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Brain growth understanding

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self esteem tools for students

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This week, I've decided to reblog some of my more popular posts with some updates. The post below has remained in the top 5 ever since I published it. Beneath it, I've decided to add a few other favorites.
#3: The Power of Words - I also mentioned this in yesterday's post of Inspirational Videos for Teachers. It is good for everyone, in my opinion, to be more thoughtful about what we say. If our communication is not having the effect we desire, we should reconsider the way we are choosing to deliver our message.

#2: The Kindness Boomerang - I have never done a post on this one. I read about it recently on Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day, and knew right away that I would like to add it to my blog. Although it is somewhat simplistic, it does show how our actions can effect many more people than we will ever know.

#1: Times of India Tree Ad - This is a powerful video that shows how important one person can be in effecting change. It says a lot - without any words.

Here are links to my original posts on #3 and #1: The Power of Words and Times of India Tree Ad.

Also, you might want to visit my Pinterest board of Inspirational Videos for Students here.
UPDATE 6/23/15: I originally published the above list in 2011 - so I've definitely accumulated some more favorites over the years. Here are three more I would add:
#3: A Pep Talk from Kid President - My students love all of the Kid President videos, but this is the first one they saw in my class and they beg for it again and again. (Be sure to look at my post on Kid President's book, too!)

#2: Mark Bezos TED Talk and King of the Island (TIE!) - These two very different videos really complement each other. They are about being a hero in ordinary life.

AND, Drum Roll Please...

#1: Caine's Arcade - I never get tired of this video, and I'm always making people watch it when I hear they have never heard of it! I think, in many ways, Nirvan Mullick and Caine have inspired me to be the teacher I am today. Once you watch this, you will definitely want to learn more about the Global Cardboard Challenge.

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Inspirational Videos for Students (Update)

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This week, I've decided to reblog some of my more popular posts with some updates. The post below has remained in the top 5 ever since I published it. Beneath it, I've decided to add a few other favorites. #3: The Power of Words - I also mentioned this in yesterday's post of Inspirational Videos...

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Domestic violence resource

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Because Everyone Deserves a Healthy Relationship

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example of domestic violence shelter in IL

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Rockford, IL Domestic Violence Help, Programs

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Find domestic violence and abuse help in Rockford, IL, and lists of nearby services, hotlines and support groups.

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Mental health lesbian parents

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A new study by the Williams Institute finds that 25-year-olds raised by lesbian parents do as well on multiple measures of psychological health as their peers. The researchers compared relationships, educational/job performance, and behavioral, emotional and mental health problems in the two samples.

The 25-year-olds are participants in the ongoing U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), which has followed the same cohort of offspring from conception to adulthood. Researchers focused on mental health because the peak incidence of many psychiatric disorders occurs during young adulthood.

The researchers specifically assessed adaptive functioning, the presence of behavioral or emotional problems, scores on the mental health diagnostic scales, and percentages of scores in the borderline or clinical range. Results showed no significant difference between the two groups for any of the measures.

There are an estimated 114,000 same-sex couples raising children in the United States, including 86,000 female couples. Ten states, including Alabama, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, allow state-licensed child welfare agencies to refuse to place and provide services to children and families if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.
Read the press release
To request a copy of the study, please email williamsinstitute@law.ucla.edu.

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Mental Health of Young Adults with Lesbian Parents - Williams Institute

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A new study by the Williams Institute finds that 25-year-olds raised by lesbian parents do as well on multiple measures of psychological health as their peers. The researchers compared relationships, educational/job performance, and behavioral, emotional and mental health problems in the two samples. The 25-year-olds are participants in the ongoing U.S.

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same sex marriage laws and suicide

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How same-sex marriage laws may save teens' lives - Futurity

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State laws legalizing same-sex marriage led to a significant reduction in suicide attempts among high school students and an even steeper decline among gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, research suggests. "It's not easy to be an adolescent, and for adolescents who are just realizing they are sexual minorities, it can be even harder..."

