience can m
ake a difference in w hat gets connected and w
hat gets sloughed off. U
nlike the other cortical lobes, the frontal lobes do not have a direct "w
indow onto the w
orld" for sensory reception, so their developm
ent builds on sensory connections form ed in earlier
years and on the child's inner thoughts, language, curiosity, em
otional experience, reasoning, and attem pts to m
ake m ental
connections. Along w
ith all this new possibility com
es confusion. Because the m
ore-developed brain can now reason in new
and different w ays,
a child m ay appear to regress on skills w
hile he re-sorts his thinking processes and tunes up the new
system s.
C lim
bing into G row
n-U p T
hought
Early adolescent thinking rem inds m
e of a little child parading around in grow
n-up clothes, stum bling a bit but acting very
grandiose. U nlike the child, how
ever, the teenager e"-'J)eriences unrelenting
selfconsciousness. N
ew possibilities
for neural
connections enable him to glim
pse all kinds of new possibilities in
any situation, but it also m akes him
step outside and view him
self for the first tim
e. H ow
em barrassing! O
ne of our sons fussed for tw
o hours about w hich shirt he w
ould w ear to a concert w
ith three thousand spectators because he w
as sure "everyone" w ould notice
him . Y
et, even
as the young teen is m
ortified by his ow n
im perfection, he finds him
self so special that norm al rules m
ay not apply, and a cavalier attitude tow
ard hom ew
ork or school rules som
etim es follow
s. Parents get buffeted by sudden outbursts and inconsistencies. R
em em
ber that teenagers' confusion is greater than yours, even if they don't adm
it it. E
nlarged m ental perspectives create a sudden aw
areness of "ideals," and the adolescent m
ay ruthlessly criticize his ow n fam
ily. D
avid E lkind says, "In early adolescence not only is the grass
greener in the other person's yard, but the house is bigger and m ore
com fortable and the parents are nicer." Y
et difficult as they are, these youngsters are covering necessary ground, learning to build w
ith abstract ideas just as they once m anipulated their blocks.
It is not surprising, given the angst of an adolescent's struggle w
ith social relationships, w orries about self, and grinding self-
consciousness, that som e youngesters, usually boys, find it easier
to retreat into the virtual, self-gratifying w orlds of video or Internet
gam ing. So m
any, in fact, that video and Internet "addiction" are now
recognized psychiatric specialties. N ot only can such behavior
lead to depression, school failure, social w ithdraw
al, and health concerns, but it also m
ay result in youngsters skipping over valuable developm
ental stages, depriving the brain of necessary challenges to developing an adult personality and m
ature cognitive skills. C
learly, reasonable am ounts of any activity, particularly if
pursued in a healthy social context, are not going to turn your child into a m
ental case. Som e kids are m
ore susceptible than others; your job is to know
w hat is going on and intercede if you see
increasing hours spent w ith electronic diversions at the expense of
schoolw ork, social activities, acceptable fam
ily interactions, or health needs such as sleep. W
hile a reasonable am ount of gam
ing is
natural, be aw are
that it can
slide from
"norm al"
into pathological w
ith a vulnerable child. If this is happening in your hom
e, I w ould suggest you seek a consultation w
ith a specialist
w ho understands such problem
s .
PA R
E N
T S A N
D T
H E
A D
O L
E SC
E N
T B
R A
IN
• U nderstand that your child needs m
ore rest than at any tim e
since infancy and that it is norm al for boundless energy to
suddenly give w ay to lassitude.
• G ood nutrition, w
hile difficult to enforce at this age, is im
portant for optim
al brain functioning. Present your
adolescent w ith breakfast and dinner, and hope for the best.
"Fast food" is not com plete brain food, either nutritionally or
intellectually. U rge the school to pay attention, too.
• H ave
dinner together
regularly, even
if it
requires rearranging schedules, and give your teen an opportunity to ~
ter into the conversation w ithout being put on the spot.
~ atch TV
(but not at m ealtim
es) and read new spapers or
m agazines together. Talk about w
hat is happening. It is im
portant to deal w ith abstract concepts, values, and m
oral issues. If your child disagrees w
ith you, rem ain calm
. Say, "That's interesting [original; w
hat m any believe]. Tell m
e about your reasons." If she shares her thoughts w
ith you, respect them
! Y ou don't have to agree.
