Teen Challenges

What 3 challenges do adolescents face in making healthy decisions? Know the facts, communicate more effectively.

Teens are capable of rational decision making. But they don’t do as well as adults in the face of peer pressure, when there is immediate pay-off, when they need to have self-control and restraint, in the spur of the moment, and in unfamiliar situations.[1]

Adolescent Brain

• The adolescent brain is still maturing

• The area (called the frontal lobe) is not fully developed until the mid-20s

• This area is where decisions are thought out and the future is contemplated

• Working with a maturing brain makes it harder for youth to make decisions based on consequences

Peer Pressure

Teens also can struggle with impulsivity, sensation seeking, thrill-seeking, and depression. Remember, peer pressure can be negative or positive. Youth can strive to be a positive role model for their peers.[2] Adolescents face negative peer pressure every day

• Pressure is felt from

Media Influences

Some teens believe that “everyone does it” and that media influences everyone but themselves. One study shows that at a 2-year follow up, 12- to 14- year-olds with more sexual media exposure were 50% more likely to initiate breast or genital contact[3] and were twice as likely to have had sexual debut[4]

Adolescents are bombarded with messages that sex, drugs, alcohol, and smoking are okay and make a person cool, sexy, and seem older.

• Influencing media comes from

Opportunity

Adolescents who are not supervised by their parents often have more opportunities to engage in risky behaviors

Helping sexually experienced youth consider why they have had sex in the past may help them make better decisions in the future.[5]

• They may have many ‘opportunities’ to