Nurturing the Teen Brain

Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director of Family and Consumer Sciences Exension

Guest: Dr. David Weisenhorn, Extension Specialist for Parenting and Child Development

Episode 2

0:00 Welcome to Talking FACS - What you need to know about family, food, finance and fitness. Hosted by the University of Kentucky family and consumer sciences extension program, our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families and communities to improve quality of life.

0:20 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Hello and welcome back to Talking FACS. This is Dr. Jennifer Hunter, interim Assistant Director of Family Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky. Today I'm excited to have with me, Dr. David Weisenhorn. Extension Specialist for Parenting and Child Development. Welcome David.

0:35 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Thank you.

0:37 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So today's topic really intrigued me; nurturing your teen’s brain development. So I have a 13 year old in my house and I'm really excited about the tips that you are going to provide today.

0:47 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Well good hopefully they'll be, there's something that you can take home and put into play and make your life much more enjoyable.

0:53 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So let's get started and just thinking about how, I mean teenagers, they're difficult to communicate with. They start getting more and quiet. They’re more into their friends. They don't share as much with mom and dad. So just getting it started on how do we really understand what's all going on inside their brain and how do we really help continue to grow and nurture them as they're developing?

1:15 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Yeah great questions and you are right. Teenagers are changing all the time. In the teenage years, it is such a critical time in a child's life, because emotionally, intellectually, physically all these different changes are taking place in a child's body. And so, of course yeah, the brain is going to be doing a lot of processing, a lot of growing and developing and so there going to be some changes there also emotionally and physiologically and they're going to be very taxing on a child. So knowing that your child is in that state is important to then decide, Okay hey I know that this thing is growing and like a plant, you want to make sure that it's got the proper nutrition and it's getting all the sun and the water that it needs. And so there are a lot of things that a child's brain needs to have and I think the most important thing that a child's brain has is good sleep right and so that's something that I think a lot of parents tend to look over. But when that brain is developing, we want to make sure that they're getting good sleep and what the APA (American Academy of Pediatrics) says is that adolescents should get more than nine hours of sleep per night.

2:17 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So I'm going to tell my son that you said that. Sleep is a conversation that we have a lot in our house that I think that they feel like that they've reached the age of... well I don't have a bedtime anymore. I shouldn't need to go to bed as early. It is a common conversation that we have and it's one that we've also had with our pediatrician about how much sleep they really do need. I know one of his arguments is often well my friends don't have bedtimes anymore and so I think stressing that sleep is important is key.

2:48 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Absolutely and one of the things that I hear most and even I've got young children, not even at the age of adolescence yet. They are really just young kids and my son just tells me, I'm not tired, I'm not tired dad. And so one of the things that I think is important for parents is that we have to understand that the world around our children is so overwhelming at times and really commands a lot of their attention and so one of the things as a parent that I take a responsibility for is trying to reduce some of that chaos that happens around them, some of that stimulation. And one of the ways I think that's really good about doing that is to try to temper activities in the evening. Making sure that we play after school. But then after dinner we're really kind of winding down.

3:29 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Okay so what about homework and that type thing? We should try and get most of that accomplished early on in the evening?

3:34 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Yes I think so and I know that can be difficult right. A lot of parents who might listen to me say, Wait! Like my situation where my children go to an after-school program and they're playing there probably a lot of time and not doing that homework. When they get home it's like okay we got to push through the homework. But yes so I would recommend trying to get that homework done as soon as possible.

3:57 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: And then also I think juggling the extracurricular activities as well in the evening. So we're trying to fit that in and homework and dinner that sometimes bedtimes do get pushed later and later. But I think it's important that we realize we really need to put an emphasis. Even if some of those other things get pushed to the side a little bit, that sleep is important.

4:15 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Absolutely and it should be one of those safeguards that you have within your daily schedule to say no I want to make sure that you're in bed at this time and it is difficult when our kids, friends parents don't have those same guidelines and bedtime routines. It can be difficult. But that doesn't mean that that's not a fight you shouldn't continue to have.

4:34 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Right and I know we've had to put certain rules in place. So all technology has to be plugged in downstairs. That technology, so a cell phone or a tablet or computer or whatever it may be does not go to our room with us. Because I've noticed some nights I'll hear text coming through after my bedtime and so I want to make certain that he can't hear that as well.

