Peek into the teenage brain

Friday, February 26, 2010

More than 100 people were in attendance at the Bedford High School Theater last week to hear teacher and neurological expert Michael Nerney discuss how adolescent brains vary from those of adults and how their changing brains influence their behavior.

“People are legitimately concerned about what’s going on in the world around their kids and how to keep them safe,” said Nerney. “But I think the key is not just understanding the world around the kids but also the kids’ brains.”

The event was co-sponsored by the Coalition for Bedford Youth and the Bedford High School Students Against Destructive Decisions group, also known as SADD.

“We had so much misinformation come to us, but to have so many people and this information was so new,” said Holly LaFond, Project Coordinator for the Coalition for Bedford Youth. “I was just looking around at the faces saying, ‘Oh that’s what I should have done’ in response to what he was saying.”

One of Nerney’s main points to the crowd was focused on THP, a chemical released in the brain during stress that causes adults to become more focused but creates anxiety in adolescent children.

However, his advice also included his ideas to better engage children, such as sending clear messages, not glorifying alcohol use, praising them publicly while scorning them privately, and sitting down to meals with them at least three times a week.

“He confirmed a lot of my parental tactics. It’s a big responsibility to be a parent, and when you let the kid boss you around, it doesn’t help the kid,” said Donna LaRue, a local parent, teacher at Bedford’s Ross Lurgio Middle School and an advisor for SADD.

“I work with kids all the time, and I’ve worked with kids who I’ve seen grow up and they’re totally normal and they’re functioning adults but they struggled as teens. So to know that it’s a transitory period in a person’s life that sometimes they act like monsters but they’re not, they’re just in transition.”

Joyce Welton of New Boston, a mother of two, found the presentation highly informative. “Two of my friends suggested I come and (the presentation) was excellent; it was very helpful in reiterating some of the information I already knew, but it was good to know how children react to the stresses in their lives,” she said. “It actually gave me reinforcement that what we’re doing is the right thing more than anything, but it was helpful to hear that we were on the right track.”

Nerney also cited numerous statistics and trends throughout the evening, stating that 45 to 55 percent of high school students have used alcohol in the past month; 44 and 80 percent of middle and high school students respectively have either seen drugs sold, used or exchanged on their campus; and 16-year-olds can have up to 26 separate emotionally stressful moments in a day, according to a John Hopkins study.

In addition to parents, younger audience members also found the talk to be enjoyable

“I thought it was very interesting and eye-opening,” said Amanda O’Donnell, a Junior at Saint Anselm’s and a member of the college’s ‘Rescue Staff.’

“I personally wasn’t aware that so many kids were doing this sort of thing, at least when I went to high school in Salem three years ago. Being in college, I’ve known people it’s happened to, but it never happened in high school, which made it sort of shock me.“

Student Kayla Legace, a member of SADD, said, “I haven’t seen a lot of drugs, but I have heard that some kids have been selling drugs here (at Bedford High School). I have some friends in Massachusetts, though, and it’s better here.”

Nerney said the brain begins to change around 12 years old and does not stop until 20 to 22 for girls and 24 to 26 for boys. While he believes that drug use of any kind during that period can be developmentally damaging, particularly overuse, he does not consider himself a prohibitionist.

“I think as opposed to making everything legal, there are some I would like to restrict, but many I would like to decriminalize,” he said. “We know that once people get 24 and 25 there’s far less vulnerability within the brain for that stuff. ”