Youth Gangs - Do these problems actually stem from Infant's Brain?

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For a long time, when the recent spate of youth violence started to appear, I have been wondering: Does the state of our youth's behaviour actually stem from the way we shape their brains during Infanthood? Is this a result of lack of Attachment Parenting (but that will be another post)?

Often, humans like to deal with problems the moment they appear. Most of them will adopt the “来到桥头自然直”attitude (That means we cross the bridge when we get there or let's solve problems the moment they appear and not think about it so soon.) I have an issue which many have commented to me about it  before: That is: I like to anticipate future problems and think or read up about it before anything happens. Truth be told, not many like this particular trait of mine for it seems to give an impression that I am always doing stuff and putting unnecessary pressure on them and myself (That may be true from SOME perspectives but I do believe in resting and enjoying - surprise!) And perhaps, I can see no better time than now to be prepared. Therefore, in my bid to gather never-ending knowledge and to see if I can put two and two together (I am a self-declared PI. Some says Kpoh.) , I decided to read up and learn more about the brain.

Now most of the time, when one comes across the brain, one would just expect to see crooked lines zig-zagging all around the matter with extremely complicated names detailing each and every function of the brain. Dr Jill Stamm, the author of Bright from the Start", made it easy to understand how these functions work for the brains of the babies - which I will be summarizing here. I will be using a quick and easy way to talk about the brain system (adpated from Dr. Jill Stamm, "Bright from the Start" and Dr Robert Sylwester, Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon):

Now all you need here is to remember 3 things: The pencil (which acts as the brain stem)

The Doughnut ( which acts as the Limbic System)

The 6 layers of crushed tissue papers ( Which acts as the cortex)

If you view the picture on the left, the pencil is connected to the Doughnut which is surrounded by the crushed tissue papers.

All right. Now it is time to break down and explain how each part of the brain works and how it can permanently affect our little ones and the impact on them as they grow up.

Pencil / Brain Stem

This part is mainly responsible for our basic body activities such as regulating heartbeat, breathing and the such. They are generally stable and will not change much unless we are under stress without realising, e.g. exercising. This is why in pre-term babies they are placed in incubators so that their body temperatures and breathing can be regulated gradually. Even in full-term infants, these will take some time to stabilize and may take some time to distinguish between day and night before learning how to sleep throughout the night.

Doughnut/ Limbic System

Considered the most important part of the brain, this area stores and retrieves memories that are important to the baby - while forming connections and distinguishing patterns at the same time. It will trigger the "fight or flight" response via signals and will later file away the experience with the same thing for future use. This is also where they begin to form ideas and associations (If I do this, I get this) and this will be developed really quickly with repetitions of similar experiences. Not surprisingly, this is why many people will also use association later in life to determine quick choices for them and will not look pr bother about different angles or perspectives of an issue.

Babies who do not have a safe and secure environment when young are often found to have smaller limbic systems and do not function properly. These children would be extremely wary of their surroundings in the future and will either constantly look out for things that might harm them or ways to satisfy their basic human needs such as food, comfort and companionship. If these needs are not met, they would not be receptive to new information.

In fact, if the child has developed a healthy limbic system, he or she will be able to:

• pay attention and absorb more information easily
• retain new information
• have more self-control of behaviour and emotional reactions
• be more resilient

6 Layers of Crushed Tissue Papers / Cortex

This area is mainly responsible for processing information and to store memory such as reading and writing skills, to be creative and to process information. For all these to function optimally; it is very dependent on the limbic system as mentioned above.

My Thoughts about This Piece of Information
To think about it, we do not know the childhood development of these teens who are recently in trouble. Neither do we know much of how secondary students who seem to be recalcitrant have developed in their childhood. While sometimes it is not shocking to hear that some of these teens come from a broken family (and may have resulted in a less optimal limbic system when growing up) but yet we express surprise when we read that some of them come from complete homes or loving families. Surely these homes should have provided the safe and secure environment?

Not exactly. Let's think about it. The child's mind is always developing and will be experiencing and associating several situations as experiences in a day. The terrible twos, as we know it, is a time where the little ones will start to push limits and test their independence. Parents will want to provide the best parenting method for their child but as first-timers, they may approach it differently. Some may become overly strict and their little ones will soon associate fear with their parents - choosing white little lies as the easy way out. Some babies may realise that their parents will give in to them anyway or that the most severe punishment is only a talking-to. Without defined boundaries; they will start to have the wrong impressions of how the society works or how people generally communicate as a whole. They would slowly have to relearn through experiences (back to the limbic system) on what work and what doesn't.

Unfortunately, these impressions and behaviours do not really become obvious until when they reach the dreaded angsty teenagehood when they are once more - searching for the independence limit as when they were at two years old. At this point, parents will already have a fixed idea on how to look after their child and when they suddenly find that this particular method do not seems to work any more and would throw their hands up in despair. And when teens realise that they are unable to find the acceptance as before, who should they turn to but their friends who seem to be able to empatise with them. As in all groups, people will hang out with those they feel the most comfortable with or with the most similar thinking to them - regardless of behaviours.

In theory, the best way is to find a balance. In practical, this is easier said than done. A parent may think he/she is doing right in one aspect but may not realise that he/she may be overdoing it, e.g. too strict or too lenient. There are those who cannot resist the innocent eyes of their children and the thoughts enter "What the heck? She's just a kid...let it go." Some parents subscribe to the "one bad parent, one good parent" mentality - therefore teaching the kids how to pick and choose (or in a not-so-nice term - manipulative) for certain issues. It will not be easy to admit to oneself when viewing the child objectively that he/she has become manipulative and will use this skill for other aspects of his/her life.

If you have another view or studies that show my thinking otherwise, please feel free to share for these are only my thoughts. I am using whatever I have stored in my cortex to make associations via my limbic system ( while my brain stem is working).