4:57 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Yeah absolutely and you're so right. And that is the next move is technology and I think it goes back to why it's important to have some of that homework done as soon as you get home. Because a lot of the homework in the school processes that they have to do are based on their use through technology.

5:11 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: That's a great point.

5:13 Dr. David Weisenhorn: So keeping that technology down and certainly I love the fact that you say we've got times that you know our technology has to stay downstairs and the kid’s rooms are upstairs and I think having a designated place away from the bedrooms, absolutely no technology in the bedrooms. I think especially at this time in their life of the adolescent stage, teenage years. No technology in the bedrooms will help with that sleep.

5:35 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: It's definitely a conversation we have often at our

house. So other tips that you might have about how to maintain your teens brain health?

5:43 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Sure there are mental and physical activities. A lot of times we think about physical activities as sports and the running and the playing. But there's also this idea of mental activity. a lot of times when we think of mental activity we think of the stress that comes along with having to do a lot and so one of the things that we can do that both is physical and mental in aspect is this idea of yoga and how it manages the stress and some of the adverse effects of stress. This type of exercise can really help with the deep breathing, can reduce some of that stress and can really help the brain. Give it time and space to mature the way that it needs to.

6:20 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I love that and then that's also giving them tools that they can use throughout life when they face stressful situation.

6:25 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Absolutely. Help building some of that self-esteem and how you're right, how to handle those difficult times that are going to come. They are just part of life. So yes I think sometimes that yoga practice can help a lot in sports. but with sports the last tip I would say is this idea of safety first and making sure that our kids are safe when they engage in activities and what that means is if they're playing a sport that might have contact, having a mouth guard or wearing a helmet if that's necessary.

6:55 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: I know that this is an age that they feel invincible. That they feel like that they can do anything and they really start to push back on some of that safety equipment, the helmet when skateboarding or biking. You know it might not look as cool as you did when you were six and it had all the bright colors on it and that type thing. So I think those constant reminders as parents as well that we're sharing these messages with our kiddos for safety and to help them grow and develop well.

7:23 Dr. David Weisenhorn: That's right and part of that safety piece is allowing the body time to rest and so in line with that yoga practice is that are physical activities. You know so many parents I've met that their kids have danced and then they go to ballet and then they have gymnastics and then they have basketball and all the different sports and all the different events that they're enrolled in. But the child does need time to rest and the brain needs time to rest and so making that a piece of a child's day or a week is also vitally important.

7:54 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So when you talk about rest time, is that truly just downtime on the couch of where they have 30 minutes that they're not engaged with electronics or homework or how would you really define rest for a kiddo?

8:07 Dr. David Weisenhorn: And that's good and that's a really good point. I think one of the most important pieces to the rest is alone time and again going back to the side...

8:14 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Teenagers love alone time.

8:15 Dr. David Weisenhorn: Oh right, right. This goes back to this idea of what we talked about earlier about the ability to cope and to work with through their own stressors. A child needs to understand that being alone does not mean being lonely. And having the ability to be with themselves and to be with their thoughts and to be able to entertain themselves, I think is vitally important and I think one of the reasons we see a lot of adults not being able to do that is because they weren't able to do that or didn't have that time as a child to get that practice in and so I think it is a practice. It can be 30 minutes. It could be an hour. When you talk about sports overall, then maybe taking a day off of physical activity. But throughout the week, a 30-minute rest period of just kind of being alone and with your own thoughts is I think key.

9:02 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Ok great. Other thoughts that you have to share with us today?

9:05 Dr. David Weisenhorn: I think that's it. You know I think making sure that the nutrition is a big part of the brain too. So making sure your child is drinking plenty of water and trying to keep on a healthy diet. But maybe that's for another...

9:17 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Another podcast topic. Well this has been since we've had this conversation set up, it’s been a topic that I personally have been looking forward to. Because as I mentioned these are conversations that we are having daily at home and I know that there's so many other families out there as well. That this is a very important topic to them and I think that we're given so much guidance as parents of you know for our babies or our toddlers. But when they really kind of emerge into that adolescence, there's not nearly as much guidance for parents. So thank you very much for sharing with us today.

9:49 Dr. David Weisenhorn: It's always a pleasure.

9:51 Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition, health, resource management, family development and civic engagement. If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea, leave a like and comment on Facebook at UKFCSEXT. Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu or contact your local extension agent for family and consumer sciences. We build strong families. It starts with us.