Rafielli and Crocket

1. Self-regulation is being able to stop and action that you are currently participating in and deciding that it is wrong or not advantageous and being able to alter course and eliminate that action before completion. A lot of adolescent do not self-regulate when it comes to sexual risk taking. They tend to not think and if they do think they figure that it is not so risly. Self-regulaiton occurs in the prefrontal cortex, so maybe that part of the brain is not developed yet when these teens engage in sexual risk taking.

2. When I was an adolescent I did a lot of self-regulation. I did not partake in any kind of sexual risk taking to after I was out of high school. I had figured that I did not want to be one of those girls who had intercourse with whoever she dated, I also thought that relationsips would get in the way of my attending college. So self-regulation played a big role in my adolescent years. I definitely think that self-regulation had a large impact on my decisions and course of life. I graduated early from high school and I imeediately entered a four year college, whereas people that I knew in high school who did whatever they wanted entered junior colleges or just did not graduate high school. There has to be boundaries that you set for yoursef. to self-regulate, so that you have a clear course of action to take when trying to accomplish what you want to in life.

3. When I was younger my parents told me to not do anything that I would be ashamed to tell my future children. They also said that school is the way to becoming successful. They were always in my business and always at scool meetings. I think that these three things had a huge impact on self-regulaiton with me. Because they were so involved I never wanted to do things that would make them embarrased or ashamed at me. I remember that I did partake in risky behavior outside of school but when caught I did not like the feeling that I got, like I had disappointed them. So for parents I would encourage them to be involved in their adolescent's lives, to not be afraid to not give them space when you know that they need you. Always have open communication with them and to set a good example, because, ultimately, children learn directly form their parents. If parents start molding their children young to think twice before doing then that could go a long way.