Tyler Aikens
October 25, 2012
English 9 1st Period

PLN #8

An article by Alison Gopnic titled, "What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?" delivers us an opening into a teenagers mind and describes what influences and bodily changes we are under while approaching the situations we are forced to face.

"What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?" by Alison Gopnic drags us inside of a teenage mind, describes what influences we are under, and why we strive to meet these goals as much as we desire.

One of the reasons that the teenage mind is such a delicate structure is the fact that kids these days are hitting puberty sooner, and reaching adulthood later. This results in more time for poor decision making, dangerous activities, and even sex drives. But why do we do these things? I believe that the answer to this is peer pleasure. Peer pleasure is simply a need to do something that would entertain your fellow friends, and sometimes these needs can be very dangerous and could result in life-changing effects. For example, when someone says,"Do it dude, you'll be fine," there are many key words that are being used to lure you into the situation. The word "dude," (at least how I see it) is a connection between the two people, making us want to do something in order to impress and/or entertain them. Other key words lie, "you'll be fine" are words that seem to eliminate all side effects from the situation, causing you to overlook the bad of the situation and make it look as if what you are about to do is harmless.