New research is confirming what many parents have long suspected: teens really aren’t listening to us. So when you’re telling your teenager to bring the dirty dishes down from their room, they literally don’t hear you because they’re tuned into what their friend on the phone is saying. But they’re not just being a jerk, it’s actually just a part of growing up.
Previous studies have shown that babies are laser-focused on their primary caregivers’ voices and can accurately recognize their mom’s voice, but this new study reveals that all starts to change around age 13. At that point, teens' brains evolve and shift to pay attention to novel voices. Lead study author Vinod Menon explains, “When teens appear to be rebelling by not listening to their parents, it is because they are wired to pay more attention to voices outside their home.”
The study, which focused on kids between 13 and 16.5, had teens listen to their mom’s voice, voices of women they don’t know and common household sounds. And it turns out, the teenage brains are more interested in what strangers have to say. They were still able to recognize their own mom’s voice 97% of the time, but their brains just weren’t as interested in it. So when it seems like your teenager is ignoring you, take comfort in the fact that it’s at least partially because their brains are still developing.
Read the full article at Scary Mommy