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Youshouldknow.ca: sexual health news, views and science for women in perimenopause and beyond. Find info on preventing sexually transmitted infections, aging considerations, and relationship dynamics. Supportive information for all of us as we move into our middle years with partners new and old.

Scary Teen Brains

Here’s a comforting thought for those of us with teens in our lives- their brains are wired for risk. As the mom of a girl on the brink of teenage status, this makes me shiver.   

Of course this isn’t news to the generations of parents before us who navigated the teenage years hoping for the best and lecturing for the worst. But science has proved it’s true. Our brains, for all their amazing capacity, take a long time to mature, and all areas don’t do so at the same time. The area of thrill seeking and risk-taking matures last, and not until about age 24. This explains why your teen can hear you and spout back why it’s not a good idea to drink and drive, but may do so anyway.

Worried about your kids’ risk-taking and decision-making about sex? This is part of my ongoing stance on sex ed for kids of all ages. It starts with correctly naming body parts with newly verbal toddlers and continues as they age, with sexual function, pleasure, responsibility, safety, and relationships.  If you wait for when they’re “old enough” and you’re at the point where your kids are tuning you out, you’ve missed some great chances for discussion and education.  Not to say you should stop trying- it’s never too late for sex ed about healthy relationship and sexual choices. You just might have to get creative in the delivery.

Social media can involve risk-taking too, and this paediatrician is concerned about how it can mix with sex. Her post makes some good points about an app called Snapchat, where you share a photo or video (with captions if desired) and it’s online only briefly before disappearing  “forever.” Or does it? She found it easy to capture images that were supposed to “disappear,” and had some relevant concerns about how kids might use the app thinking it’s safe.

Generations of parents have had to deal with kids who got STIs (or VD as it would have been called) and no antibiotic help; with pregnancies, with car accidents, with drinking and drugs. Social media is another piece we need to deal with as parents. Hopefully it’s alongside supportive friends, because we are faced with these amazing, vibrant, energetic kids- whose brains aren’t quite with them.

- Janet

Photo: Morguefile

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