It's a given that once a person hits puberty all his/her childhood goodness and obedience went out the window - from a parent's point of view at least. Teenagers often seen as mindless rebels who want to test the limits simply because they want to. As for decision making, it seems that they arrive at their decision simply going against their parents wishes.

Taking control

Teenagers test the limits because they are trying to find themselves, trying to define who they are. They want to learn how to decide for themselves. The consequences of their decisions is part of their growth and part of the learning process.

In their desire to create their own identity apart from their parents, they resort to rebelling and disobedience. Teens would sometimes heed their peers' advice before their parents'.

What we do not know

What we fail to see is how a teenager's mind works - not the plots of rebellion and disobedience, but how his/her brain actually functions - brain matter and all that.

In an article written by Dr. Iris Fanning for eZinearticles.com, she digests information given by Dr. Abigail Baird Ph.D in a conference called the Brain Institute in Albuquerque, NM. Below are some of the information in the article and lecture. See: Mean Girls + the Teen Brain & Decision Making! At eZinearticles.com

Amygdala - is the brain's "burglar alarm." It is responsible for feeding, fighting, fleeing and sex.

Frontal cortex - located at the top, is responsible for orchestrating behavior and problem solving.

Insula - deep in the brain, is responsible for retaining sense, and 'gut' memories. The insula is what tells you to never repeat something bad or something wrong from the past.

During the conference, adults and teens were asked if a list of simple questions such as "is swimming with sharks a good idea or bad idea?"

The adults of course, did not hesitate with their answers. But it was interesting to note that teenagers had a significant delay in answering such simple questions.

Brain scans also showed that teenagers' brains showed uncoordinated frontal lobe (the part that orchestrates behavior) activity and little to no activity in the amygdala or insula (the brain's alarm system).

The thing is, the frontal lobe's orchestration would mature by age 25 for boys, and 20-23 for girls.

In neuroscience, adulthood is the time when:

• the gut feeling or sense of good/bad idea, safety, warning is automatic

• the prresence of consistent planning, behavior, follow through, problem solving and coordination of the frontal lobes with other parts of the brain are permanent.

So cut your kids some slack. Instead be, the kind of parents who explains and understands, rather than the one who scolds and nags.