The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids

I strongly recommend this book to parents of teens and all teachers.

Pros
- Gives some perspective to those of us frustrated with illogical, emotional behavior. There are scientific reasons for this. We don't get angry and yell at a baby for pooping in his diaper because that's what babies do. Similarly, while we shouldn't ignore inappropriate behavior by our teens, we also need to understand why it's happening and perhaps learn to take a few deep breaths when it's happening...VERY deep breaths.

-Several real life examples that will strike most as familiar.

- Solid science to share with teens about the possible LIFELONG brain impact that drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes may have. This part made me cringe a little. Even common college show more drinking may possibly cause significant damage.

- Explains the serious sleep deficits kids are dealing with. What can we do about this re: school schedules, heavy activity schedules, and even ..yes my hardcore teacher friends... backing off on homework!

- While reading this book I found myself chuckling while dealing with my classes and my own kids instead of getting angry. For that alone, reading this book is worth it.

Cons
- The author sometimes gets bogged down in the science. All I need to know is that a reputable study reached certain conclusions and what they mean to me. I don't want to walk through the steps of the study and what people did with rats.

-As far as brain research goes, this book is a bit dated (2002 or so). A lot has happened in the field of brain research. That is why I STRONGLY recommend also reading The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. These two books together will forever change how you look at kids and even yourself. And that's no hyperbole! show less

The Primal Teen provides a good survey of some of the current research being done looking at how teenager brains are in the process of changing which helps explain some of the challenges that teenagers face. That said, I found the book's conclusions inadequate. I believe that even in the midst of the changing brain, there is much that can be done to help a teenager develop there character which can offset many of the things than are happening on the biological level.

Pretty interesting stuff...Strauch goes into the brain research that has been done on teens to show that maybe teens' behavior has something to do with the way their brains are developing. She does point to some environmental causes as well. Overall well balanced, but there are some things I wish she would have explored more (like risk taking behavior and debates over whether we should lower the drinking age--would this help make it appear leass risky? What about teens in other cultures?).

We all know teenagers don't always make the right decisions. This book helps to explain why - their frontal lobe in not fully developed. It is more complicated and interesting than this. The book focuses on the new discoveries about brain development in teenagers with many vignettes and examples of how to deal with both the out of control teenager and the "good" teenager. A useful book for educators and parents.

Excellent information presented in a very readable way.

The major structural changes in a teenage brain. More about reassurance, from a scientific stance, than practical tips.

A full review of this book can be found here:

http://www.jakebouma.com/2007/12/07/the-primal-teen-book-review/