Lesson 7

As a teacher, I need to be mindful of the fact that the teenage brain is not fully developed. Teenagers are still kids, and adults need to be careful to remember that teenagers have trouble with decision making and impulse control. At times teenagers will be irrational and make poor choices. Teachers need to keep in mind that the behavior of their students is not a personal attack. Students need patient guidance. They need to have reasonable consequences in order to continue moving in the right directions, but the consequences should not be over the top and permanent. For example, a student who does not have a history of behavior problems may make one bad judgement call. It would be detrimental for the student if the school were to overreact to a first offense and cause the mistake to follow the student on their permanent record.