When we talk to a child, it's impossible not to have fun with their responses; often based on a fragile logic, they become amusing. This is so natural (and makes them so cute) that we often don't think about the adaptive advantage this characteristic may represent. And teenagers, bold and adventurous, engage in risky activities and always seek relationships outside the family environment. Thanks to the particularities of these periods of human development, young people become more capable of learning new things, creating a window of opportunity for their improvement.
A study conducted in the United States successfully designed a series of "friendship training" sessions for unpopular children. Third and fourth-grade students who were the least liked in their classes received six sessions on how to "make playtime more fun," being a "fun and cool friend." The children were encouraged, for example, to think of alternative suggestions and agreements (instead of fighting) if they disagreed with the rules; to say something nice when the other person did well; to smile and offer help or words of encouragement. As a result, one year after receiving the training, the trained children (all chosen for being the least liked in their classes) had a normal social life, and none of them were rejected. These programs have a success rate of 50 to 60 percent in increasing the popularity of rejected children and seem to work better for third and fourth graders than for higher grades.
The brain structures of children and adolescents are still developing, showing anatomical and functional differences. For example, from ages four to 17, there is a progressive increase in the density of white matter in the brain, likely due to increased neuronal myelination and the caliber of axons (Paus et al, 1999). Additionally, there are marked changes in the metabolic rate of the young brain (Kety, 1956), reflecting greater neuroplasticity, meaning their neural circuits are more easily modified (to recall the importance of this effect, read the post "The Construction of Neural Networks"). The prefrontal cortex, an important brain area for judgment, decision-making, and emotional response control, is one of the last regions to fully develop, which explains the increased risk-taking behavior and impulsivity characteristic of adolescence (in fact, there is a limitation in the capacity for motivational inhibition). These characteristics allow young people to learn new concepts and knowledge (whether good or bad) more easily.
Unfortunately, this neuronal plasticity is not always utilized in a positive way, as we saw earlier. A survey conducted in 2010 in 11 Brazilian capitals showed that more than 70% of the 4,025 respondents were physically punished as children, and for 20% of them, physical punishment occurred regularly. The study was released in June of this year by the Violence Studies Center (NEV) at the University of São Paulo and also revealed that victims of severe childhood violence are more likely to be victims of violence throughout their lives. According to Nancy Cardia, deputy coordinator of NEV, the child comes to understand that violence is a legitimate option and will use it, for example, when having a conflict with classmates; but by being aggressive, they may also suffer aggression and become a victim, and this grows exponentially throughout life.
Although this result seems alarming to me, my goal here is not to discuss violence, but to draw attention to the biological differences that make children and adolescents psychologically more susceptible to experiences than adults, as well as the consequences of this on the construction of neural networks, memory formation, and behavior determination. A lot of good can be done if we know how to positively leverage these differences! Every effort is worthwhile, and I have seen many things in this regard, such as parents striving to turn their children into good people; as well as schools that teach lessons on citizenship and respect for the environment to children, helping them grow with this awareness. It is always worth remembering that the learnings acquired during this period can accompany the individual throughout their entire life, and this should be taken into account by all those who intend to better understand human behavior.
References
Photo: Rodrigo Rocco Razuk Maluf.
Asher S, Willians G. Helping children without friends in home and school contexts. Children’s social development: information for parents and teachers (Urbana and Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1987);
Kety SS. Human cerebral blood flow and oxygen consumption as related to aging. Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1956;35:31–45;
Paus T, Zijdenbos A, Worsley K, Collins DL, Blumenthal J, Giedd JN, Rapoport JL, Evans AC. Structural maturation of neural pathways in children and adolescents: in vivo study. Science. 1999;283:1908–11;
Spear LP. The adolescent brain and age-related behavioral manifestations. Neurosci Biobehav Ver. 2000;24:417-63;
Toledo K. http://agencia.fapesp.br/15812.
