A Decade is a Long Time

Researchers don’t know why, but can state with certainty that adolescence, as a specific stage of human development, has grown lengthier in the past several generations, now requiring about a decade, from start to completion.

We know that this is a time of incredible growth and change, but we’ve also learned it is a time of great plasticity for the brain, a time for wiring and rewiring, both cognitively and emotionally. This means this stage is an incredibly important opportunity! It is time to think of adolescence differently; it is not a development stage to just “get through”. It is a decade to maximize all its potential. Humans get only one adolescence, let’s take full advantage of this developmental opportunity for every child.