Frontal Lobe Development

Recently, my husband reminded me that the frontal lobes of young people are not fully developed until around age 25. This led me to read up on the functions of the prefrontal cortex:
-Focusing attention
-Organizing thoughts and problem solving
-Foreseeing and weighing possible consequences of behavior
-Considering the future and making predictions
-Forming strategies and planning
-Ability to balance short-term rewards with long term goals
-Shifting/adjusting behavior when situations change
-Impulse control and delaying gratification
-Modulation of intense emotions
-Inhibiting inappropriate behavior and initiating appropriate behavior
-Simultaneously considering multiple streams of information when faced  with complex and challenging information

This brain region gives an individual the capacity to exercise “good judgment” when presented with difficult life situations. (Walsh D. Why do they act that way? A survival guide to the adolescent brain for you and your teen. New York: Free Press. 2004.)
I found the above list enlightening. So many of the issues that we associate with adolescence can be explained by this delayed maturation. However, most of us expect adult behavior and judgment from young people over 21. We might make some concessions when they are under 18, but we expect them to be independent, responsible adults much before the age of 25. Many young adults live away from home, make career and college choices that will affect their entire lives, fight wars in foreign countries, get married, and have children. Those who have not reached these milestones by 25 are deemed immature and somehow deficient. We, as a society, need to rethink our expectations of young adults. We need to give them some extra time while their prefrontal cortex fully develops. We need to be patient as they get their act together.