This looks like a “tip of the iceberg” type of article: Smart pill that helps children through puberty.
To summarize,
- During adolescence, a specific brain development makes it harder for you to learn. I remember going from being able to absorb just about anything to having to work to learn stuff, around 13-15, and I’ve heard that my grandfather Bill made a similar observation.
- Someone is advocating use of a drug to block this development (which seems kind of crazy without much more investigation)
- But there’s another way to improve learning: experience mild stress: “Dr Smith said until a pill was developed, students could increase their learning by enduring mild stress.” What does that mean — adolescents should be challenged? Could there be a sound basis to some cultures’ ritualized coming-of-age stress experiences?
What is going on here, and what does it imply for adolescent education? Is “send them to a farm” correct after all? What kind of farm? Should it include camels, or are they too stressful?
Oh yes, camels would be very good. Much more persnickety than horses, and to get along with them, one has to learn a new kind of diplomacy that I am sure would be valuable during the teen years.
BTW, it would be interesting if there was a gender difference regarding the age of change in learning ability. I didn’t experience anything like that until 16-17, and there was so much other stuff going on then, I am not sure if it correlates. My 13-15 years were a high point in learning science and math. But then I was a late bloomer in many ways.