Wisely to speak on raising adolescents

Dr. Dale Wisely, Director of Student Services at Mountain Brook Schools, continues his series for parents, sponsored by All In Mountain Brook with a two part program on parenting teenagers. He will present “Being a Parent of a Teenager, Part I: (Mis)understanding the Teenage Brain,” on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 at 9 a.m.  A second part to that talk, “Limits and Freedom,” is scheduled for the following Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, also at 9 a.m. Both talks will be at the Charles Mason Board of Education Building.

“These two talks are new,” said Wisely. “The second part deals with perhaps one of the most basic problems in raising teenagers: How to make decisions about how much freedom to provide teenagers, versus setting limits on their ability to go out and socialize with their friends. Every parent struggles with it and I think all of us make mistakes as we work our way through it.”

Wisely said that the first talk, on the teenage brain, is an attempt make sense of the now-common awareness that teenage brains are not fully developed. “This is something I’ve been interested in for a long time,” said Wisely. “It is clear the brain is still developing well into young adulthood. At the same time, I’ve been concerned about how that information is misinterpreted and, frankly, used against teenagers in a way that I believe is unfair and disrespectful. Brain development in the teenage years is actually a positive thing.  I hope to help us sort all of that out.”

Space is limited. Register by phone at 877-8349 or email studentservices@mtnbrook.k12.al.us.