The Teen Brain

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is the latest organization to present research on the workings of the teen brain; a scientific onslaught in the past year. Basically all have said that, using MRI as a tool, there is now proof that the pre-frontal cortex of the human brain is under-developed until the mid-twenties. This is the area that makes intelligent decisions by remembering, understanding and evaluating information and experiences. Connectors, transmitters, and chemicals in the brain are just not present or are too immature to handle the requisite processes.

Campaign Director Sarah Brown raises concerns in the document's forward that this new research will be used to deny "opportunities for (teen) autonomous decisions...to argue that minors should not be able to obtain family planning care without parental consent...". Its hard to imagine why it should not be used just for those situations. Ms Brown also asserts that "no one should turn away from new research findings just because they might modify our thinking." Quite a statement from someone whose organization has stood firmly with Planned Parenthood. We agree completely with Ms. Brown's assertion that the message is " teens--however competent--are not adults and we need to think harder about the nature of this critical life stage." We agree that teens "fare best in environments where there is an appropriate degree of structure and guidance...options with ample adult involvement." Social science has proved that for years. Now biology has come on board.

Letting teens suffer consequences for decisions they were not fully capable of making in the first place seems just plain cruel.