Teens: Adults in TrainingNicholle RussellPublic Health Nurse

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Mission Statement

Together with the Halton community, the Health Department works to achieve the

best possible health for all.

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Teens who make a healthy transition to adulthood are…

•Prepared for work•Prepared for intimacy and family life•Prepared to participate in community life•Prepared to manage their personal Health and Wellbeing

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How do we get them there?

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Understanding the Adolescent Brain

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Brain DevelopmentCerebellum controls physical or motor coordination

Nucleus accumbens is responsible for motivation, low effort yet high excitement

Amygdala identifies and controls emotion, react to situations with “hot” emotions, to mis-read facial expressions as a sign of anger

Frontal Lobe – responsible for the complex processing of information

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“Thinking” Brain Governing emotions Judgment Planning Organization Problem Solving Impulse Inhibition Abstraction Analysis/synthesis Self-awareness* Self-concept* Identity Spirituality

The Frontal Lobes

10Deborah Yurgelun Todd McLean Hospital Belmont, Mass (2004)

Adolescents use the Amydala (fight or flight response) rather than the Frontal Cortex (used by older adults) to read emotions

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The ProblemFrontal Lobe Development

Autonomy Average age of first sexual encounter in

Canada

drivers license

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Made worse as group adolescent brains amp-up the levels

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What do we know?

•Brain is not just about genes•Teen brains are “under construction”•Still developing into their 20’s• “Thinking” brain develops last; emotional brain in charge

•Pruning happens; brain not working during pruning

•Alcohol and drugs affect teen brains

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What’s good for the teen brain?• Sleep• Healthy food and drink• Stress reduction• Nurturance (praise, be positive)• Monitoring• Guidance (limit setting, role modeling, questions)• Opportunities/experiences• Practice for the “thinking brain”• Tolerance of mistakes• Avoiding Alcohol and other Substances

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SCENARIOS

• What we THINK….

• Affects what we FEEL…

• Affects how we ACT….

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For more information

“Teen Brain, Teen Mind: What parents need to know to survive the adolescent years”, Dr. Ron Clavier, 2005

“The Primal Teen: What the discoveries about the teenage brain tell us about our kids”, Barbara Strauch, 2003

nicholle.russell@halton.ca

www.irhs.ca

www.halton.ca