• N ew
neural circuitry m ay slow
dow n norm
al patterns of conversation and m
ake it hard for a teenager to com m
unicate ideas; give her tim
e to respond in conversation. • Expect your child to have rapidly changing perceptions of
him self. It is norm
al to try on different selves; it takes practice to integrate varying personality traits into a cohesive self- im
age. • Y
our child needs m ore privacy than ever before; he also needs
to have you available. • O
ne school adm inistrator begs parents to value their children
for their "decency or personality," not for their grades or com
petitiveness. • K
eep up w ith w
hat your child is reading in school. R ead it
yourself. Y ou m
ay be able to get a conversation going.
122 of 330
• E ncourage deductive reasoning: "If x is true, w
hat are the im
plications in situation y?" • Expose your child to adult view
s of the real w orld: w
ork, politics,
social issues.
E ncourage
thinking about
real problem
s-but be ready to listen to som e idealistic solutions.
• Encourage constructive involvem ent in the com
m unity, such
as volunteer w ork.
• H elp your youngster express anger verbally, and encourage
talking through problem s.
• Expect criticism of school, of teachers, and of you. D
on't underm
ine the school by criticizing teachers in front of your child, but be supportive if she needs to confront a teacher w
ith a valid concern. K ids needs to learn to fight their ow
n battles, but w
ithin reason. • Take courage from
studies finding that m oderate parent-
child conflict
prom otes
m ental
grow th
and m
oral developm
ent, and that only 5 to 1
0 percent of fam
ilies experience a m
ajor deterioration of relationships during these years.
• R em
em ber that adolescents need to exercise their frontal
lobes by playing tug-of-w ar w
ith authority. D on't be afraid to
set standards and stick to
them .
O ne
adolescent girl adm
itted, "T he best excuse is still, 'M
y m other w
on't let m e.' "
Ju gglin
g th e A
bstract
W ith m
ental juggling of abstract alternatives, scientific reasoning becom
es possible.
W hereas
younger children
can form
rudim
entary hypotheses, they tend to get caught on the first possible solution to a problem
. The classic gam e of "Tw
enty Q
uestions" is a good exam ple. W
hen asked, "W hat am
I thinking of?" the young child quickly gives a specific association. ("Is it a dog?") O
lder children learn to deal w ith categories ("Is it an
anim al?"), w
hereas an adult can evaluate and plan a strategy of broad to narrow
categories. ("Is it alive? Is it an anim al?') The
section that
follow s
illustrates som
e exam
ples of learning
situations that require adult-style reasoning and often cause trouble for students w
ho haven't quite gotten there yet. trouble: "If it is on your assignm
ent sheet or I w rite it on the board,
you m ust do it for hom
ew ork."
T ools o
f A bstract T
h ou
gh t
D eductive reasoning: T
he hum an brain is program
m ed to look
for rules and order in e:irperience. Y oung children learn to look at
m any different pieces of inform
ation and put them together into a
broad rule or category (all of these insects seem to have eight legs;
therefore, a rule for being an insect m ust be having eight legs); this
is inductive reasoning.
O nly later
does deductive reasoning develop-
taking a general principle and applying it to unfam iliar
instances, for exam ple:
a. "T he square of a right triangle's hypotenuse is equal to the
sum of the squares of the other tw
o sides." ls this a right triangle? (If this seem
s confusing, you know how
the student feels!)
P roportion: "For every six.students there are tw
o teachers. T here
are fifty-four students. H ow
m any teachers?" Problem
s like this require concrete m
aterials (counters, pictures, diagram s) or a
form ula until students can m
entally juggle the relationships. S
econ d
-ord er sym
b ol system
s: A lgebra and gram
m ar are
both exam ples of sym
bol system s that stand for other sym
bol system
s. In algebra, num erals stand for ideas of num
ber; algebraic term
s (e.g., x) are arbitrarily chosen to stand for the num erals.
