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Home and FamilyLiving

TLE 8 | TEACHER PATRICK SELUZON

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The DevelopmentTask of Teen-agers

This is the start of an exciting journey.

When does childhood end and adolescence start?Since development is a continuous process, there areno hard-and-fast answers to these questions. Rather,every culture decides for itself just where the dividingline falls. Many cultures mark this passage with specialceremonies. In many countries, however, the transitionfrom child to adult takes place more gradually during aperiod known as adolescence.

The Development Task of Teen-agers III

Adolescence has traditionally been viewed asbeginning with the onset of puberty, a rapid spurt inphysical growth accompanied by sexual maturation,and as ending when individuals assume theresponsibilities associated with adult life-marriage,entry into the workforce, and so on.

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The teenager is now going through a very intense period inhis/her life. His/her body is changing rapidly. The rapid growthhe/she is undergoing affects the way he/she feels, behaves, andthinks about himself/herself.The beginning of adolescence issignaled by a sudden increase in the rate of physical growth.While this growth spurt occurs for both sexes, it starts earlier forgirls (at about age ten or eleven) than for boys (about age twelveor thirteen ). Before this spurt, boys and girls are similar inheight; in its early phases, girls are often taller than boys; after itis over, males are several inches taller on average than females.This growth spurt is first one aspect of puberty, the period ofrapid change during which individuals of both genders reachsexual maturity.

Physical Development During Adolscence

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During puberty, the gonads or primary sex glands, produceincreased levels of sex hormones, and the external sex organsassume their adult forms. Girls begin to menstruate and boysstart to produce sperms. In addition, both sexes undergo manyother shifts relating to sexual maturity. Boys develop facial andchest hair and their voices deepen. Girls' breasts develop andtheir hips widen; both sexes develop pubic hair. There is greatindividual variability in all these aspects. Most girls begin tomenstruate by the time they are thirteen, but for some, thisprocess does not start until considerably later, and for others, itmay begin as early as age seven or eight. Most boys begin toproduce sperm by the time they are fourteen or fifteen, but againfor some, this process may start either earlier or later.

Physical Development During Adolscence

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Facial features, too, often change during puberty.Characteristics associated with childhood. such as large eyes, ahigh forehead, round cheeks, and a small chin, give way to a moreadult appearance. Some members of both genders retainrelatively childlike facial features: for females, such "baby-faced"appearance can be a plus, because many males find it attractive.Being baby-faced does not confer such advantages on males,however. In fact, recent findings indicate that adolescent maleswho are baby-faced may attempt to compensate for this bybehaving in antisocial ways (e.g., community crimes).

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Gender differences also exist with respect to the effects ofearly sexual maturation. Early -maturing boys seem to have adefinite edge over those who mature later. They are stronger,more athletic, and often excel in competitive sports. Partly, as aresult of these advantages, they tend to be more self-assuredand popular, and are often chosen for leadership roles. Incontrast, early sexual maturation can have negative implicationsfor females their own ageand their increased sexualattractiveness may invite unwanted sexual advances from olderpersons. In short, the timing of puberty can play an importantrole in the adolescents' developing selfidentities and so in theirlater social development.

Physical Development During Adolscence

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The adolescents' theory of mind - their understanding of howthey and others think -- continues to change and develop.Younger children take what has been described as a realistapproach to knowledge; they believe that knowledge is aproperty of the real world and that there are definite facts ortruths that can be acquired. In contrast, older children andpreadolescents become aware of the fact than experts oftendisagree; this leads them to develop a relativist approach, whichrecognizes that different people may interpret the sameinformation in contrasting ways.Preadolescence go a bit further,adopting a defended realism approach, which recognizes thedifference between facts and opinions yet, they continue tobelieve that there is a set of facts about the world that arecompletely true, and that differences in opinion stem fromdifferences in available information. 

Cognitive Development During Adolscence

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Still later, adolescents come to realize that there is no securebasis for knowledge or for making decisions. At this point, theyadopt an approach described as dogmatism and skepticism, inwhich they alternate between blind faith in some authority anddoubting everything. Finally, some adolescents, at least, realizethat while there are no absolute truths, there are better or worsereasons for holding certain views - an approach described aspost-skeptical rationalism. This is the kind of thinkingdemocratic societies wish to encourage among their citizens,because only people capable of thinking in this way can make thekind of informed judgments necessary for free elections.Insummary, cognitive development does not stop childhood; on thecontrary, it continues throughout adolescence and result,ultimately in more mature modes of thought.

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Social and Emotional Developments During AdolescenceItwould be surprising if the major physical and cognitive changesoccurring during adolescence were not accompanied bycorresponding changes in social and emotional developments. Itis widely believed the adolescents are widely emotional - thatthey experience huge swings in mood and turbulent outbursts ofemotions. To a degree, this belief is correct. Moreover, theseswings occurred very quickly, sometimes within only a fewminutes. The older people also show shifts in mood, but thesetend to be less frequent, slower, and smaller in magnitude.

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Other widely accepted views about adolescent emotionality,however, do not appear to be correct. For instance, it is oftenassumed that adolescence is a period of great stress andunhappiness. In fact, most adolescents report feeling quitehappy and self-confident, not unhappy or distressed. Moreover,and again contrary to prevailing views, most teenagers reportthat they enjoy relatively good relations with their parents. Theyagree with them on basic values, on future plans, and on manymatters. There are some points of friction. Teenagers oftendisagree with their parents about how they should spend theirleisure time and how much money they should have or spend;and to some extent, parents and teenagers disagree aboutsexual behavior, although the gap is not nearly as large as youmight believe. In general, though, teenagers are nappier and getalong better with their parents than is widely assumed.

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The fact that most adolescents get along well with theirparents is, in one sense, surprising; after all, there are growingsources of conflict between parents and children during theseyears. In particular, parents must come to terms with the factthat their children are turning rapidly into adults, and this meansgiving them the increasing freedom they seek - at least up to apoint. How should parents react to these changes? Growingevidence suggests that while there is no single "best" parentingstyle, some broad patterns or styles of parenting have morebeneficial effects than others.

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Important as they are, parents are only part of the totalpicture in the social development of adolescents. Friendships,primarily with members of their own gender, but also withmembers of the other gender, become increasingly important. Infact, most adolescents are part of extensive social networksconsisting of many friends and acquaintances. Girls tend to havesomewhat larger networks than boys, and these networks tendto become smaller and more exclusive as adolescents grow older- a trend that continues throughout life.

Social Development: Friendship and the Quest forIdentity

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One motive for forming friendships during adolescence seemsto be the developing need to belong - the need to have frequentpositive interactions within ongoing relationships. This needstrengthens during early adolescence and leads many preteensand teenagers to reject parental influence and to identify withtheir peers. Thus, they adopt the dress, style of speech, andoverall style of their chosen peer group, sometimes to the pointwhere parents worry that their offsprings have entirelysurrendered their unique identity. Within a few years, however,this tendency subsides, and teenagers begin to conform less andless to their peer group.Friendships and social success also playan important role in another key aspect of social developmentduring adolescence - the quest for personal identity.

Social Development: Friendship and the Quest forIdentity