My Kid Did What?! The Impact of Brain Development on High Risk Behaviors

A teenager’s brain “has a well-developed accelerator but only a partly developed brake.” Laurence Steinberg Frontal Lobes near forhead; limbic system in center. With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash.

Dispelling the Myths Myth #1: I need to teach my children how to drink before they go to college. Myth #2: They are going to do it anyway. I might as well let them do it at my house so I know they are safe. Myth #3: My kid is a good kid so I don’t need to worry as much.

Dispelling the Myths Myth #4: Europe has a lower drinking age and less problems with alcohol. Myth #5: I did it when I was in high school, and I’m fine. Myth #6: Drinking is different than drugs.

The Big Picture Adolescents brain development ends at 25 years old They are less likely to use executive functioning skills The frontal lobe is even less useful while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Even “good kids” make mistakes. Adolescent brains are all still developing, so there are no “bad kids.” Children who live in an environment where abuse or dependence is occurring are three times more likely to become dependent themselves.

The Accelerator Vs. The Brake Prefrontal Cortex: Directs our judgment & decision-making (rational, mature thinking) Amygdala: Directs our emotional response (immaturity) Delay, Deny, Discourage! Delay deny and discourage the use of drugs and alcohol bc it directly effects the development of your teens BREAK aka the prefrontal cortex

200 Billion Neurons By age 6! Why are there heads so big?!! At age 6 you have around 200 billion neurons. A neuron is a nerve cell which contains dendrites and axons that communicate by bringing and taking away information from the cell body. Learning is the process of creating, strengthening, and discarding connections among neurons. These connections are called synapses. A healthy toddler may create 2 million synapses per second. At age 11 you begin pruning away some of these neurons to make room for what your going to use and need ahead…. Learning is the process of creating, strengthening, and discarding connections among neurons.

AGE 11-12 24-25 200 100 We once thought the human brain was fully developed by age 5. Now we know that we actually grow an EXCESSIVE number of connections between brain cells during childhood. At age 11-12, we begin pruning back these connections. This process clears out unneeded wiring to make for more efficient and faster information-processing, otherwise known as mature, adult thinking. Age 11 for girls and 12 ½ for boys. (Between ages 6-11 your brain takes a little time out so your body has time to grow and develop/mature..then back to brain work!) At age 11/12 we have 200 billion neurons. By age 24-25 we only have 100 billion 50% are pruned away However this happens because we are gaining/growing MYELIN (discarding them makes more room to strengthen the neuron your gonna need/use more often!)

USE IT OR LOSE IT PRINCIPLE Pruning (Apoptosis) clears out unneeded wiring to make way for more efficient and faster information-processing (thicker myelin) Myelin is fatty tissue that we gain as we prune away our neurons. The thicker it gets the faster it conducts electricity down the nerve spine and INCREASES processing speed As myelin gets thicker it needs room so you lose neurons to make room for it to grow Myelin is included with frontal lobes (and composed of organelles?) Limbic is the reaction processing part

Prefrontal Cortex Thinking: Executive Function Skills Abstract; conceptual understanding Impulse Control Problem-Solving Decision-Making Judgment Emotion Regulation Frustration Tolerance Ability to Feel Empathy ABSTRACT THINKING: opposite of CONCRETE THINKING, all or nothing, yes or no EX: idea of love or religion LOVE- may mean hold hands at first, later on may mean “ washing your husbands stinky clothes” “ well he doesn’t hold my hand anymore but he pays the bills” (no way I can be football star if I also want to be on the chess team etc) IMPULSE CONTROL: ability to say no to yourself PROB SOLV AND DECSION MAKING: used to be very concrete: mom would say yes or no and make decision for you; when you are an adult it become much more complex and utilized brainstorming and weighing the options JUDGMENT: not judging something but having good judgement to make the right or better decision EMOTION REGULATION AND FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE: being able to sit with your feeligns iwthout a breakdown (exambel of rainey and david) EMPATH: MOST IMPORTANT! The one they really need about all and need abstract thought for it to think outside of themselves. ASK: “ how they did it!” “that was great problem solving, howd you do that?” You must have abstract reasoning to develop empathy and feel from someone else’s point of view. EMPATHY is probably the most important and executive function to form and the last one to gain. (bc you have to be able problem solve and have abstract thought before you can) If you don’t develop empathy you may just be called a “sociopath or psychopath” Abstract reasoning  reflect on identity, people, events etc Impulse Control very decreased especially when around friends

What is Amygdala Thinking? Fight, Flight, Freeze Survival Mode All or Nothing: Concrete Based on fear or anger reactions Ignited by real or perceived threats Begins adrenaline cycle Story about yelling at dad when I was hungry and needed a sandwhich it was a PERCEIVED THREAT!!! “survival” governs thinking related to flight or flight! EX: how mothers save baby in danger; impossible feats like moving a car etc… EX of low dopamine amygdala thinking: Starving, get home to eat chocolate cake and finace pulls it away and you immidatly jump up and threaten to stick their phone in the sink….etc

We peak w brain growth at age 25 but we do continue to grown new dentrites that reach to new neurons in the limbic system. The dentrites begin to break off when you stop using them and “amalitin plack” builds there instead, which is can lead to developing alzheimers disease. “USE IT OR LOSE IT!”