G ram
m atical term
s (e.g., a pronoun) represent classes of w ords
that in turn stand for things or ideas. This is pretty com plicated
stuff if you aren't too clear on the original sym bol system
! Y ounger
children can learn specific principles of gram m
ar (noun, verb) from
their ow n language experience but should not be expected to
apply rules abstractly.
b. "A ll Latin adjectives agree w
ith the noun in both gender and case. A
dd the appropriate endings to these w ords."
H ypothesis testing: G
enerating possible solutions to a problem
and testing them system
atically until finding one that w orks is the
basis of scientific reasoning. For exam ple, a classic chem
istry problem
involves five bottles of colorless 1iquid that can be com
bined in only one special w ay to produce a yellow
color. Y oung
children m ake com
binations random ly. O
lder adolescents are able to m
ake system atic com
binations, holding different alternatives in m
ind until they solve the problem . M
iddle schoolers need help from
adults w ho can show
them how
to go about considering a num
ber of possible solutions instead of getting one idea and trying to force the facts to fit it. O
pen-m inded approaches to everyday
problem s are one obvious channel tow
ard this im portant grow
th. P
repositional logic: "If M ary is taller than Sally and Sally is
taller than M arge, w
ho is the tallest?" A child w
ho has m astered
concrete operations m ay be able to figure this one out. It is harder,
though, to understand other kinds of propositions, such as "If it is raining, it m
ust be sum m
er. It is sum m
er. Is it raining?" or "If a or b, then c." A
good exam ple is a direction that gives preadolescents T
he " a
~tract attitude": This is the nam e given to the ability to
stand outside a situation and connect ideas that don't go together in any kind of literal w
ay. Exam ples are m
etaphor, draw ing
inferences that are not directly stated in a text, som e form
s of hum
or, analogies, non1itera1 opposites, and a rea1istic appraisal of oneself. A
sensitive adult can pull children tow ard this type of
reasoning by asking the right questi~ns, h~t these abilities don't develop overnight. Y
ollilgsters poised on the brink of adult logic still need the safety of som
ething concrete to fall back on w hen
confronted w ith new
ideas. G eorge, 11 tw
elve-year-old studying the novel To K
ill a M ockingbird, w
as enthraU ed by the plot but
couldn't understand the m etaphor in the title. W
hen he cam e to
his father for help, D ad suggested they w
ork up a literal w ord-by-
w ord translation: "To D
estroy Innocence." "N ow
I get it!" G eorge
cried. Som
e quality com puter sim
ulations m ay help v.-ith abstract
concepts like proportion or hypothesis testing. G ood teaching at
this- or any-ag
e starts w ith som
e sort of concrete dem onstration,
and teenagers particularly need this kind of support. A nother type
of help they need is learning to use their executive system s to
control and plan behavior.
124 of 330
T h
e Im
p ortan
ce o
f In
h ib
ition
for M
otivation and
A tten
tion
O ne of the m
ost im portant functions of the prefrontal cortex is that
of being a w et blanket-a
n inhibitor of excitem ent. A
lthough w e
adm ire an active brain, one that is overly aroused can be a problem
as it responds to too m
any stim uli at once and jum
ps from idea to
idea. A s the frontal lobes m
ature, they team up v.,ith subcortical
structures that direct arousal and alertness, em otion, and m
em ory,
form ing loops that w
ork as a "gating system " to select and direct
attention, as described in chapter 4. A
nother im portant function is regulating the ability to use
"feedback," w hich sim
ply m eans an ongoing check on one's ow
n behavior. Feedback system
s help us catch our ow n errors and
rem em
ber w hat w
e're supposed to be doing and how . T
hey should becom
e m ore autom
atic during late childhood and adolescence. Students v.,ith poor feedback system
s don't seem to notice w
hen they've m
ade a m istake; they m
ay behave like younger children, habitually forgetting to bring the right m
aterials to class, or getting distracted w
hile doing a job at hom e such as setting the table. T
his is a frustrating situation, but there are a few
positive steps that seem
to help:
H elping th
e B rain R
egulate B ehavior
V erbal feedback: W
e have already seen how im
portant "inner language" is for paying attention. Students w
ho are able to talk through a problem
m entally before springing into im
pulsive action do better in school and gain higher-level thinking skills sooner. By the w
ay, parents are the child's m ost im
portant m odels for
regulating behavior. If you act before you think, your child m ay
adopt the sam e tactics. If you discip1ine physically instead of
talking problem s through, if you tend to express em
otion bodily instead
of m th
w ords,
be aw
are of
the pattern
you are
dem onstrating.
