By: Jingwei Zhao

Teenagers are quite the opposite of children when it comes to listening to their parents. This is normal for a teenager since when they mature, they do not need as much guidance from their parents as they used to. Teens feel like other voices are also important to hear and are attracted to those, rather than their parents. This shift about having parental guidance usually happens between ages 13 to 14, a rough time of puberty. Even though the voices of people’s mothers and fathers are not as interesting as they once were in their childhood, they are still helpful in times of stress.

A test by neuroscientist Daniel Adams was run to see how well children and teenagers could recognize their mother’s voices. The purpose of this project was to find and learn voices. They recorded the voices of the kids’ mothers and unfamiliar women saying gibberish words such as keebudieshawlt and teebudieshalt. In the end of the test, 97 percent of the kids managed to figure out whose voice was their mothers’.

Parents, if your child doesn’t want to talk to you and they are in the teenage stage of life, know that it is normal. They occasionally find other voices more interesting and valuable than yours. However, it is likely that you may interpret this as an issue and become mad at your child. However, it is important to still hear your kid’s point of view. After all, this is the way that your child’s brain is wired.