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teen dating violence

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Preventing Teen Dating Violence from the Inside Out  | Briana Neben | TEDxCarsonCity

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Briana thought she knew what domestic violence looked like, having seen first hand the devastation it causes, however, when she found herself in a similar situation she wasn't able to recognize it from the inside out. Briana Neben is a Carson High graduate and received her Associate of Arts from Western Nevada College in 2013.

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16 and pregnant influence on teen pregnancy

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This paper explores how specific media images affect adolescent attitudes and outcomes. The specific context examined is the widely viewed MTV franchise, 16 and Pregnant, a series of reality TV shows including the sequels, which follow the lives of pregnant teenagers during the end of their pregnancy and early days of motherhood.
Download the paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research's website
We investigate whether the show influenced teens' interest in contraceptive use or abortion, and whether it ultimately altered teen childbearing outcomes. We use data from Google Trends and Twitter to document changes in searches and tweets resulting from the show, Nielsen ratings data to capture geographic variation in viewership, and Vital Statistics birth data to measure changes in teen birth rates. We find that 16 and Pregnant led to more searches and tweets regarding birth control and abortion, and ultimately led to a 5.7 percent reduction in teen births in the 18 months following its introduction. This accounts for around one-third of the overall decline in teen births in the United States during that period.

Introduction

It is a longstanding and open question how exposure to media images affects the behavior of viewers. Policy advocates and cultural observers worry, in particular, about the impact of exposure to sexual and violent content on the behaviors of adolescents. In some circles, the idea that teenagers respond to media content is a foregone conclusion, but determining whether the media images themselves cause the behavior is a very difficult empirical task[1]. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the widely viewed MTV show, 16 and Pregnant, on teenage attitudes and outcomes. This show purports to show the difficult reality of becoming a teen mother. As we document below, 16 and Pregnant has drawn large audiences among relevant subpopulations. One clear indication of the show's success is the spinoffs it has generated: Teen Mom, Teen Mom 2, and Teen Mom 3. Could exposure to these media images of pregnant teens and very young new moms have had an impact on how teens think about pregnancy and ultimately on whether they become teen mothers themselves? If so, this would have important implications for thinking about how to effectively communicate with teens and influence their behaviors.

The context of teen childbearing in the United States makes this question an important one to study. In 2012, 29.4 out of every 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 (2.94 percent) gave birth in the United States. This rate is considerably higher than that in any other developed country, where typical rates of teen childbearing are more often in the range of 5 to 10 births per 1,000 girls in this age group (Kearney and Levine, 2012a). Though still an outlier internationally, the U.S. teen birth rate has declined dramatically over the past 20 years, falling from 61.8 births per 1,000 teen girls in 1991. This decline has occurred in two distinct waves. Between 1991 and 2008, it fell largely continuously from 61.8 to 40.2, representing an annual average rate of decline of 2.5 percent per year. Teen birth rates fell far more rapidly in the next four years, dropping from 40.2 to 29.4, or 7.5 percent per year.

The timing of the introduction of MTV's 16 and Pregnant is such that it might conceivably have contributed in some measure to the most recent, very sharp decline. Ever since its introduction, various observers have made conflicting claims about the show's influence on teens. Some have highlighted the show's focus on the difficulties of raising a child at such a young age and have concluded from this coincident timing that the show is at least partially responsible for the recent decrease in teen childbearing rates[2]. Others argue that the show glamorizes teen pregnancy, with its cast members essentially becoming media "stars," whose lives are followed in the tabloids well after their show airs[3].

In this paper, we take advantage of data from a number of sources to investigate the impact of the MTV show. Specifically, we investigate the following three questions: (1) Was exposure to the show substantial? (2) Did exposure to the show influence teens' interest in birth control or abortion[4]? (3) Did teen childbearing outcomes change as a result of the show's introduction? We use several measures of exposure, including Nielsen ratings data and the frequency with which individuals search for the show on Google and tweet about it on Twitter. We measure the influence on teens' decision making process with data on the frequency with which teens include terms like birth control or abortion in their searches/tweets[5]. Finally, we examine the impact on teen birth rates using Vital Statistics Natality microdata.

