Moody clues

TEENAGERS have a reputation for possessing something of a Jekyll and Hyde streak. One minute they are chatting amiably about their plans for the day; the next they are slamming the door in your face and swearing like an alcoholic trawlerman.

This erratic behaviour, memorably captured by Harry Enfield in his Kevin the Teenager guise, has long been attributed to hormones causing havoc in rapidly-changing young bodies. However, new scientific research suggests the answer could lie not in the body, but in the brain.

Released to coincide with today's launch of Brain Awareness Week, a new book by Barbara Strauch, the health and medical science editor for the New York Times, explains how biological research is changing the way we look at teenagers.

"During adolescence, the brain undergoes a massive rewiring in the frontal lobes, the part right behind our forehead," she says. "This is the part that helps us think logically, be grown up, see consequences, and count to ten before we call mum stupid."

The book cites research by neuroscientist Dr Jay Giedd which shows that the frontal lobes, often called the "brain's policemen", are one of the last areas of the brain to reach a stable state, leading teenagers to take risks, seek thrills and generally push their parents to the edge of sanity.

According to Ms Strauch there are also sound biological reasons why teenagers refuse to get out of bed before lunchtime and why they are predisposed to experimenting with alcohol and drugs.

But are all teenagers the same? Are they all lazy risk-takers more likely to be found in a club than a classroom? Are they all, in a word, Kevins?

York College students Dave Pickles of Poppleton, Philippa McIntosh of Poppleton, Jonathan Alderson of Acomb, and Lydia Wright of Rufforth are all 17 and are all obviously not impressed with being labelled "weird".

"This sort of thing is written to try and get a reaction," says Jonathan. "We are not one big group all doing the same things at the same time. We are individuals."

This doesn't mean, however, that they don't occasionally revert to stereotype.

"We probably do take a lot of risks," says Dave. "You just don't think about what you are doing and you certainly don't think about the consequences. It's easy to get carried away by the moment.

"A lot of the stuff that happens gets put down to peer pressure, but I don't think that's what it's all about. Most of us just do things for a laugh. It's not peer pressure; we just do what we want to do."

While they are willing to admit that some teenage eccentricities may be down to biological factors, they believe pressures imposed on them by modern society are also to blame.

"Society encourages us to be mature and grown up, but then places loads of restrictions on us," says Jonathan. "In one breath we are being told to be responsible, and in the next we are being told to just do as we are told."

"It doesn't make much sense that you can have sex before you can vote and that you can get married before you can drink," agrees Lydia. "We should draw the line somewhere and stick to it. I don't think everything should be lowered to 16 though," says Philippa. "It would be too much to handle. This is a tough time anyway, with GCSEs and everything. We shouldn't have to think about 20 other things as well."

Being a teenager is a stressful business. Most have to juggle jobs and studies at the same time as dealing with their chaotic biology.

"We have only just started college and we are already being bombarded with university prospectuses," says Lydia. "The pressure is already on. Some of us can cope with the stress better than others."

"Some of us just go for a drink," says Dave.

All four go to the pub fairly regularly, perhaps two or three times a month, but say they don't feel any pressure to drink excessively. In fact, Jonathan doesn't drink alcohol at all.

"I really don't think a lot of teenagers go out drinking every night," says Lydia. "It's a bit of a myth."

"To be honest," Philippa continues, "most of us don't have the time or the money. Unfortunately, some people go to extremes and binge drink, and they are always the ones that get reported."

When it comes to the media - and reports on teenage behaviour in particular - our discussion panel seems to employ a healthy scepticism.

"Media influence is much greater now than ever," says Jonathan, "but you shouldn't believe everything you read."

"It's really annoying when people talk about what things were like when they were teenagers, and how they wouldn't behave in such a way in their day," says Lydia. "It's completely different now. We are all very different people dealing with different problems, but the media doesn't seem to see it that way."

"The media seems to think we live and die by the soaps," says Philippa who, along with Dave and Lydia, admitted to being a fan of the soaps. "We know they are not real life. Not many girls are having babies at 12 or becoming heroin addicts. They are not about the majority, they are about the few."

Whether they leapt out of bed at dawn to attack their studies or dreamed of dawdling under the duvet until dinnertime watching endless repeats of EastEnders, our four teenagers had one thing in common - good relationships with their parents.

"If you talk to your parents they trust you more," says Philippa. "My mum knows what sort of a person I am, she knows what I'm up to and she knows she can trust me."

"Things are certainly more relaxed now than when I was younger," adds Dave. "I get on okay with my parents. I don't talk to them very much though. I just don't have that much to say."

Biology or no biology: some things never change.

Updated: 09:20 Monday, March 10, 2003