Beautiful Brain By David Dobbs Summary

Should teenagers be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole? Many believe that teens should spend life in prison based on the severity of their crime. Others argue that LWOP does not rehabilitate, but punishes teens. Looking at the documentary, When Kids Get Life, I believe that teens should not receive life without parole due to the fact that a teen’s brain is not yet fully formed, causing teens to struggle with decision-making and have an impulse control. Teens should be given a second chance to change in society.

In the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains,” by Paul Thompson, he speaks about how adolescents lose brain tissue as they mature. Specifically gray matter, which according to Thompson, “...brain researchers believe supports all our thinking and emotions.” The matter is being purged at a rapid rate. It’s taking with it the cells that support risk-taking, impulses, and self-control. While this shouldn’t prove to be an excuse for adolescents to break the law, it should prove to be an explanation. When it comes to the mentally ill we don’t use it as an excuse but an explanation. So what is it that is preventing us from using the research on teenage brains to help us understand why teenagers are driven to do the things that they do.

In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the boys start off being civil and got to being savage. The boy’s savage and immoral behavior, in my opinion, should be blamed on biological factors, rather than the environment. The boys started acting out once they started losing their minds and things they need.

The excerpt from “The Teen Brain:Still Under Construction” by NIMH, the author believes the teen brain is still developing hormonal,intellectually, and emotionally which affects teen behavior.

There are certain instances of juveniles being tried as adults and sometimes ending up getting a life sentence without a chance of parole. I find that pretty harsh because there have been some cases where the juvenile meant no harm, they were either confused or brought along by gang members and they end up being charged along with the gang members for just being with them when a crime goes down. I believe that juveniles do not deserve to be given a life sentence because for one they are still maturing, they can learn from their mistakes and make amends, we still have to combat crimes like intended murder committed by a juvenile with extreme punishments especially if they are well over the age of 16.

During puberty the body will go through many changes and a young person will start to become more aware of their body and their personal appearance.

“Since the developing adolescent brain is affected differently by alcohol than the adult brain, the 21 year-old drinking age protects adolescents and young adults from the its potentially negative consequences”. The human brain is not fully develop until the age of about 25 years old. If alcohol is used at an early age than the development of it can be affected causing many health problems for the person who is consuming alcohol. If the brain is affected an adolescent brain is worse at remembering things that an adult brain that has been fully develop and is not as damaged. Equally important the brain that has been in contact with alcohol is more likely to have memory loss or trouble remembering when the person is at an advanced

Teenagers are very different in personalities some teenagers like to get in trouble and some don’t think of what will happen next in their everyday lifestyle. Their was this book that i have read and it was about teenagers doing drugs and drinking and they were making careless mistakes and some of the teenagers will not do any of those things because they think of the consequences. Also some teenager will do a lot of things like not driving right making wrong turns and other things but they get over it and pick up from the beginning. Some people believe that teenagers are careless and don’t think about their consequences. Teenagers are careless in public and in school because they are in front of other people and try to do bad things and show off. Also sometimes they will also try to show off to girls and

Teens are the future of our society. They are the ones who will soon run the world we live in today. People make mistakes and no one is perfect. From these mistakes people learn, however some do not. Most of the time when a teen makes a bad choice something gets broken, they screw up in class or hurt someone's feelings. Then their are kids who make a bad choice and someone gets killed. Teens should be tried as adults for felony crimes in order to rehabilitate, bring justice to the victims and to keep the streets clean of these threats.

Drugs such as alcohol have an effect on all users, regardless of their age; however, alcohol has an especially harmful effect on teens since their bodies are still developing. Studies have shown that alcohol has numerous negative effects on a teen’s body and mental health; for example, a study conducted by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention stated that “alcohol consumption affects the brain’s frontal lobes, which is essential for functions such as emotional regulations, planning, and organization” (“Age”). Teens already have high emotions and difficulties planning and organizing; alcohol will only enhance teens’ struggle. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention also found that alcohol consumption at a young age can potentially cause chronic problems such as memory loss, depression, suicidal thoughts, and poor decision making (“Age”). Teens have a difficult enough time making decisions and organizing their lives, but adding alcohol to the mix will only make matters worse; their bodies are still developing, and they are still learning to be adults. Teens already struggle deciding what clubs to join, what colleges to apply for, what college to attend, what to major in, and much more. Teens should not be allowed to legally drink because alcohol consumption can affect their health and

Whether it is modern-day teens or teens from the 14th century, teen brains are developing and therefore they rely on their emotions rather

Many people have disregarded the fact that children too can commit despicable crimes; crimes that not even adults would think about committing. Juveniles have had their era in in being able to manipulating courts to give them a lighter sentences for their so-called “mistakes”. These juveniles have made puerile excuses to try and exonerate their actions by blaming their impulses, rather than taking accountability for them. Juveniles should be tried as adults due to being aware of their crimes and having an intention to kill, however, brain development and maturity can play a role into the reason why teens kill. With being tried as an adult juveniles should be granted the opportunity of freedom pending on their rehabilitation status and if requirements

The Women’s Brains essay was first published in Natural History in 1980 by Stephen Jay Gould, a geology and zoology professor at Harvard University. In this essay, Paul Broca, a respectable and influential professor of clinical surgery at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, concluded from his research on brain sizes that women “could not equal them [men] in intelligence”. Despite the prevalent acceptance of this conclusion in the nineteenth century, Gould refused to concede and argued against Broca’s claim through a scientific filter, where historical information, quantitative numbers and experts’ opinions were used to present an objective and credible counterargument. The clever manipulation and usage of the evidences effectively substantiated

The article “ Inside the Teen Brain” by Marty Wolner, states that recent resherchers on the human brain provides parents with shocking evidence abou there teenager that probably explains there irational, ilogical, and impulsive behavior. As it turns out, brain developement during the teenage years is radically more active than previously thought. Even though the brain is almost matured the grey matter in the thinking part of the brain is still making connections. The information proccesed in the limbic system, without benefit of higher level processing in the pre-frontal cortex may result in impulsive, egocentric,, and even risky behavior. Because of the construction of the teenage brain is that its not capable of fully processing information

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink discusses the shift of our generation's needs for different types of thinkers. According to the book, there are two types of thinking. Left-directed or left-brained and right-directed or right-brained thinking. L-directed thinkers are much more analytical and factual than R-directed thinkers, who are artistic, sympathetic, and more emotional. In the past, the industrial age required physical laborers, mostly for factory work; however, as the informational age crept in, the need for l-brained people expanded. But now, due to products and services becoming very generic, the demand for creative, meaningful, empathetic goods has risen, which, in turn, leads to the requirement for R-brained people.