Age of opportunity

Draws on new research to explain why the adolescent years are so developmentally crucial, and what we must do to raise happier, more successful kids. Adolescence now lasts longer than ever before. This makes these years the key period in determining individuals' life outcomes, demanding that we change the way we parent, educate, and understand young people. Leads readers through a host of new findings that reveal what the new timetable of adolescence means for parenting 13-year-olds (who may look more mature than they really are) versus 20-somethings (who may not be floundering even when it looks like they are). Also explains how the plasticity of the adolescent brain, rivaling that of years 0 through 3, suggests new strategies for instilling self-control during the teenage years.