We use multiple empirical approaches to answer these questions. First, we present a descriptive analysis using several of our data sources to measure exposure. Nielsen ratings data is a direct indicator, but we can also examine high frequency data (daily or weekly) available from Google Trends and Twitter to look for time series spikes in searches and tweets on the show's title on the day/week that a new episode is released. Second, we conduct a similar analysis using high frequency data from these sources to look for increases in searches and tweets on terms like "birth control" when spikes appear in searches/tweets on the show's title. Third, we take advantage of geographic variation in the data, examining whether locations with relatively higher levels of searches/tweets about 16 and Pregnant during the period when the show is on the air also experience relatively higher levels of searches/tweets about things like birth control.

Fourth, we exploit geographic variation in measures of the show's viewership (as captured by ratings) to investigate whether differential exposure to the show led to differential changes in teen birth rates. We correct for the fact that interest in a show about teen pregnancy is likely to be higher in locations where the teen birth rate is high. Geographic fixed effects hold constant time invariant factors. Greater interest may also occur in those areas where teen childbearing is rising (or falling more slowly). To correct for this, we implement an instrumental variables (IV) strategy, predicting 16 and Pregnant ratings with a broad measure of MTV ratings from a previous period. The identifying assumption of the IV approach is MTV ratings in the period before the show aired would be unrelated to subsequent trends in teen childbearing.

The results of our analysis indicate that exposure to 16 and Pregnant was high and that it had an influence on teens' thinking regarding birth control and abortion. Large spikes in search activity and tweets about the show are evident exactly at the time a new episode was released. We also see an associated spike in Google searches and twitter messages containing the terms "birth control" and "abortion." Locations in which the show was more popular experienced greater increases in searches/tweets like this when the show was on the air.

Our most important finding is that the introduction of 16 and Pregnant along with its partner shows, Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2, led teens to noticeably reduce the rate at which they give birth[6]. Our estimates imply that these shows led to a 5.7 percent reduction in teen births that would have been conceived between June 2009, when the show began, and the end of 2010. This can explain around one-third of the total decline in teen births over that period. Data limitations preclude us from conducting separate analyses of pregnancies and abortions, but we note that teen abortion rates also fell over this period (Pazol, et al., 2013). This suggests that the shows' impact is attributable to a reduction in pregnancy rather than greater use of abortion.

[1] In terms of sexual behavior, evidence is cited showing that teens who watch sexual content on television are more likely to experience a teenage pregnancy. For example, popular press pieces by Stein (2008) and Tanner (2008) cite evidence from Chandra, et al. (2008). But evidence like this does not isolate the effect of the exposure from the choice of a particular type of individual to watch such content.

[2] For example, see http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1221/A-force-behind-the-lower-teen-birthrate-MTV-s-16-and-Pregnant and http://blog.thenationalcampaign.org/pregnant_pause/2011/11/us-teen-birth-rate-drops-a-dra.php.

[3] http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/04/henson.teen.mom.show/index.html?_s=PM:OPINION, accessed 6/18/2013.

[4] Ideally, we would also conduct a full analysis of the impact of the show on sexual activity and contraceptive use as behavioral outcomes. We attempted to use data from the Youth Risky Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) system - years 2007, 2009, and 2011, to do that. These data are collected biannually in odd numbered years since 1991 for high school students who respond to the survey at school. A major disadvantage of using these data for this purpose, though, is that the sample sizes of youth in each geographic area can be quite small. In many states in which data are available, surveys were only completed by perhaps a thousand students regarding sexual activity and then perhaps a few hundred of them regarding use of contraception among those sexually active. Sample sizes at this level per state resulted in weak statistical power, leading us to omit a discussion of our analysis in this paper.

[5] Identifying relevant terms included in searches or tweets is critical in this process. We explored other terms attempting to identify interest in sexual activity and adoption, but were unable to convince ourselves that they were sufficiently narrowly focused on the same concept we wanted to explore. For instance, searches for "how adopt" were dominated over our time period by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and tweets including the term "adopt" or "adoption" were frequently not about children. In terms of sexual activity, we considered searches for terms like "does sex hurt" or "sex first time," as ones that may represent the reflective consideration about having sex that we want to test. We did not find a relationship between media exposure and these search terms.

[6] Teen Mom 3 was not on the air yet during our sample period.

