According to the text "What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?" by Alison Gopnik, our minds have two different neural and psychological systems that interact to turn children into adults.The discussion is about how these systems are not in sync anymore, mainly because of the influences that teenagers receive from the world around them. The first of these systems has to do with the emotions and sensations, and how the feelings and desires are managed. The second one is about control; this system has to do with the rational thoughts, and is supposed to inhibit impulses and govern the emotional system.When these two systems are already developed and work well together, before making a decision, the control side start to act first. The rational thoughts are the priority when the two systems of our minds are in sync.But the fact is: it is not what we can see between the teenagers today.All the mistakes are being took when they are not expected for, and it shows us that they are not ready to became adults, and still don't have lived experiences enough in their lifes to shape their skills and discernment.
As in the past, our society should use the childhood to prepare our minds and our bodies for what we are expected for when we are adults.First we should learn how to deal with the control, and then, experience the rewards when the person already know the rules and the limits. The childhood is not used for that anymore, because other things in our lifestyles became more important. This conflict between the brain's systems is the reason why teenagers commit mistakes as being pregnant when it's not time, or drink and drive and end up in a drunken crash. They know the consequences, but they didn't have the opportunity in their lifes to practice other experiencies that could shape their minds to decide between the right and the wrong, and to control the emotions. As the author Alison Gopnik said: " You come to make better decisions by making not-so-good decisions and then correcting them." The teenagers are not correcting their not-so-good decisions because they didn't learn how. The lifestyle and some points of our society should change, and maybe the school is not enough to fix the relationship of these two systems that are the cogs of our minds. When the student is at the classroom, he is listening the lectures, reading the knowledgments, but is not developing the skills that are necessary to live and deal with that while he is sitting in front of a board or a notebook.