N atural consequences: A
parent w ho continually picks up the
pieces becom es a feedback system
that prevents a youngste1: from
developing one of her ow n. U
nfortunately, it is som
etim es
necessary to grit your teeth and let a child feel the effects of her
ow n carelessness. If the expectations w
ere reasonable and she m
essed up, she needs to bear at least m inor consequences. T
his is w
ithout a doubt the hardest task of parenthood. H ave courage. W
e all learn best from
our errors, not from our successes. T
ry saying, "I'm
proud of you. Y ou m
ade a m istake and you learned som
ething from
it!" Structure: Particularly during the early years of adolescence, w
hen these control system s are being refined, the youngster m
ay need
help organizing
his life,
his responsibilities,
and his
possessions. W ithout taking over, you can firm
ly insist on certain param
eters of neatness, schedule, health routines, and household tasks. R
easonable expectations, consistently enforced, can help a child get a com
fortable "feel" for internal control. Y oung teens tend
to experim ent w
ith their new m
ental pow ers by pushing and
testing the lim its. It is your job to give them
som ething to p
~
against. I know it isn't easy; m
y psyche is still bruised from angry
adolescent outbursts-but now our three young m
en adm it that
the rules w ere really very reassuring.
M otivation: T
he "attention loop" includes m otivational centers
of the lim bic system
. M ore about m
otivation in chapter 8.
D ecision
s-G ood
and B ad
N ew
m ental perspectives give youngsters a w
hole new fram
ew ork
for personal decision-m aking. A
s they practice using it, they alternate betw
een w anting to be dependent and w
anting to argue. Incidentally, because they can now
see som e of your point of view
, they becom
e better arguers! O
ne logical w ay to practice decision-m
aking is
in m
aking sum
m er plans. A
high school student cam e to his parents last
spring for "advice." H e knew
that he should take a sum m
er-school reading course recom
m ended by his English teacher, but he really
w anted a job as a lifeguard. H
is parents started to talk him into the
reading course, but soon realized they w ould accom
plish m ore by
asking questions instead of giving opinions. T heir son argued
him self in and out of all possible situations w
hile they tried to be interested but neutral. H
e finally decided to take the course, and he w
orked hard because he "ow ned" his decision. A
friend w hose
parents "m ade" him
take the course acted up in class and w as
dism issed after the first w
eek. A
llow ing kids to take responsibility is agonizing for everyone, but
this is one m ore m
ountain they m ust learn to clim
b. W hat if this
boy had m ade the "w
rong" choice? H e w
ould still have learned a lot-including the fact that inadequate reading skills m
ake E nglish
class a drag, and that the course m ight be a good idea next sum
m er.
Let teenagers m ake choices you can live w
ith, but be ready to take a hard line on dangerous alternatives.
A voiding D
angerous D ecisions: D
rugs an d
A lcohol
T eenage substance abuse can alter, perhaps perm
anently, brain centers
for higher-level
thinking, attention,
and m otivation,
affecting long-term intellectual and personal grow
th. E ffects seem
to vary am
ong individuals, so the safest course is to avoid them
com pletely.
Parents' attitudes help shape teenagers' choices. M any studies
have show n that parents w
hose children avoid dangerous practices tend to be:
• D escribed as "w
arm "-
availab'le to help w ithout being overly
judgm ental.
• "C lose to children:"
• "T raditional in orientation," not afraid to set lim
its or discuss their ow
n values, but also w illing to listen to the young ester's point
of view and bend on less im
portant issues. • N
on-drug users them selves.
• N egative about use of m
edications to "m ake you feel better."
