Teenagers often ignore people's feelings

[STEED]

Your telling me, I remember asking a teenager if she could move as I wanted to get by her on a full bus, I will not repeat what she said. She used very strong language with very strong remarks.

Study: Feelings matter less to teenagers

Big News Network.com
Thursday 7th September, 2006 (UPI)

British researchers at University College London say teenagers often ignore people's feelings and even fail to think about their own feelings before acting.

The scientists say teenagers today, when considering a course of action, seldom use the area of their brain that's involved in thinking about other people's emotions and thoughts.

Scientists say they've discovered that, when making decisions about what action to take, the medial prefrontal cortex -- a region of the brain associated with higher-level thinking, empathy and guilt -- is under-used by teenagers. Instead, an area of the brain, involved in perceiving and imagining actions, takes over.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of UCL's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience said: The fact that teenagers under-use the medial pre-frontal cortex when making decisions about what to do implies that they are less likely to think about how they themselves and how other people will feel as a result of their intended action.

The study was presented Thursday in Norwich during the Festival of Science, sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

http://www.britainnews.net/story/e4028446876d57a1