“Teenagers have remarkable accelerators and very poor brakes.”
– Laurence Steinberg, author of  Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence

Any truly insightful list of great engineering inventions must include the automotive disc brake. Towards the end of the 1960’s cars had become so wonderfully powerful that the gadgetry summoned to stop all that intoxicating momentum and aggression became quickly and deceptively inefficient. But the advent of the disc brake provided a life saving buffer between all that instantaneous acceleration and safely restraining all that treacherous momentum.

Teenagers, unfortunately, are not equipped with disc brakes. They will always be – unless epigenetics has a big surprise for us – equipped with notoriously unreliable drum brakes. And in some cases we would swear teenagers do not have brakes at all or have forgotten where the brake pedal is located. But this “braking deficiency” is often not the fault of the teenager. Recent imaging techniques show that there are times a teenager’s brain will often resemble the brain of an insane person. Yes, there are times when a teenager can say, “I just wasn’t thinking” and they are telling the honest, scientifically verifiable, truth.

While teenagers may physically resemble adults their brains hold only a blueprint of the final structure they will become just a few years later. And while a teenager’s prefrontal cortex is deciding which coping mechanisms, thought processes and behaviors to keep or prune away forever, the intellectual and social challenges they must process as adolescents (between the ages twelve – twenty-four) will create the foundation for how they think, perceive and act for the rest of their adult lives.

Teenagers are struggling to make sense of their world and are very aware that they don’t think like adults. This leaves them more self-conscious and frustrated with emotions even closer to the surface. The timing for this cognitive dissonance could not be worse for making long-term and binding decisions, such as where and why to go to college. While trying to manage a restructuring of their brains, teenagers are exploring their talents, passions and interests while trying to pair them with future education or professional careers. Identifying college opportunities can be an overwhelming series of choices for anyone, yet alone a teenager who is trying to make sense of the world and repainting their world view daily, if not hourly.

For adults all this seemingly unfocused behavior may appear fickle, unproductive and even lazy. For teenagers, being left to make these decisions on their own often leads to frustration and increased – if not paralyzing – anxiety, which only compounds personal and family stress. The perfect storm: pair a teen’s biological and neurological upheaval with the pressures and expectations associated with college applications and selection. If there were ever reasons for an impartial and knowledgeable third party to work through the college quagmire, reducing stress and providing tangible steps a teenager can process would be at the very top of the list.

As students and their families begin the college application process the more practiced a teenager is in grounded and thoughtful thinking behaviors – often referred to as reflection or mindfulness – the less stressful, more productive and successful the college application and selection process will be. This intentionality of thought directly influences how successful and happy a student will be in college and when they graduate. The encouraging part in this equation is that reflection and mindful behaviors can be learned and become self-reinforcing and habitual. Starting these skills early and making them a consistent practice are the key.

“Never lend your car to anyone you have given birth to.” – Erma Bombeck

Keep in mind, a teenager can definitely get excited about something and accelerate incredibly fast, but without practice to moderate their acceleration while tempering speed with guided braking, crashes are all too common. Yale may make perfect sense one day and sound like prison the next. Getting excited about a school is often not a student’s problem, but most poor college choices are made when they haven’t learned to steer – or even worse – can’t find the brakes in time to fully consider their decisions. Working with an academic and educational consultant who understands how to build those regulation and reflection skills can provide teenagers with simple tools to make thoughtful and intentional choices while also practicing life-long successful decision-making skills. Teenagers may still have drum brakes controlling an amazing and powerful vehicle, but with the right guidance they can learn how to thoughtfully steer toward and reach a meaningful destination.

Articles:

The Terrible Teens – The New Yorker
Harnessing the Incredible Learning Potential of the Adolescent Brain

TED talk:
The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain – Sarah –Jayne Blakemore