• A ble to help keep the child's ego strength firm
; teens w ith poor
self-concepts, anxiety, or difficulty w ith social relationships are
m ore likely to engage in antisocial behavior of all types. • T
hose w ho pay attention and are interested in their child's
activities- w
ithout being intrusive. • Those w
ho have expected the child to take responsibility for the consequences of his ow
n behavior. • Interested in the teens' choice of friends. Y
oung people's behavior is strongly influenced by peer group standards. A
n
127 of 330
adolescent in a school w ith less alcohol, drug, and tobacco use
am ong students is less likely to get involved him
self.
M ediating th
e M edia
In the last chapter you found general guidelines for m anaging
"screen tim e," but because electronic m
edia-especially television -a
re so prevalent in our culture, it is im
portant for youngsters to learn to understand the influences it m
ay have on them . A
recent m
ovem ent
for "m
edia literacy"
teaches how
to
"deconstruct" (analyze) not only the content of m edia inform
ation, plots, and ads, but also the subtle m
essages they convey. For exam
ple, B ob M
ccannon of the N ew
M exico M
edia L iteracy
Project points out that advertisem ents
strive for "em otional
transfer," such as linking cigarette sm oking to im
ages of success or m
anliness, transferring '1ove" from a cute friend or furry anim
al to a sugary candy, or conveying the m
essage that various products w
ill m ake you happier or m
ore popular. M any program
s reinforce gender or other stereotypes, and the w
ay new s is presented tends
to influence the w ay naive view
ers interpret events. Instead of letting TV
put your fam ily into a passive, reactive state, here are
som e tips on how
to m ake view
ing an intellectual and reflective experience. E
ven bad content can be used to teach critical thinking. I have distilled som
e sam ple ideas from
the w ork of M
cC annon
and of G loria de G
aetano, director of the Parent Coaching Institute, and I suggest you seek out m
ore com plete inform
ation on this im
portant topic, w hich is now
also taught in som e schools.
H E
L P
IN G
Y O
U R
C H
IL D
A N
A L
V Z
E M
E D
IA M
E SSA
G E
S
1. Set up firm rules for m
edia use, as previously described, and reserve
plenty of tim
e for
fam ily
conversations. B
an television at the dinner table.
2. Place hom e screens in a place w
here you can keep your eye on them
. 3. W
atch TV together. Taping program
s enables you to stop them
and discuss things as they happen. Skip com m
ercials or "m
ute" them .
4. H elp your child ask critical questions about the content of
show s or new
s. (C hildren under age eight should probably
not w atch the new
s.) A nalyze together the values conveyed
and w hether you agree w
ith them or not. D
iscuss the issues that com
e up. A re w
om en, m
en, races, or age groups stereotyped? D
id the w riter have a point of view
? W hat is
som eone trying to sell u
s-a product, an idea, an attitude? Is this solution realistic or sim
plistic? Is this really how w
e w ant
to see our lives? H ow
does this com m
ercial subtly link a soft drink w
ith sex appeal? 5. A
nalyze together w hat your physiological reactions are to
view ing. D
o you feel m ore depressed afterw
ard? Is it hard to tear yourself aw
ay even if you're not particularly interested in the program
? These are com m
on reactions. Is this program
w orth the tim
e w e are spending on it? W
hat else m
ight w e be doing w
ith this tim e?
6. C onfront violence directly. Your children w
ill doubtless be exposed, hopefully not until they are old enough to gain som
e perspective.
D on't be afraid to convey your ow
n value judgm
ents, even if the child disagrees (she is taking in your ideas, even if she w
on't adm it it). D
iscuss together w hether
things like this should be seen by children. 7. U
se TV and video creatively. Put a sheet over the screen and
listen to a favorite show . H
ow is this experience different?
H ow
do the characters look in our m inds? Rent classic film
s or travel videos to learn about a country or a national park;
have a picnic or an ethnic dinner as an accom panim
ent.
