"Teenage Brains" is an article from the October issue of National Geographic, a highly respected science and history magazine. This article is about how the teenage brain develops and the differing theories on its development. The theory previously accepted is that teenagers made bad decisions because their brains were not fully developed, but this article attributes those decisions to chemicals in the brain. Rather, this article mostly focuses on how scientists now believe that the brain acts this way in order to make people in their teens and early twenties more able to deal with change. This time of change in the brain is beneficial because once the "wiring" is finished in the brain it is less able to change.
Written mainly to inform adults or parents, the article often threw in comforting comments to parents who have trouble with teenagers. As teenagers are not considered responsible in many societies and throughout many eras, the article addresses a continuing topic of concern for the audience. The use of narration (a teen speeding) in the beginning of the article is effective because it is used as a source of reference throughout the piece. However well written, this article laid foundation for the first half of the article, making it less interesting for audiences with previous knowledge. Much of it could have been shortened for a more interesting and less long piece. The author often uses (somewhat) common memory for examples, but his flaw is that not all people have had the experience of raising a teenager. This device is then rendered inadequate because these situations are not applicable to all people. While this article may be successful to the majority of the population and the target audience, it has the potential to anger teenagers as it often refers to them negatively and uses generalizations.
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