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In one instant, everything can change.

You make a choice and just like that, you've lit a fire, sometimes one you can't control.

These kinds of turning points are in pretty much all the stories we've told in this series.

Remember Honor back in episode four?

He grabbed that knife and in a flash his life changed forever.

Or Z, when he and his friends walked into that convenience store to commit an armed robbery,

they made a choice they just couldn't take back.

And these decision points, they're also a huge deal

in the broader story of juvenile justice right now, and particularly of reform. I'm Kairite,

and this is caught. We've begun to understand that our brains handle split-second decisions

very differently when we're young. And that knowledge, it has changed the legal debate around juvenile justice.

WNYC's health guru, Mary Harris, has been thinking a lot about that change. Hey, Mary.

Hey, everyone. So, Kai, I have a test for you. Okay. Okay, this is the test of the brain.

Here's how it works. You're going to sit in front of this computer screen.

Okay. And you see a little red plus sign. I see that. It's in the center of the screen.

Right in the middle. It's just kind of, it's like giving you a place to focus. Okay. I'm focused on it. I'm looking.

Okay, now here's what's about to happen. It's going to go away. And then you see a pinpoint of light appear somewhere in your peripheral vision.

Uh-huh. Yeah, I see it. It's right there. It's off to the right, like a little speck.

Right. So here's the test. The only thing you have to do when that light appears is look away from it.

That's it. That's it. Okay, here's that first image. Okay, I see the red plus sign, and it's gone. And there's the second light.

Yeah, look away.

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