“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Such are the wise words that teenage anti-hero Ferris Bueller uses to justify skipping school for a little fun with his friends in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. His words ring true to anyone living in today’s fast-paced times, but they’re especially pertinent for adolescents. More than other age groups, teens really do need an occasional break from life’s hectic obligations. 

It has long been believed that teenagers are lazy—that they’re constantly finding ways to slack off in order to lie around doing nothing. Medical research, however, suggests that it’s time retire this myth. Upon hitting puberty, the human brain changes, and with that, there’s a shift�...