The emotional roller coaster of raising teens is enough to make any parent throw up their hands. But learning some facts about teenagers and how their brains are wired can help you understand them just a little bit more.
Teenagers can be tricky creatures: one moment they’re insisting, “I’m not a child!” and the next they’re blubbering because you said they can’t have the newest gadget.
Fortunately, scientists have studied teens and figured out a little about what makes them tick. A little knowledge and insight into the brains of teens might help you both as you navigate this stage of life.
For some surprising scientific facts about teenagers — plus some advice on how to talk to them and keep them from getting in trouble — read on.
This Causes Teen Brain Shutdown
Ever feel like your lectures go in one ear and out the other? You may be right. In a 2014 study, researchers at the Universities of Pittsburgh, California-Berkeley, and Harvard placed 32 teens and tweens in a brain scanner while listening to recordings of their mothers nitpicking them.
Results reveal that certain key areas of the teen brain shut down when listening to criticism, and that throws a wrench in their ability to process what you’re telling them. Thanks to science-based facts about teenagers, we can better tailor the message we are trying to send them.
'Talking Back' Might Be a Good Thing
Ah, if only you could bring back that sweet child who never argued with you. However, one study revealed surprising facts about teenagers: kids who argue with their parents may actually end up better off than those who don’t.
The reason: Teens who can disagree and say “no” to their parents are also more likely to have the guts to say “no” to friends and not cave to peer pressure to do drugs, have sex, or engage in other risky behaviors.
So next time your teen talks back, maybe it would help to give them props for knowing how to stand up for themselves? Maybe?
They're Probably Online More Than You Realize
This fact about teenagers may not be one you want to hear, but it is important. Because while parents like to think we keep close tabs on what our teens are doing online, in some ways, we’re completely clueless to what they’re actually doing and watching.
For instance, a whopping 35% of teens say they are using at least one social media platform “almost constantly,” according to research from the Pew Research Center. Their preferred platforms include YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. That’s a whole lot of video watching!
This fact may not change anything upfront in how you talk to your teen, but it may be an opportunity to step more into their world and realize how heavily influenced by social media it can be.
Teens Don't Hold Up TV Stars as Role Models
Stop worrying about television role models. It turns out teens don’t blindly follow in the footsteps of the reality stars they see on TV. Instead, teens see them as cautionary tales.
As proof, a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2014 found that the MTV show 16 and Pregnant led to fewer teen births — by 5.7% — in the 18 months after it premiered. The show also led to more searches and tweets from teens about birth control and abortion. In other words, kids saw what was happening on screen and decided, “Ugh, being a teen mom is the pits, no thanks.”
Today’s world may be more inclined to social media influencers, so talk to your teens about what they are seeing. Some teens may recognize that what they see online is not real, but the advent of AI may be moving too quickly for some teens, so it’s important to keep the lines of communication open.
Teens Really Aren't Awake for School
If it takes Herculean effort to drag your teen out of bed to get to school, don’t blame them: studies show that teens are just wired to sleep later. In fact, one study found that delaying the start of school from 8 to 8:30 a.m. resulted in better moods, motivation, and attendance. This may explain why the Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all schools start at 8:30 instead.
They Are Highly Influenced by Peers
In a study by Temple University, researchers had teens play a video driving game — sometimes they were alone, other times they were told they were being watched by two friends. “Watched” teens, it turns out, ran 40% more lights and had 60% more crashes than unwatched ones. The perceived presence of friends nudged teens to take more risks.
Definitely something to keep in mind if you allow your teen to drive to school … and pick up friends along the way.
Being Too Strict Can Backfire
If you rule the roost with an iron fist, know this: Studies suggest that overly strict parenting can backfire, leading kids to rebel. Why?
Because denying your teens any fun or say-so undermines their respect for you. This can lead them to disrespect all sorts of authority figures, leading them down the path toward crime, substance abuse, and other problems.
Strict parenting can also lead to extreme stress in children, which can have other detrimental effects, such as the inability to make thoughtful decisions and regulate their emotions later in life.
Yelling Is as Bad as Hitting
Of course, you don’t hit your kids, but yell? Hey, every day! Well, it turns out a study by the University of Pittsburgh has found that yelling, rather than diminishing bad behavior, does the opposite: yelling spurs kids to misbehave more.
The researchers also found that harsh words can have the same negative emotional effects on your teen as physical discipline, leading to antisocial and aggressive behavior. So perhaps it’s time to tone it down.
They Long for Connection
Teen brains are wired for connecting with their peers, but recent surveys have found that around 25% of teens report feeling extremely lonely.
There are theories that smartphones and a tech-connected world can leave teens feeling lonely, so it might help to understand that even if your teen has an active connected life online or via texting, they still long for that in-person connection that is vital to a teen’s brain.
Maturity Doesn't Happen at 18
One of the most interesting facts about teenagers is that their brains are quite literally different than adults, particularly in areas responsible for long-term thinking and reasoning. By 18, teens are considered “adults” in that they graduate high school, can vote, enlist in the military, move out of your house — in many ways, they can act just like you! Yet, MRI scans have shown that the brain doesn’t fully mature in the teen years.
In fact, parts of the brain involved in decision-making — and those are the important, adult-like parts! — don’t become fully developed until age 25. That means that it’s normal for teens to be impulsive and make decisions without fully understanding, or even considering, the long-term impact or consequence.
They're Not as Badly Behaved as You Think
One of the most well-known facts about teenagers is that adults just know that they are worse-behaved than their generation, right? Wrong. “Juvenoia” is the belief among older adults that their kids are more spoiled, ungrateful, badly behaved, and sexually depraved than ever before. But experts say these fears are overblown.
For instance, youth substance abuse and sexual activity decreased from 2013 to 2023, according to the CDC, while mental health rates have shown improvement.
So although some topics are still of concern and there are new things to be worried about today vs. many years ago (like online bullying, for example), in general, teens are no worse today than they were years ago. It can help keep things in perspective to realize that every generation ahead of you has been certain that “kids these days” are trouble.
Teens Are Wired To Take Risks
Teens’ brains are wired to become more receptive to dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone, during adolescence, which means that as their brain encounters experiences that give it dopamine, they can become more likely to seek it out. That’s why teens may be more likely to take risks or make what adults see as impulsive decisions — they are literally chasing that dopamine.
To help give their brains the dose of dopamine they crave in a healthy way, experts suggest encouraging them to try new things, like challenging sports or joining new clubs. They can get the dopamine rush from meeting a new challenge, reaching a goal, or just having fun with new people.
