The Yellow Teenage Brain
May is National Teen Self-Esteem Month,
a month to celebrate our teenagers and help them healthfully enhance their self-esteem. Parents, teachers, friends and family members are encouraged to increase their aware of teenagers’ challenges and achievements, provide positive role models, promote an appreciation of differences, and foster a positive body image and sense of self-confidence.
I am a member of the National Association of Self-Esteem. The purpose of the organization is “to fully integrate self-esteem into the fabric of American society so that every individual, no matter what their age or background, experiences personal worth and happiness.”
According to Rita Carter, author of Mapping the Mind, “A nucleus called the reticular formation, for example, which plays a major role in maintaining attention, usually only, becomes fully myelinated at or after puberty, which is why prepubescent children have a short attention span. (Myelin is a sheath of white substance that acts as insulation, allowing electricity to flow swiftly and directly to sections of the brain.) The frontal lobe does not become fully myelinated until full adulthood. This is one reason, perhaps, why younger adults are more emotional and impulsive than those who are older.”
In 1998, I facilitated a Brain Color study at the Fremd High School student psychology fair in Palatine, Illinois. The following percentages represent the 194 students who participated in the research project.
43% Orange Brainers: Is highly impulsive and action-oriented (% opposite adults).
31% Blue Brainers: Has a high level of desire to please others and gain peer approval (% similar to adults).
15% Yellow Brainers: Sense of responsibility and accountability for the choices they make is unusually low (% opposite of adults).
11% Green Brainers: Level of logical reasoning about the consequences for their actions is extremely low (% similar to adults).
A Yellow Brainer wants to have more control over his or her life than you do. You might hear your teenager tell you, “Times have changed and your rules are old fashioned.”
I encourage you to use the What Color Is Your Brain? approach to help you survive the teenage years or until your child becomes a young adult and realizes you are no longer the enemy and that you have a brain!
Happy Teenage Yellow Brainday!
Sheila Glazov ~ Author ~ Speaker ~ Educator
Please, visit my website to learn more about your Brain Colors, my books and workshops.
Flickr credit for Yellow Brain Teenagers
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