Dangerous behaviour abounds - teen brains

puddle jumping

Blame it on the teenaged brain. The inability to predict actions, to control impulses, the impelling drive to challenges physics, puddle jumping, drunk driving, drunk sledding, riding on the back of trucks, and all the other crazy behaviour you see in the news.

The inability to monitor their behaviour: texting while driving, sexting, giving in to peer pressure demands of peers and boyfriends, seems to call some.

Thin ice

Unfortunately, it seems that teens grow up, but not all grow out of the behaviour. We find 40-somethings in the news, with high falutin' high-speed snow machines, and an income to support these expensive hobbies, high marking on mountains, during avalanche seasons.

Or the incident where the off-duty police officers, late at night in the dark, used a radar speed gun, to measure the speed of their sled.

Widows mourn two men killed on lake - DurhamRegion

www.durhamregion.com/print/125738Share

15 Mar 2007 – He died in a snowmobile collision on Saturday. ... an off-duty Durham Regional police officer, were both killed while ... According to Kawartha Lakes OPP, Mr. White was driving his Arctic Cat at high speed and Mr. Hearn was standing on the ice, monitoring the speed with a radar gun when the sled hit him.

river jumping?

Incidents drain our system and tax rural volunteer firefighters and infrastructure. With the number of kids who engage in dangerous activities I'm surprised some contribute to the gene pool at all!

 Judgement, adaptation, innovation are at its peak, without mature controls to govern behaviour.

Teen brains are susceptible to sleep deprivation. How many tired teens do you know?

Teen brains are creating and forming many new synapses, and until the adult brain prunes the brain cell connections it doesn't need, it grows quickly. Eventually, as adults the brain uses neural pathways more succinctly.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

The train was coming as I took the photo.
A mom and her teens were up there.

The Teen Brain

"Research during the past 10 years, powered by technology such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, has revealed that young brains have both fast-growing synapses and sections that remain unconnected. This leaves teens easily influenced by their environment and more prone to impulsive behavior, even without the impact of souped-up hormones and any genetic or family predispositions.

Teen brains, for example, are more susceptible than their adult counterparts to alcohol-induced toxicity. Jensen highlights an experiment in which rat brain cells were exposed to alcohol, which blocks certain synaptic activity."
    

bridge jumping

 

wakeboarding

Bridges - a study of purposeful paths

Videos
This was cool. They were under the bridge while the train was going by. They said the bridge footings don't look very good. AKA in need of repairs.

Can you believe this?! This was happening at the same time as the divers were underneath, and the train was stopped. Grown woman modeling bridge jumping while awed children and tourists watched.



A wee bridge at the Cranberry Bog. Blackflies fly back and forth across the lens...


Last, but not least,
Our Bridge Unit of Study, created by my student teacher, included the building of bridges, cooperation, and an integrated project. Groups shared knowledge and worked to create a bridge. The music is the chain gang!

Man of the deep

I visited the Bala north train bridge the other day. As I walked by, I spotted a peculiar site.  Intrigued, I went closer!

Spooky things in the deep. This man was inspecting the footing of the train bridge.

Not an individual effort. He was connected to his team by video and audio.

I hoped the people jumping off of the bridge didn't hit him! His partner warned him...
By then, the stalled train began running and scared the chickies off of the bridge.