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A review by stevenyenzer
The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Amy Ellis Nutt, Frances E. Jensen
2.0
Although she sets out to provide a science-based, holistic view of adolescent brain development, The Teenage Brain is irritatingly heavy on person opinions and fear. Most of the book is dedicated to exploring all of the awful things that can screw up teenagers for life, from witnessing a single traumatic event to smoking pot (NOT EVEN ONCE!).
Jensen's approach to marijuana is illustrative. She begins her chapter on pot by relating an anecdote (always great for scientists) in which a young man tells her that, after having smoked heavily as a teenager, his brain is now so screwed up that he can't carry on a conversation and doesn't trust himself to drive a car. As a neurologist, Jensen surely has the clinical knowledge to understand that there's no way even chronic marijuana use could cause this kind of brain disability, but her credulity is indicative of a larger problem -- she clearly thinks weed is the Devil.
She also makes a couple of references to the continued debate over whether marijuana is a gateway drug. The National Institute on Drug Abuse withholds judgment, but Jensen doesn't -- she spoke to "at least one" scientist who said it was. "At least one" -- so, two? Three?
Although I was bothered specifically by Jensen's unscientific opinion of marijuana, the book as a whole was so alarmist and terrifying that I would not recommend it to any parent. It seems there is almost nothing that cannot permanently screw up a teenager. It seemed like every other paragraph contained a horrific anecdote about a teenager who drowned, committed suicide, or died an otherwise tragic death, all because... Well, I'm not really sure why!
Jensen's approach to marijuana is illustrative. She begins her chapter on pot by relating an anecdote (always great for scientists) in which a young man tells her that, after having smoked heavily as a teenager, his brain is now so screwed up that he can't carry on a conversation and doesn't trust himself to drive a car. As a neurologist, Jensen surely has the clinical knowledge to understand that there's no way even chronic marijuana use could cause this kind of brain disability, but her credulity is indicative of a larger problem -- she clearly thinks weed is the Devil.
She also makes a couple of references to the continued debate over whether marijuana is a gateway drug. The National Institute on Drug Abuse withholds judgment, but Jensen doesn't -- she spoke to "at least one" scientist who said it was. "At least one" -- so, two? Three?
Although I was bothered specifically by Jensen's unscientific opinion of marijuana, the book as a whole was so alarmist and terrifying that I would not recommend it to any parent. It seems there is almost nothing that cannot permanently screw up a teenager. It seemed like every other paragraph contained a horrific anecdote about a teenager who drowned, committed suicide, or died an otherwise tragic death, all because... Well, I'm not really sure why!