We shouldn’t disregard the ideas that come from teens’ developing brains
Popular Science February 28, 2018
Filed in: Learning & Education
Center board member Dr. Nicholas Allen explains why we should listen to adolescents. “What adolescents bring to a situation is this capacity for innovation and new thinking and for experimentation,” he says. “That is absolutely critical to culture. If we don’t have that, then culture remains the same.”
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The UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent was cited in a New America article highlighting organizations and research that have supported the National Commission on Learning Ecosystems’ understanding of adolescent development and how to build ecosystems that support young people. The National Commission on Learning Ecosystems is a two-year initiative, announced in February 2026, that focuses on making stronger connections between U.S. public schools and out-of-school programs.
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The Wallace Foundation interviews CDA’s Co-Executive Director Adriana Galvan for an article on how adolescent brain development shapes risk-taking and learning, and why relationships, exploration, and access to out-of-school-time opportunities matter for developing adolescents.
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