Born to Be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks, and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe - Couverture rigide

Shatkin, Jess

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0143129791 ISBN 13 : 9780143129790

Editeur : TarcherPerigee, 2017

Synopsis

A groundbreaking, research-based guide that sheds new light on why young people make dangerous choices--and offers solutions that work

Texting while driving. Binge-drinking. Unprotected sex. There are plenty of reasons for parents to worry about getting a late-night call about their teen. But most of the advice parents and educators hear about teens is outdated and unscientific--and simply doesn't work.

Acclaimed adolescent psychiatrist and educator Jess Shatkin brings more than two decades' worth of research and clinical experience to the subject, along with cutting-edge findings from brain science, evolutionary psychology, game theory, and other disciplines -- plus a widely curious mind and the perspective of a concerned dad himself. 

Using science and stories, fresh analogies, clinical anecdotes, and research-based observations, Shatkin explains:

* Why "scared straight," adult logic, and draconian punishment don't work 

* Why the teen brain is "born to be wild"--shaped by evolution to explore and take risks

* The surprising role of brain development, hormones, peer pressure, screen time, and other key factors

* What parents and teachers can do--in everyday interactions, teachable moments, and specially chosen activities and outings--to work with teens' need for risk, rewards and social acceptance, not against it.

“Presents new research, as well as insights as a clinician and a father….This book is a clear argument to stop putting ourselves in our children’s shoes, and to try putting ourselves in their minds, instead.”
–The Washington Post  

“With stories (personal and professional), neuroscience and cognition, psychology and clinical experience Dr. Shatkin offers an abundance of understandable, engaging and actionable information. He explains why and shows how. We can reduce risk in the adolescents we love and teach, but only if we know to how to do so and then do it. Born To Be Wild shows us the way to succeed.”
--Psychology Today

Winner, National Parenting Product Award 2017

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Nationally recognized child and adolescent psychiatrist Jess P. Shatkin, M.D., M.P.H., is one of the country's foremost voices in child and adolescent mental health. He serves as Vice Chair for Education at the Child Study Center at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital of New York at NYU Langone and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine. He has been featured in top print, radio, TV, and Internet outlets, including the New York Times, Good Morning America, Parade, New York Magazine, Health Day, CBS Evening News, New York Daily News, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. In addition, for the past eight years Dr. Shatkin has been the host of "About Our Kids," a two-hour call-in radio show broadcast live on SiriusXM's Doctor Radio. He lives in New York City with his wife and two teenage children.

Extrait. © Reproduit sur autorisation. Tous droits réservés.

The Adolescent Paradox

Adolescents are stronger than they will ever be again in their lives. Theirimmune response is at its peak. They tolerate extremes of heat and coldbetter than those older and younger. They heal from physical injury more quickly. But their likelihood of getting sick increases greatly andtheir death rates rise enormously during the teen years, particularlyfor males. Whereas the mortality rate of girls triples between the ages of twelve and nineteen, for boys that rate increases more than six timesduring these same years. Beginning at age twelve, in fact, the death rate in boys increases at a rate of more than 30 percent per year, while the rate for females increases nearly 20 percent per year. And death rates continue to grow still higher as our teens reach their early twenties. This paradox of having greater physical ability yet greater vulnerability occurs because of the behaviors, emotions, and patterns of thinking in which adolescents and young adults engage.

There is no disputing that adolescents take outlandish risks. In theUnited States, accidents, suicide, and homicide are responsible for over 85 percent of the deaths among those aged fifteen to twenty-four. Suicideis the second leading cause and alone accounts for 20 percent of deaths in this age range, more than cancer, heart disease, congenital anomalies, stroke, flu and pneumonia, HIV, and chronic respiratory disease combined.

And what about crime? After the age of thirty, people rarely commit serious crimes. Violent crimes are predominantly committed by young people, and adults who violate the law were almost always teens who violated the law. As our population of young people grows, like after a baby boom, so does the amount of crime. As a public health educator, then medical student and resident in psychiatry, I was taught that adolescents engage in high-risk behavior because they believe they’re invincible. Why else would they get into so many motor vehicle accidents, have so many unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and use alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes? Invincibility sure seems like a highly plausible theory. But as we now know, invincibility just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Despite our efforts at educating youth about the risks they face, explaining to them time and again that they are, in fact, vulnerable, we’ve seen minimal to no change in the rates of binge drinking and drunk driving, condom use, obesity, bicycle and motorcycle helmet use, bullying, and so forth among teens over the past two decades. In fact, we’ve seen an increase in suicide and marijuana use; and although cigarette use is down slightly—likely due to the price of cigarettes, which has increased at twice the rate of inflation—e‑cigarette use has more than quadrupled in the past four years.

What other factors besides invincibility might be at play? Maybe adolescents are irrational and lack good decision-making capacity or they seek strong emotions and new sensations. Maybe at times. But we now know that the causes of risky behavior go far beyond that. Adolescents are engineered for risk-taking behavior, and everything from their brains to their hormones to their peer relationships works to encourage and maintain a high-risk approach to just about everything.

Shakespeare had it right. Teens and young adults get into a whole lot of mischief and engage in some pretty risky behaviors. Curiously, they even think that the chance of getting hurt from these behaviors is higher than it really is. So why would they put themselves in harm’s way by taking dangerous risks like having unprotected sex if they believe that the chances of “getting wenches with child” or HIV transmission are so high? They clearly don’t think they’re invincible, as repeated experiments have shown. Something else must be going on.

This book is about that something else. What lies within the pages that follow will challenge everything you think you know about why tweens, teens, and young adults make decisions every day that result in pregnancy, addiction, accidental injury, and death. The factors that matter are hidden deep within our brains and evolutionary history and are strongly influenced by our peer relationships and life experiences.The science is there, and this book is your escort. Once you understand what influences adolescents to make risky decisions, you will know why much of what we do to try to protect kids isn’t working. You’ll also have a much better idea of what we should be doing to help keep them safe.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: TarcherPerigee
• Date d'édition: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0143129791
• ISBN 13: 9780143129790
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 320
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: eucomply OÜ; hello@eucompliancepartner.com; ; Pärnu mnt 139b-14; Tallinn; 11317; Estonie