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Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip B. Levine

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Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's "16 and Pregnant" on Teen Childbearing

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Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine explore how the widely viewed MTV franchise, 16 and Pregnant and its Teen Mom sequels, led to more searches and tweets regarding birth control and abortion, and ultimately led to a 5.7 percent reduction in teen births in the 18 months following its introduction.

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Social media affects

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teens detoxing from social media

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Why more teens are taking a break from social media

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A recent study shows that many young people want to disconnect from social media like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, NBC's Gadi Schwartz reports. "It's controlling and it's not a good way to be living life," one young man says.

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media influence

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How the media affects youth | Oda Faremo Lindholm | TEDxOslo

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Delay in puberty

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Delayed Puberty | Hormone Health Network

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Learn more about the causes and treatment of delayed puberty. Visit hormone.org for ideas on how to help your child cope with delayed puberty.

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Columbine shooting mother's view

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My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story

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Students' intution

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Kidsinthehouse.com - Tips for developing a child's intuition

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Psychiatrist Dan Siegel, MD, shares advice for parents on developing your child's intuition which helps children to be more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and actions

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Erikson's stages

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Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development Explained

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Family Values influence

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Yoga in schoool

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DENVER - One school in southwest Denver has decided to do away with detention and replace it with yoga.

Doull Elementary has instituted "after school reflection" to take the place of old-style discipline.

"In detention, two angry kids were just sitting by each other," Principal Jodie Carrigan told Denver7.

The school hired an experienced yoga instructor and former teacher, Trini Heffron, to lead the students.

"So we give them a space where they can relax and try something different that they can take home," she said. "It's good to learn reading and math but the emotional part sometimes we don't pay a lot of attention."

But how does breathing and posing help kids who have been misbehaving?

"To take that moment to think and breath and be reflectful can really help prevent all sorts of problems," Doull's school psychologist said.

The program has gotten so popular the school implemented a third day of after-school yoga for the rest of its students. And it has paid dividends in the classroom.

"Oh I can be still here like I do in yoga class every Wednesday," Heffron said, imitating her hope for a student. "I'm going to learn and pay attention and follow directions from the teacher now."

The yoga program is made possible by a new grant the school recently received.

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No more detention, yoga instead at one Denver school

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DENVER - One school in southwest Denver has decided to do away with detention and replace it with yoga. Doull Elementary has instituted "after school reflection" to take the place of old-style discipline. "In detention, two angry kids were just sitting by each other," Principal Jodie Carrigan told Denver7.

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Technology in school

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The Impact of Technology on Adolescent Brains

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Family Roles

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Developmental theories view adolescence as a period of growth in which identity formation is addressed ¹. This can be interpreted to mean that the role of family is lessening or that family have only a limited role in the lives of young people at this time.

Research shows, however, that ongoing positive family connections are protective factors against a range of health risk behaviours. Although the nature of relationships is changing, the continuity of family connections and a secure emotional base is crucial for the positive development of young people².

1.

Promote the importance of supportive relationships with family members and connections to community. Even a sense of family can help a young person through transitional times. Use a broad definition of "family".

2.

An extended family member or a caring, responsible adult in the young person's community may be able to act as a positive role model in the young person's life when relationships with the immediate family are conflictual.

3.

Extreme feelings and attitudes towards family and/or family members may at times need to be challenged. Has the young person tried to look at the situation from the perspective of other family members?

Family is still important

It is normal for young people to begin to think for themselves and question aspects of their lives and of family relationships. These changes may mean times of anger and frustration that is levelled at the family, but in the majority of circumstances these feelings are likely to be temporary or circumstantial.

Parents will benefit from being supported to understand the role of rebellion in young people's development. Limit setting still needs to occur for poor or unacceptable behaviour. Many young people who display difficult behaviour are actually doing so in an attempt to have someone set some boundaries and limits ³.

A great deal of emphasis is placed on the importance of peer groups, and how they become more influential than parents at this age. Whilst peers do become significant, the quality of the relationship is different, with peers providing intimacy based on equality, and parents providing a relationship still based on a power imbalance. Peer relationships, therefore, have a purpose, but do not usually become more important to young people⁴.