What DOES This Mean? Adolescents on average are more: Impulsive Aggressive Emotionally volatile Likely to take risks Vulnerable to peer pressure Likely to overlook alternative courses of action Prone to focus on & overestimate short-term payoffs and underplay longer-term consequences of what they do any of this look familiar?? Long Term reality is ARRESTED DVELOPMENT -PREP for next slide: examiple, Ill do drugs now because I’m invinsible and young, but not think of long term consequences---lack of frontal lobes development! Don’t get to use their exec. Skills EX: Yelling match when my mom would nag sister to clean room, she didn’t have empathy for moms long day and instead thought with amygdala and reacted impulsively and emotinoally volaite (amygdala thinking, less use of their frontal lobes so reactions are not emotionally regulated in the same way)

HYPOFRONTALITY = PLEASURE Back to USE it or LOSE it, when they are on drugs and alcohol, they are not going to be using their frontal lobes and executive functioning skils at all! How will they develop those wodnerful skills for the real world with ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT?? During DA spikes, our midbrain lights up and our frontal lobe goes dark. Our survival system is now in charge of our brains. The thinking, good judgment part of our brain in inaccessible during active use. Does this explain why you can stop using but once you have ingested the chemical, you loose control? No use of executive functioning skills in this state and use it or lose in pricinipal is completley out the window

Triple D: Delay, Deny, Discourage! Students who wait to use drugs or alcohol until age 21, are likely NEVER to have problems with addiction during their lifetime. Students who have a genetic predisposition to addiction and wait to use until age 21, are 40% less likely to have problems with addiction. WHY? WHY? WHY?> Because you let their BRAIN DEVELOP! Don’t you want them to go to college with strong connections and processing speeds , this gives them sceientific fusticfication to set that RULE in the HOUSE!!! Let them form their frontal lobes first!! Don’t tamper with their devloping brain with substance use and change the dopamine receptors, etc! let it grow right! (When kids who have a genetic predisposition experiment before the age of 21, the risk of becoming addicted increases that much more, because they are tamping with their brain development/chemistry before they have even fully grown their Frontal Lobes. SAMSHA, 2012

How do high-risk behaviors such as substance use impact teens choices to engage in other high-risk behaviors such as bullying?

Bullying-Why it Matters This month your students will be educated on bullying awareness A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 20 percent of teens nationwide report having been bullied at school within the past 12 months

Bullying-Why it Matters As reported in the EHS survey data from the 2014—2015 school year, bullying does occur in various ways, most notably in the form of social, emotional and verbal bullying.

Bullying and High Risk Behaviors Kids are often pressured or bullied into using substances. Young people want to fit in. Peer pressure is the biggest influence on underage drinking. Lack of psychosocial maturity greatly impacts the power and influence of bullying and peer pressure Drinking, Drugs & Bullying What is bullying? Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and hurtful. It takes many forms, including hitting, punching, intimidation, social exclusion and sending insulting messages via email, text messages and the internet. Teens escalate bullying under the influence of drinking and drugs, moving from harassment to hate crimes. Teens also turn to drinking and drugs when they are targeted by bullying. The facts about teens, drinking and drugs: Kids are often pressured or bullied into using substances. • Young people want to fit in. Peer pressure is the biggest influence on underage drinking. Teens tend to drink 5 drinks at a time. This is called “binge drinking,” a chief factor in addiction. Teens who use alcohol are 5 times more likely to abuse it as adults. Drinking alcohol increases the likelihood of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of a violent crime. Bullying may start as words but can quickly escalate to violence. The impact of bullying: It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day because they are afraid of being attacked or intimidated. 60% of American teens report witnessing bullying at least once a day and for children in grades 6–10, nearly one in six report being victimized. By age 24, up to 60% of childhood bullies have at least one criminal conviction. 82% of girls and 76% of boys report having experienced sexual harassment. 282,000 students are physically attacked in the secondary schools each month.

& Drugs Alcohol Unsafe Sex Depression Rape & Violence Bullying Drunk Driving Self-harm

Parent Tool Kit The helicopter & lawnmower VS. healthy parenting styles “Duck tape therapy”- Listen 90% and Speak 10% of the time Set Home Rules! Ask about their friends… Have Family dinners! Create a healthy, open dialogue, where your child can be free to express themselves

What does all this mean to you? Do you think parents are justified in being their teen’s prefrontal cortex until it is fully developed? Do you think teens underestimate the negative consequences of high-risk behavior? Why? When do you step in when reports of bullying have occurred? ***most powerful tool for parents is PRAISE when the correct behavior is acted out!! **Meet your child where they are at, because they don’t have a fully developed brain yet!