What if… the world really did revolve around teenagers?

Leading experts from a range of fields – from neuroscience to psychiatry and education – examine the evidence and how best that evidence can inform the design of our education system, as well as public understanding of the teenage years. Ever since ‘the teenager’ rose to prominence in the 1950s, the difficulty of adolescence has been a common trope and source of amusement in popular culture. But it is also a lived reality for young people and those around them. To what extent are ‘teenage behaviours’ part of our biology and to what extent are our societal structures and practices – from the time the school day starts, to the inexorable rise of social media – helping or hindering teenagers in navigating the years from age 11 to 19, and beyond? Iroise Dumontheil, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience, Birkbeck Mark Lehain, Director, Parents and Teachers for Excellence Mike Shooter, Psychiatrist Bettina Hohnen, Clinical Psychologist Chair: Professor Sue Rogers, Interim Director, UCL IOE