A cognitive neuroscientist warns that the U.S. justice system harms teen brains

Skills like resisting peer pressure and avoiding risk may not develop until a person’s 20s

teen jail

LOCKED UP Adolescents caught in the U.S. justice system can be subject to conditions that interfere with their healthy brain development.

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A teenager’s brain does not magically mature into its reasoned, adult form the night before his or her 18th birthday.