The teenage brain is undergoing a remodel. Building on the foundations of childhood, it is adapting and strengthening everything from planning and insight to empathy and creativity so that your teenager is ready to take on the world. For parents and teens alike, some days feel more like a construction zone than others.

Opening with a favorite quote, "Teenage hearts are raw and new, fast and fierce, and they do not know their own strength," Notre Dame's learning resource specialist Katie Hogan introduced parents to important concepts in brain development. Approaching the sometimes mystifying topic of teenage behavior from a scientific view and using the analogy of home renovation, Katie explained the remodel process of the human brain, which begins as children enter adolescence and continues until about the age of 25. Until the brain's prefrontal cortex fully develops, skills such as self-monitoring, problem-solving and decision-making are still forming, making teenagers more likely to undertake risky behavior.

Through this workshops, parents learned some practical strategies to helps students positively harness the power of their fully developed emotional brain and bridge the gaps still present in emerging skills like planning, organizing and reflecting. You can download the slide deck from this presentation here. You can also download the handout here.

Join us for our next Parent Education Workshop on April 24, when we will be exploring the topics of mindfulness and gratitude!