The need for a secure-base

Adolescents are moving towards becoming independent physically, emotionally and cognitively, and yet they are still growing.

Young people still require stability in a home environment, and a secure emotional base from which to explore and experience the world. This also provides them with somewhere to come back to for reassurance, support and unconditional love in tough times.

A young person benefits from expectations of respect, consideration and reciprocity in family relationships. They still benefit from 'trying out' thoughts, feelings and behaviours within the family environment, and from observing and experiencing relationships within families. There will still be times when they fall, and will benefit from understanding and support to pick themselves back up.

Changing role of parents

A parent's relationship and caring role with a young person continues to be important, although the relationship will need to be flexible to adapt to the teenager's changing needs. At this time, there will need to be a gradual change from a more authoritative approach, to a more collaborative approach.

Parents have to face the (sometimes hard) reality that their child is no longer a child, is becoming independent and is no longer within their control. They may feel distressed as they perceive that the young person won't listen to them, or does the opposite of what they may suggest.

They may have to watch their young person disregard the things they thought they taught them were important, such as ways to look after their health, or their future goals (as the parent envisaged it).

Parents have to learn to 'let go', not of the relationship, but of their dreams for the young person, and their authority over the young people, so that they may allow a young person to develop their own dreams and greater self- responsibility.

Guidance and boundaries

Guidance and boundaries are still important, however the quality of the relationship, and collaboration rather than 'obedience', becomes increasingly important if a relationship is to survive and be maintained.

Joint discussions about rules/options, compromise and flexibility for win/win solutions are important. Warmth and understanding are important, rather than judgmental comments or telling a young person what to do.

Consequences need to be age-appropriate, and not punitive (see: Setting Boundaries). Monitoring of a young person's whereabouts is still important to the extent possible, especially when adolescents are still young. Parental supervision, and access to a parent for support and assistance, are crucial protective factors in young people's health ⁵.

It can be helpful for caregivers to consider the age at which they think their young person will be an adult, and to think about and look forward to, how they would like their relationship with their child to be then. This may lead them to think about and nurture the relationship shift needed between now and then (see: Building our Relationship).

Role modelling

A family and its members continue to provide valuable role models for a range of behaviours, including effective communication, relationship skills, and socially acceptable behaviours. The ways in which conflict and disagreements are negotiated within the family are important blueprints for dealing with issues in other arenas.

Appropriate boundary setting also gives young people clear guidelines as to what is acceptable and what is not; skills which can be generalised to a wider context. Young people benefit from modelling about how to have constructive disagreements while maintaining a continuing positive relationship. They still benefit from experiencing an effective model for relating to others and negotiating life and the world.

When families are not providing a secure-base

When there is no family contact, efforts need to be made to reconnect young people with appropriate family members. Alternatively, other significant adults are needed who may provide the elements and safety net for emotional development. The developmental needs of a young person, as outlined in this help sheet, must be met somehow to optimise health outcomes.

Some families seem to work against a young person developing their own sense of self-worth, self-identity and their capacity for independent decision-making and emotion-regulation. Understanding and working with the family dynamics may assist the family's capacity to provide a young person with a secure-base on which to continue to develop.

Caregivers and other family members and particularly the young person will benefit from being told more about how the family may be operating in a way which is detrimental to a young person's development. It can be useful to try to build a more positive picture of the young person in the family (see: Family Dynamics).

Encourage carers to gain support in dealing with issues relating to their adolescent, either through family and friends or other support groups. The help sheets in the Parent section of this website may be useful.

There are times when contact with some or all family members is detrimental and alternative 'families' need to be engaged.

Worker Help Sheets

Parent Help Sheets

›

›

Sells, S. (1998) Treating the Tough Adolescent: A Family-Based. Step-by-Step Guide, Guilford Press, New York.

Selekman, M., D., (1997) Solution-Focused Therapy with children: Harnessing Family Strengths for Systemic Change, Guilford Press, New York

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family development and transition points

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Developmental theories view adolescence as a period of growth in which identity formation is addressed ¹. This can be interpreted to mean that the role of family is lessening or that family have only a limited role in the lives of young people at this time.

