I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was hot. It was an African jungle, after all.
The trail was about a foot wide and muddy. It followed alongside a swiftly flowing creek that we occasionally had to cross (via “bridges” made of fallen trees).
I saw a thin green snake (about 5 feet long) darting between the branches of different trees as if it were swimming in the canopy high above me.
I looked the snake up later. It was a “Boomslang.” Its venom is a hemotoxin, which is a fancy way of saying it causes internal bleeding that can lead to cardiac arrest.
Fun fact: This particular jungle held about a dozen different poisonous snakes including Black Mambas, Gaboon Vipers and Puff Adders. My favorite, though, is the black spitting cobra. Its venom is a cytotoxin, which can kill you through asphyxiation (and can blind you if you get it in your eyes).
Our guide led the way, happily pointing out different types of plants and trees, which probably would have been interesting if he spoke English or I spoke Ewe.
About 30 minutes into the jungle, our guide stopped abruptly and held us back. He pointed to the trail ten feet ahead and said something ominous (I think).
A snake was coiled up on the trail.
I approached cautiously, ready to run.
It looked like a baby python, less than two feet long and as thick as a ballpark hot dog.
I tried to remember what my Boy Scout leader had said about the shape of poisonous snakes.
It didn’t look like the shape the boy scout leader said was dangerous. He was a mailman, though, not a herpetologist, so…
I REALLY wanted a picture with the snake.
Pythons aren’t poisonous, but they do bite.
It seemed like a reasonable risk for a good picture.
Using only pantomime, I asked our guide to pick it up for me. He said no (apparently he knew one English word). It was gonna have to be me.
I took my shirt off to use as a “glove” which seemed like a genius idea at the time, though I’m less sure now.
The guide got the longest stick he could find and held its head down from a safe distance.
I don’t remember picking the snake up. Though I did.
I don’t remember getting my picture taken with it. Though you can see it later on in this email.
I DO remember when it started to constrict tightly around my forearm.
I would love to tell you that I remained calm, confident that a python the size of a large s’mores stick couldn’t kill me.
I would love to tell you that I whispered calmly to the snake until it released its grip and I gently set him down.
I would love to tell you all sorts of lies that would have made me look all sorts of manly.
Here’s what actually happened:
I screamed in an octave that would make Mariah Carey jealous and flapped my arm around like a cartoon character on fire.
My memory is that it took a minute or two to get the snake off my arm.
I’m told by people who were there that it only lasted two seconds.
There is no video, though, so we’ll never know.
I watched the snake slither off. The guide was nowhere to be seen.
Was I stupid?
Absolutely!
Did I get an awesome picture out of it, though?
You be the judge!
Do I have a point or do I just love telling that story?
I do love telling that story.
I also have a point.
When I picked up the snake, I was only 21 years old.
I didn’t yet have a fully formed Prefrontal Cortex in my brain.
The Teenage Brain
During adolescence, the human brain develops from the back to the front.
It starts in a region that controls motor skills (which is why some junior high school students are Olympic gymnasts, and others want you to pull their finger).
Next is the Amygdala, which handles emotional processing and threat detection.
After that is the Nucleus Accumbens, which handles motivation and reward-seeking.
It finishes with the Prefrontal Cortex (logical thought and executive control), but not until someone is in their mid-20’s.
It is important to understand that cognitively teenagers are NOT “little adults” or “big kids.”
Cognitively, they are their own thing.
As result of this, they view and process four things differently:
- Reward
- Risk
- Fairness
- Respect
Teenagers and Risk
The most interesting thing I’ve ever heard about the teenage brain is that teenagers can “understand” risk like an adult, but they don’t “feel” it like an adult.
Case in point: I “knew” that picking up wild snakes in African jungles was risky since I wasn’t 100% positive it was a python (and not something venomous).
I could have explained the risk like any adult.
It just didn’t “feel” like a noteworthy risk.
Especially not when there was a reward of an awesome picture I could show people for decades!
Our next training is on Teenagers.
If you understand the teenage brain you can better manage their problematic behavior.
Our next training is the first part of a three-part series on teenagers:
- Part 1: The basics of managing teenage behavior
- Part 2: Teens with trauma/ACE’s
- Part 3: Teens in groups
BY THE WAY… I’m at the National Alliance to End Homelessness annual conference this week. If you’re here too and you see me in a hallway, please stop me and say “hi!”
Peace,
Ryan