W O
R K
IN G
W IT
H T
H E
SC H
O O
L
T he M
iddle School M udd.le
R esearch suggests that m
any schools are not very healthy places for young brains. In fact, som
e of the negative psychological changes w
e tend to associate w ith adolescence m
ay result from a
m ism
atch betw een teenagers' needs and the opportunities offered
them . Y
oung people w ant to learn and to feel com
petent, and they need environm
ents in w hich they are carefully guided in assum
ing m
ore responsibility and control over their ow n lives. They need a
& iddle or high school sm
all enough to offer close and supportive relationships w
ith respected adult m entors: teachers or other
com m
unity m
em bers.
U nfortunately,
these needs
have not
generally been considered in planning either school buildings, curricula, or class groupings.
M iddle schools and junior highs in particular have too often been
regarded as the trenches of academ ia w
here teachers com plain
about students' lack of m otivatioo and aw
ait a "prom otion" to high
school teaching. Program s that keep early adolescents even m
ore pow
erless than elem entary school children yet expect them
to learn by teaching m
ethods used in high school can turn off capable m
inds. Fortunately, m
any schools are now considering the unique needs
of the young adolescent brain. If you visit your child's school and find students dram
atizing history lessons, draw ing diagram
s of reading assignm
ents, or "playing" with m ath gam
es, don't dism iss
the curriculum as "frivolous." It m
ay be based on the latest and best research. Since it has been estim
ated that only about 12 percent of tw
elve-and thirteen-year-olds have achieved the ability to reason abstractly, m
ost still need to "do" in addition to sitting in lecture-style classes. This does not m
ean we need to w ater dow
n the curriculum
– rather to present it by m
ethods that can tie abstract concepts to som
ething in students' real experience. In fact, m
any high school teachers find these m ethods w
ork for them ,
too. Likew ise, kids at any age need a school attuned to personal
130 of 330
developm ent,
often through
supportive relationships
w ith
teachers, coaches, or counselors.
T he Pow
er of Parents
It is the school's job to understand teaching m ethods and curricula,
but adm inistrators listen to parents w
hether they adm it it or not.
Parents should hold schools accountable both for im parting skills
and keeping intellectual curiosity alive, but som e inadvertently
encourage inappropriate policies. W ith the best of intentions, they
w orry that a school w
hich doesn't appear to have their child on the "fast track" m
ay im pair her future chances. O
ne typical issue illustrates this point. It has becom
e fashionable to take algebra in early adolescence, and schools feel strong parental pressure to offer this option. W
hile a few
children are conceptually ready for traditional algebra courses at this age, m
any m ore are not. Experienced teachers find,
even for good m ath students, they m
ust overly sim plify the course
in order to get m iddle schoolers through. M
oreover, in one school district w
here high-achieving thirteen-year-olds w ere encouraged
to take
algebra, 70
percent of
these potentially
gifted m
athem aticians did not go on to study higher m
ath in high school. W
hy? B ecause they w
ere "turned off' by algebra. Students w
hose brains are not yet equipped to understand m
aterial conceptually can pass such a course-but m ainly by
m em
orizing. A ny subject can be m
em orized up to a point, but
w ithout underlying com
prehension of the ideas and relationships, learning eventually bogs dow
n. Tests m
ay be the first evidence of trouble. "I studied and studied, but w
hen I got in there I just couldn't answ er the questions," w
ails the student. W
hat happened? D espite hours of w
ork, a child w ho
lacks the underlying cognitive developm ent never quite gets the
idea. Test-taking becom es a desperate attem
pt to plug in isolated facts from
m em
ory, but if problem s are stated differently or
inform ation m
ust be applied, w atch out! Teachers m
ay not realize that the basic problem
is a m ism
atch betw een the developm
ental level of the pupil and the dem
ands of the m aterial. They blam
e the student for lack of effort, or decide that he "isn't really that sm
art
after all." T he student is clear on only one thing: m
ath is not for him
. Y et another year or tw
o of developm ent-or a different
teaching m ethod-m
ight have produced a love m atch instead of a
divorce. N
ew instructional approaches have dem
onstrated that even elem
entary-age students
can m
aster com
plex m
athem atical
concepts if they are taught in a m anner appropriate for their
developing brains, w ith real-life exam
ples com ing before abstract
rules. C ontrary to w
hat m any believe, the young adolescent does
love to learn, but only if w e accept and accom
m odate those special
needs.
