Teenage years are equated with rebelliousness and everyone goes through this stage in one way or another depending on several factors. Experts in family issues have pinpointed status, family upbringing, educational background, personality makeup, peer pressure and others. Now scientists have come to believe that there is a medical explanation to better understand the teenage dilemma.

In a Time magazine article entitled "Secrets of the Teen Brain" researchers from the Institute of Mental Health in Maryland have revealed that a teenager's immature brain accounts for the rebelliousness. The article deals with the studies of Dr. Jay Giedd, chief of brain imaging at the said institute. This finding explains why adolescents have so many erratic and unpredictable behaviors. Before the imaging studies of Dr. Giedd, it was believed that the brain is a finished product by the time a child reaches 12 years old. Dr. Giedd's studies prove that not only is the brain of the adolescent far from mature, but it undergoes extensive structural changes well past puberty.

These structural changes account for the moodiness, rebelliousness, and change of behavior of the adolescent that can confuse parents endlessly. These changes may also explain why mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder begin at this stage of a teenager's life. According to the studies of Dr. Giedd, the parts of the brain responsible for reckless risk-taking and rule-breaking are most active around the time of puberty, while the parts of exercising judgment are still maturing. The problem is that adolescents think they already know everything about life, and that their parents are old-fashioned. Particularly those who don't feel loved or feel neglected by their parents tend to join gangs to get a feeling of belonging Adolescence is also the time when the sex hormones are especially active. Adolescents are actively looking for experiences to create intense feelings, but bad decisions are commonly made because the brain is not yet fully mature. Dr. Giedd says the best estimate for when the brain is truly mature is the age of 25.

In the light of these findings in adolescent behavior, here are some tips to help parents:

• Stay involved ¡n and Attend school programs and meetings and be consistent not only during grade school days but also in high school and even college days.

• Get to know their friends and try to spend time with your teenager's peers. Share their interests and become a friend to them too.

• Set rules and limits: Firmness, fairness, and consistency are like the water, food, and air of discipline. Subconsciously, teenagers find comfort in limitations and you will do better as a parent.

• Make your love visible: Show physical affection as long as you don't embarrass them in front of their friends.

• Adapt your parenting: As children get older, modify your behavior accordingly.

• Encourage independence: Instill the values to make your child stand on his/her own. You won't be there forever to guide them.