Adolescence is a turbulent time of changes, searching for identity. Learn what brain science and educational psychology has to say about raising connected and resilient kids primed to learn and be successful in school. What are some practical tips to help kids maintain healthy developing brains? How do you maintain connections with your kids, even as they draw away from adults? This session will help you empathize with your teens and with yourself, as well as inform how you approach your teens in healthy and productive ways.

1. Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Parenting with
Adolescent Brains in Mind
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

2. About Seattle Girls’ School
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3. Disclaimers and
Other Food for Thought
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4. Adolescence
“Teenagers [are like] people
constantly on LSD. People on
acid are intense, changeable,
internal, often cryptic and
uncommunicative, and, of course,
dealing with a different reality.”
Mary Pipher, Reviving Ophelia
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

5. Changes
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6. Developmental Characteristics of
Adolescence
• Identity Formation
• Tenuous Sense of Self
• Self-Regulation
• Imaginary Audience
• Development of Self-Esteem
• Adolescent Egocentricism
• Importance of Peer Relationships
• Formation of Groups, Crowds and Cliques
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

7. Teen Behaviors:
Through the Lens of Autonomy
• Risk Taking
• Lies
• Boredom
• Influence of Peers
• Adolescent Decision
Making
• Arguing with
Authority
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

8. At My House…
How do you see your
children’s adolescence
manifest itself in their
interactions and behavior?
How do you support them?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

9. Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
Brain Science Crash Course

10. Stuff We Kinda Knew Already…
With a Twist
• Exercise
• Sleep
• Nutrition
• Stress
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

11. Exercise
• 30 minutes of aerobic activity
• 2-3 times a week
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

12. Sleep
• Effects of sleep much more pronounced
in children and adolescents
• Chronotypes (morning/night
people)
• The Nap Zone
• Dangers of Sleep
Deprivation
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

13. Nutrition
• Goldilocks Food Habits
• Good Food = Well
Fueled Brains
• Bad Food = Poor
Learning
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

14. • 30 Second Stress
• Chronic Stress = Bad
Learning
• Happy Home =
Academic Success
Stress
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

15. Adolescent Brain Research
• Brain keeps growing and developing to age 25!
• Teen brain is a “late childhood brain”
– Capacity to learn things quickly
– Connections between different sections of the
brain aren’t fully developed yet.
– Brain is pruning and re-wiring neurons during
this time
– Amygdala is getting hyper triggered by
hormones
– Prefrontal Cortex (frontal lobe) is last place for
connections to develop.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

16. The Two Brains
• Rational Brain and
Emotional Brain
• Both Valuable,
Both Able to
Mislead
• Emotional
System’s
Evolutionary
Origin
Epstein. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Spring 2006.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

17. The Emotional Brain
• Pattern Recognition
Without Conscious
Awareness
• Motivates Behavior
Change Through
Feelings, Autonomic
Responses
• First Impression
• Thin Slice of
Information
Gladwell. Blink. NY: Little, Brown & Co. 2005.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

18. Pre-Frontal Cortex: PFC
• High level reasoning
• Decision-making
• Impulse control
• Assessment of consequences
• Planning, strategizing, organizing
• Inhibiting inappropriate behavior
• Adjusting behavior when the
situation changes
• Setting priorities
• Estimating and understanding
probabilities
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

19. The Problem
• Cognitive abilities 
performance
• Analysis  primary
mode of decision-
making
• Competence  use
of that competence
Kluczynski. Child Development 2001; 72:844
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20. PFC vs Amygdala
PFC:
Situation 
Assess 
Plan
Amygdala:
Situation 
Emotion/Feeling 
React
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

21. Peer Pressure
• Computerized risk-taking
tests done alone and while
watched by friends:
– Adults: peers have no effect
– Adolescents: peers doubles
the number of risks taken
• Brain scans at the same
time suggest presence of
friends activates a different
part of the brain
Laurence Steinberg
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22. Implications
• They ARE capable
• Circumstances matter
• Social + Emotional +
Intellectual = Decision
• Amygdala first, PFC
last
• Gut response first,
reason second
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

23. Taking it All In
What information was
new, interesting,
surprising,
informative, etc.? Are
you seeing some
adolescent behaviors
in your children in a
new light?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

24. Supporting Our Kids
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25. Living Out Loud
• Talk about your day and
show interest in theirs
• Talk positively and
realistically about yourself
• Make mistakes out loud
• Tell your stories
• Emote out loud
• Reason out loud
• Make your values clear
• Walk your talk
• Listen, listen, listen
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

26. Respecting Them
• Involve them in decision-making
• Explain the “why”
• Recognize their developing
capacity
• Recognize that, even at 17, their
decision-making may be different
than “mature” decision-making
• Recognize situations that
influence rational decision-making
• Limits are necessary
• Some autonomy is necessary
• Help them reason through
decisions
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

27. Questions and Answers
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28. Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)