W H
A T
T O
L O
O K
F O
R IN
A M
ID D
L E
SC H
O O
L :
B R
A IN
-B U
IL D
IN G
M ID
D L
E SC
H O
O I.S
• H ave a clear sense of purpose in m
eeting the needs of this age group.
• H ave teachers w
ho understand the cognitive developm ent of
adolescents and enjoy w orking w
ith them .
• Encourage high
academ ic
standards that
are age-
appropriate, not falsely accelerated classes.
l>t
• A llow
students to w ork together in pairs or team
s for som e
projects. • R
ealize that few m
iddle schoolers are conceptually ready for traditional high
school subjects taught in lecture-style
classes. • R
esist parental efforts to push students into inappropriate courses.
• U se
sophisticated m
anipulative (hands-on)
m aterials,
com puter sim
ulations, and real-life applications to teach m
ath and science concepts in addition to m em
orization and w
ritten exercises. • Provide individual support for students having difficulty. • Encourage m
astery rather than covering a large volum e of
m aterial inadequately.
• Take tim e to review
m aterial from
earlier levels. • Try to m
eet social, em otional, and physical developm
ent
needs. • Em
phasize study skills and learning about how to learn.
, A llow
students physical m ovem
ent as part of classes. • D
em onstrate the use of both inductive and deductive
reasoning. • Insist on students' original w
riting and speaking before a group rather than having them
sim ply absorb m
aterial. • C
apitalize on the real interests and concerns of students, and allow
individuals or groups of students to pursue w ell-
planned projects of their ow n.
• Encourage structured collaborative learning in sm all peer
groups. • U
se com puters and other interactive video technology for
exciting conceptual learning, not just "skill and drill." • A
llow for interaction w
ith the larger com m
unity and nature outside the school, and encourage vplunteer involvem
ent. • C
hallenge each child to m ove. into m
ore abstract levels of understanding by integrating courses i11 · different subject areas.
, H ave
a w ell-planned program
for
prevention of drug, tobacco, and alcohol use, and incorporate m
edia literacy into the curriculum
. • G
ive equal classroom attention to boys and girls.
• R egard m
usic and visual and perform ing arts as integral
parts of the curriculum .
, D ow
nplay highly
com petitive
sports and
encourage individual challenge for each student. A
llow som
e tim e and
space for free play, quiet reflection, or just plain being a kid for a little w
hile longer.
R E
M A
R K
S FR O
M T
H E
T R
E N
C H
E S
The m ore I am
around adolescents, the m ore fascinating I find
them . Every day m
y students am use and delight m
e-and at the sam
e tim e they irritate, challenge, and exhaust m
e. I m
ust continually rem
ind m yself that these young adult bodies contain
132 of 330
brains far from "finished" by adult standards. T
eachers are perpetually am
azed at the w ay kids "get it together" som
etim e
around age sixteen. M any late-m
aturing thinkers are extrem ely
bright children, but parents and schools m ust hold on to their
patience and good hum or to refrain from
pushing such youngsters into defeat or alienation. T
he late bloom ers can m
ake it-unless adults have convinced them
they are failures by age sixteen. M any
psychologists believe the alarm ing increase in teenage suicide is
partially attributable to adults' urging teens to m ake choices too
soon, coupled
w ith
unreasonable expectations
and being
pressured into adults' ideas of the right decisions. H
igh academ ic standards are an im
portant national priority, but they
m ust
be brain-appropriate
for each
child's level
of developm
ent. A s one w
ho teaches the sam e students at several
points during their school years, I know that for m
onths I can beat m
y head (and theirs) against the w all of an inappropriate objective,
only to find that, tw o years later, they learn it in an hour. This latter
w ay is a lot m
ore efficient and fun for everyone. A
s at earlier ages, em otion m
ay be the ultim ate catalyst for
m ental grow
th. W hile you are trying to understand your teenagers'
brains, don't forget to love, respect, and honestly com plim
ent them
. T heir struggle for individuality is w
orth adm iring. B
ecom e
a partner in the furnishing of a new adult m
ind and you are guaranteed
a front-row
seat
for nature's
m ost
exciting developm
ental dram a.
