Teaching and Learning
Understanding the Teenage Brain
The slammed doors and the late nights make more sense once you know what's changing inside a teenager's brain.
- 33 minutes
- 7 modules
- Certificate
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What you'll learn
- Explain to a teenager, in plain terms, why their emotions feel so big
- Listen actively and stay calm when things get heated
- Help a teenager build a sleep routine that works with their body clock
- Offer safe, thrilling alternatives to risky behaviour
- Give a teenager face-saving ways to resist peer pressure
About this course
A teenager's brain is still under construction. The part that handles impulses and planning ahead won't finish maturing until their mid-20s, while the part that reacts with instant emotion is already running at full power. That imbalance explains a lot, from sudden outbursts to morning lie-ins that aren't really laziness.
This course turns the science into things you can do. Listen without rushing to fix, and stay calm rather than trying to win the argument. Agree bedtimes together, knowing that the sleep hormone melatonin arrives later in teenagers. Offer risks that are exciting but safe, like climbing or the school play, and help them rehearse a face-saving way to turn down a cigarette or a drink.
There's a breathing exercise to share at bedtime, too, and a nudge to remember what you'd have wanted from the adults around you at 15.
7 modules
Open in order
- 2 min
Introduction
- 10 min
Helping teenagers to understand their brain
- 8 min
Managing emotional displays
- 5 min
Supporting teenagers with excellent sleep hygiene
- 2 min
Further ways to support teenagers
- 2 min
Wrap Up
- 7 min
Having conversations around risk-taking