And what it needs to do is gain experiences."Ī child's brain goes through two critical periods of very rapid change. "It's just perfect for what it needs to do. Leo's swift progress from frightened novice to accomplished skater shows the strengths of an adolescent brain. As soon as he mastered one trick, he pushed himself to learn a new one. NPR Leo's persistence and tolerance for scars, broken bones and bruises has paid off. But the payoff is, he can do things now like jump the flight of five stairs on the other side of the park. Leo's also broken his arm and his elbows are a mess. "I was trying to ollie up something, and then I clipped it and my board went up and it hit me in my mouth," he says, "so now I have this scar." And when he'd mastered one trick, he'd push himself to learn a new one, despite the risks. But getting the nerve to try a skate park for the first time was "kind of scary," he says. Leo has been skateboarding since he was 10. "When you're younger, your mind is more open, and you're more creative, and nothing matters," says Leo De Leon, 13. It's a public site, filled with teens hanging out, taking risks, and learning new skills at a rapid pace. That development is on display most afternoons at the Shaw Skatepark in Washington, D.C. "I want people to understand that adolescence is not a disease, that adolescence is an amazing time of development," says Beatriz Luna, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. For the parents of a teenager, adolescence can be a challenging time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |