Teenagers Need Brain Exercises

Dear Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee,

My two teenagers keep asking me to help with their homework. Although I was able to help them in the elementary and middle school years, high school has gotten beyond me. However, since I can't help as much, they think it's not necessary to learn all this stuff. They tell me that if the information they are learning is not useful to adults, then why do they have to learn it? I am stumped for an answer, other than to tell them they need to study and do what their teachers tell them.

Signed,

Behind the Times

Dear Behind the Times,

Tell your teenagers that studying exercises their brains. It doesn't matter that the information they learn is not used later in life. They need to learn critical thinking skills. Brain exercises develop their minds.