inkbluesky

Nature versus nurture. Free will versus predetermination. Another bump in the road, Resisting Peer Pressure: New Findings Shed Light On Adolescent Decision-making

They found that the brains of all children showed activity in regions important for planning and extracting information about social cues from movement, but the connectivity within these regions was stronger in children who were marked as less vulnerable to peer influence.

Those children were also found to have more activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area important for decision-making and inhibition of unwanted behaviour.

Professor Paus said: “This is important if we are to understand how the adolescent brain attains the right balance between acknowledging the influences of others and maintaining one’s independence.”

Some parents are seem to skip teaching their children about decision making ( how one deals with peer pressure is a decision) and just stick with the don’t do this or that school of thought. The there are the parents that ask questions - do you think its a good idea to drink, to drink and drive, should you study for that test tomorrow - if not what what are the consequences. Regardless of how hard wired this peer pressure influence might be it seems that the parents that nudge their kids toward learning to make better choices also have kids that are better at resisting negative influences from their peers.

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Whatever Happened to Shame and Guilt?

Once again we have been treated to yet more failures of leadership. Last week it was Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles. Instead of testifying in court over his priest-child-abusers, the Cardinal arranged for a $660 million payout to the victims. He then made his apologies and closed the case.

This week we see Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tripping over his own lies as he testifies before Congress about the mismanagement of the Justice Department. Then, of course, as his approval ratings decline, President Bush has again resorted to reminding us that we are a nation under the terrorists’ threat. In Tuesday’s speech he used the words “Al Qeada” 95 times as he tried to connect A.Q. to Iraq and September 11. Good God, how much more of this charade must we take?

There is a positive side to pressure from one’s peers. Maybe someone is a total screw-up and lots of people have tried to set them straight, but they’re arrogant and hard headed and refuse to change course.