Adolescent Brain Development & Risk-Taking

One day an adolescent may behave like a well-functioning young adult, and the next day like someone has taken over his/her body, acting completely different. Is this normal behavior?  Why is this occurring? Explore why this happens by focusing on what is going on in the brain during the period of adolescence into young adulthood. Examine how boys and girls are affected differently and what practitioners might anticipate from adolescents during this time period. Focus on adolescent risk-taking, both healthy and unhealthy, a natural part of adolescence. Discuss how you might approach young people differently, given what is happening physiologically within, as well as how to assist them to identify and choose healthier risk-taking behaviors.

Instructor Carol Badran, BS, MPH, CCSF Health Education faculty member, has extensive experience working with youth; she began as a group home counselor. She has developed and managed prevention programs for San Francisco public schools designed to assist youth in developing skills to identify and reduce their risk in unhealthy situations. Carol created and teaches the Youth Development & Leadership course at CCSF, an interactive course for anyone with an interest in youth. She has tutored and mentored children of immigrant families, particularly those from Latin America. Carol has served as a trainer throughout California, on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, in El Salvador, Guatemala and Ecuador. She has also conducted several workshops addressing bullying.