Age of Opportunity
The teen years are the age of opportunity!
by Charles Debelak
This article was written for the community by Birchwood’s Head of School Charles Debelak and appears in this month’s Westlake Neighbors magazine. Mr. Debelak’s writing provides parents with information about sound educational principles and child development issues gleaned from history, contemporary research, and his 50+ years of educating, coaching, and counseling children, young adults, and parents.
It is during these years that young people are framing their personal identities. Biologically, psychologically, and emotionally they are unconsciously driven to discover and define who they are, what they can become, and how they fit in their world.
It is the age of opportunity, and as such, parents and educators should seize this period to inspire their teens, encourage their highest aspirations, nurture their best achievements, expand their breadth of experiences, and teach them how to become a productive member of their world. It would be wise for parents and educators to commit themselves to such high minded labor. It is the perspective of both science and history.
In his book “Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence,” Laurence Steinberg, leading scholar in the field of adolescent development, notes that there is a sudden spurt of neural capacity which supercharges adolescent cognition and emotional systems. The result is an infusion of energy into whatever captures the young person’s attention. Of course, unguided, this neurological phenomenon can contribute to extreme and even dangerous behaviors. Yet this same neural development, if nurtured wisely and patiently, can be directed toward the highest levels of personal fulfillment and social commitment.
Steinberg points out that except for the ages 0-3, neural plasticity (a process in which the brain is being stretched and molded through experience) is greatest during the teen years. Although adults may alter or tweak their neural development, it is during the teen years when it is fundamentally shaped. Steinberg notes that the cornerstone of healthy psychological development in adulthood is a robust personal identity. The foundational framework – for better or for worse – is created during the teen years.
Young people may not understand, or they may not even be aware of what is going on in their brains and their emotions, but they certainly respond to this neural activity. They thrust themselves at life with boundless enthusiasm and unlimited energy. Fortunately, these igniting passions can be aligned in healthy ways. They can be intertwined with the highest levels of human endeavor toward ideals, great ideas, and achievement.
Not only science describes this phenomenon. History tells the same story. The traditional orientation of youth regardless of cultural or philosophical orientation is that of optimism, high hopes, a sense of awe and wonder in exploring their world and imagining what “could be.” Youth is a time of idealism, and human life which does not begin with idealistic aspirations is likely to become a barren one. Aristotle wrote, “[youth] are hopeful, their lives are filled with expectations, they are high-minded, choose to do what is noble rather than is expedient – such then is the character of the young.”
Let us foster these noble aspirations.
It is during these years that young people are framing their personal identities. Biologically, psychologically, and emotionally they are unconsciously driven to discover and define who they are, what they can become, and how they fit in their world.
It is the age of opportunity, and as such, parents and educators should seize this period to inspire their teens, encourage their highest aspirations, nurture their best achievements, expand their breadth of experiences, and teach them how to become a productive member of their world. It would be wise for parents and educators to commit themselves to such high minded labor. It is the perspective of both science and history.
In his book “Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence,” Laurence Steinberg, leading scholar in the field of adolescent development, notes that there is a sudden spurt of neural capacity which supercharges adolescent cognition and emotional systems. The result is an infusion of energy into whatever captures the young person’s attention. Of course, unguided, this neurological phenomenon can contribute to extreme and even dangerous behaviors. Yet this same neural development, if nurtured wisely and patiently, can be directed toward the highest levels of personal fulfillment and social commitment.
Steinberg points out that except for the ages 0-3, neural plasticity (a process in which the brain is being stretched and molded through experience) is greatest during the teen years. Although adults may alter or tweak their neural development, it is during the teen years when it is fundamentally shaped. Steinberg notes that the cornerstone of healthy psychological development in adulthood is a robust personal identity. The foundational framework – for better or for worse – is created during the teen years.
Young people may not understand, or they may not even be aware of what is going on in their brains and their emotions, but they certainly respond to this neural activity. They thrust themselves at life with boundless enthusiasm and unlimited energy. Fortunately, these igniting passions can be aligned in healthy ways. They can be intertwined with the highest levels of human endeavor toward ideals, great ideas, and achievement.
Not only science describes this phenomenon. History tells the same story. The traditional orientation of youth regardless of cultural or philosophical orientation is that of optimism, high hopes, a sense of awe and wonder in exploring their world and imagining what “could be.” Youth is a time of idealism, and human life which does not begin with idealistic aspirations is likely to become a barren one. Aristotle wrote, “[youth] are hopeful, their lives are filled with expectations, they are high-minded, choose to do what is noble rather than is expedient – such then is the character of the young.”
Let us foster these noble aspirations.