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Fear and trauma

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Negative childhood experiences can set our brains to constantly feel danger and fear says psychiatrist and traumatic stress expert Bessel van der Kolk. He's the author of the recently published book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.

Side Effects Public Media is a reporting collaborative focused on public health. Find more of our reporting on childhood trauma and PTSD here.

A report by the University of San Diego School of Law found that about 686,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2013. Traumatic childhood events can lead to mental health and behavioral problems later in life, explains psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of the recently published book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.

Children's brains are literally shaped by traumatic experiences, which can lead to problems with anger, addiction, and even criminal activity in adulthood, says van der Kolk. Side Effects contributing producer Barbara Lewis spoke with him about his book.

Barbara Lewis: Can psychologically traumatic events change the physical structure of the brain?

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk: Yes, they can change the connections and activations in the brain. They shape the brain.

The human brain is a social organ that is shaped by experience, and that is shaped in order to respond to the experience that you're having. So particularly earlier in life, if you're in a constant state of terror; your brain is shaped to be on alert for danger, and to try to make those terrible feelings go away.

The brain gets very confused. And that leads to problems with excessive anger, excessive shutting down, and doing things like taking drugs to make yourself feel better. These things are almost always the result of having a brain that is set to feel in danger and fear.

As you grow up an get a more stable brain, these early traumatic events can still cause changes that make you hyper-alert to danger, and hypo-alert to the pleasures of everyday life.

Learn more: Foster Parents Are The Best Therapy For Traumatized Children In The System.

BL: So are you saying that a child's brain is much more malleable than an adult brain?

BK: A child's brain is virtually nonexistent. It's being shaped by experience. So yes, it's extremely malleable.

BL: What is the mechanism by which traumatic events change the brain?

BK: The brain is formed by feedback from the environment. It's a profoundly relational part of our body.

In a healthy developmental environment, your brain gets to feel a sense of pleasure, engagement, and exploration. Your brain opens up to learn, to see things, to accumulate information, to form friendships.

But if you're in an orphanage for example, and you're not touched or seen, whole parts of your brain barely develop; and so you become an adult who is out of it, who cannot connect with other people, who cannot feel a sense of self, a sense of pleasure. If you run into nothing but danger and fear, your brain gets stuck on just protecting itself from danger and fear.

Related: Some Early Childhood Experiences Shape Adult Life, But Which Ones?

BL: Does trauma have a very different effect on children compared to adults?

BK: Yes, because of developmental issues. If you're an adult and life's been good to you, and then something bad happens, that sort of injures a little piece of the whole structure. But toxic stress in childhood from abandonment or chronic violence has pervasive effects on the capacity to pay attention, to learn, to see where other people are coming from, and it really creates havoc with the whole social environment.

And it leads to criminality, and drug addiction, and chronic illness, and people going to prison, and repetition of the trauma on the next generation.

BL: Are there effective solutions to childhood trauma?

BK: It is difficult to deal with but not impossible.

One thing we can do - which is not all that well explored because there hasn't been that much funding for it - is neurofeedback, where you can actually help people to rewire the wiring of their brain structures.

Another method is putting people into safe environments and helping them to create a sense of safety inside themselves. And for that you can go to simple things like holding and rocking.

We just did a study on yoga for people with PTSD. We found that yoga was more effective than any medicine that people have studied up to now. That doesn't mean that yoga cures it, but yoga makes a substantial difference in the right direction.

Trauma-Informed Care: School Counselors Take On At-Home Trauma In The Classroom.

BL: What is it about yoga that helps?

BK: It's about becoming safe to feel what you feel. When you're traumatized you're afraid of what you're feeling, because your feeling is always terror, or fear or helplessness. I think these body-based techniques help you to feel what's happening in your body, and to breathe into it and not run away from it. So you learn to befriend your experience.

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Childhood Trauma Leads to Brains Wired for Fear

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Negative childhood experiences can set our brains to constantly feel danger and fear says psychiatrist and traumatic stress expert Bessel van der Kolk. He's the author of the recently published book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma .

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Brain Development

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Why Teenage Brains Are So Hard to Understand

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It's not just you. Researchers are finding that teenage brains really are special.