Adolescence developmental stages - Essay Example

?Adolescent Developmental Stage Adolescent Developmental Stage submitted) Adolescent Developmental Stage “At sixteen, the adolescent knows about suffering because he himself has suffered, but he barely knows that other beings also suffer.” This idea of adolescent by Jean Jacques Rousseau demonstrates that adolescent is a challenging stage in human development. Problems of behavior and adjustment for a new role in the society bring about conflicts within an adolescent, the family and community in general. Looking back on my adolescent years, I find the above description to be true. In the early years of my adolescent period, I find it uncomfortable to experience the physical changes I had been undergoing that time. This change made me struggle to hide my developing breast and widening hips. I always wanted privacy when changing clothes. However, in the midst of these changes is the interesting attraction to the opposite sex. This was the time I became creative in writing love notes to my crush. The time to discussed with peers the most handsome guy in the classroom, has the latest car, the coolest guy to be with and many other fancy things to talk about regarding the opposite sex of my same age including older males. It is the period I told lies to my parents to be out of the house just to have a look at my crush. I also became secretive to my parents as well as to my brothers and sister about my feelings towards males. As I reached middle adolescence, the more that I pay attention to how I project myself to be more attractive to males. Hairstyle and dress code appropriate for my age became important. I was always on the lookout for magazines for new looks to incorporate to my fashion style. This is because I wanted to be more popular than any other girls my age in my own little ways. Sometimes I exhibited a punk hairstyle and dressed differently alerting my parents to express distasteful of my style since they always wanted me to dress the way they like it to be. According to them, my stylish fashion is considered bizarre. Apart from this, I find it more comfortable to be with my circle of friends than with my family since there are no objections, restrictions and rules to follow. One memorable event that comes to mind every time I flashback to my adolescent stage was when I had my first date. It was late one evening in summer along the river bank in my community; a cold wind was blowing as I stroll close to my date holding hands together, laughing, giggling and enjoying each other’s company. Hugging and trying to experience the first kiss out of curiosity was attempted too however, all those emotional attraction ended just with an unforgettable kiss. I enjoyed those moments that I forgot the curfew time my parents set for me. When I reached home, the feeling of euphoria was suddenly changed to tormenting moments as my parents scolded me for violating such rule at an early age of barely 15. The above scenario not only prompted me to consider independency but also caused conflicts between me and my parents. Their expression of bewilderment on how I behave and the arguments confused me as to what behavior is appropriate since what I know that time was that I just want to enjoy life and that I was not stepping on someone’s rights. Nevertheless, I am hated by the way I live my life as a teenager. However, as the final years of my adolescence stretched, my relationship with my family improved and my attention gradually was focused on my studies as it is what I really wanted to do to have a career in the future. To understand why an adolescent behave the way they do at this period is to take into consideration theories that apply. Being attracted to the opposite sex is normal for every teenager to experience as was pointed out in Freud’s psychosexual theory. Accordingly, adolescence is the time where there is the resurgence of sex drive that is focused at the genital regions. As a result, adolescents are fascinated with nude magazines and start to masturbate until the sexual drive is towards the opposite sex. Although most countries have their own laws stating the minimum age for sexual intercourse, it is at this stage where most teenagers experiment on actual sex since they become sexually active. This instinctual impulse however, disrupts balance within the teenager causing conflicts just like what I had been through. Freud once said, “Life is not easy” because teenagers are bombarded with anxieties on how to deal suitably with the problem they are facing. This disrupts the balance between the id and the ego. Freud emphasized that this phenomena is experienced for every teenager in whatever society he or she belongs. With this risky behavior of teenagers, significant others like parents should guide their children so that they would not end up having unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Adolescents who have strong feelings towards the same sex should be directed to seek professional help to manage the crisis. My desire to be with my own peers during my adolescent years is explained in the theory of Erikson to be the need for social relationship. Peers become important to build a family outside the home by providing another level of support. They serve to be the shock absorbers when members pour their problems and emotions regarding problems within their families. Social skills like management of anger, sensitivity and fairness, self disclosure, and companionship skills are nurtured. A greater feeling of belongingness is also developed. My exhibition of the different style in my fashion and playing different roles is understood to be my desire to find an identity I want to be attached with. According to Erikson, teenagers play different roles and display varied behaviors to find their identity. However, discovering for that “identity” connotes a struggle in which some are successful and others are not. Erikson explained that the role displayed beyond the later years of the adolescent stage is based on the outcome of the exploration. The conflicts and arguments which I encountered during my adolescent period signals that the role I was playing that time is not identified with my community. Erikson explained that if the role the teenager plays is not meaningful with the society, criticism which usually begins from the family results and could cause development of role confusion. The teenager may suffer from identity crisis. This is when teenagers fuse themselves into groups that may accept them like the group of drug addicts, religious cults, and other groups that are detached from the mainstream society and might be involved in activities that are destructive. On the other hand, to be successful in resolving the crisis, the teenager has to have a sense of true self. This is to establish a clear goal towards a vocation to aspire in the future. Teenagers who conform to the norms of the society are supported with the family and community thus confidence and purposefulness of the teenager is built. Conforming teenagers are a group who may benefit from the virtue of fidelity which according to Erikson, can live with the standard the society imposes despite its imperfections and inconsistencies. Bandura’s theory further explains my other behaviors years back then. The improvement of my relationship towards my parents is the result of my determination to follow a clear path of having a career and live a comfortable life in the years to come. From Bandura’s perspective, this action results from self-reinforcement. The desire to enjoy a better life serves as a motivation to change my unwanted behaviors to desirable ones. In addition, the change in behavior is also influenced by the consequences my parents want to imply in their negative reaction of my behavior. The bewilderment and arguments that transpired between me and my parents signal exclusion from the family. This type of exchange serves to control behavior because it is a form of a sanction. Aside from this, Bandura further indicated that the individual is not purely manipulated by the environment and inner forces but with the resulting reaction of the environment. Teenagers behave in a reciprocal interaction where they analyze first the controlling conditions and the resultant behavior in an attempt to control in return or resist. . According to Bandura, teenagers can become successful in leaving their adolescent stage if they are creative enough to control and construct their environment (Santrock & Yussen, 1984). Apart from this, Bandura’s theory indicates modeling as another approach a teenager molds his or her behavior. In my later years of my adolescent period where my emotional stability is increased, I came to realized that socially desirable behavior should be imitated to be accepted by my family and community. However, I have to pay attention to behaviors I want to imitate and have to rehearse it even if it does not have to be perfect. Exposure is essential to cope and solve problems The theories of Freud, Erikson and Bandura are the most useful theories in helping me understand my adolescent period. Understanding these theories provided me explanations as to why and how adolescents become what they are. Furthermore, these theories help describe events that could be observed. Knowledge of the developmental milestone of an adolescent helps me to respond to their behavior appropriately. For instance, if I encounter adolescent displaying indifferent behavior, I would not react negatively but rather understand that those behaviors are in response to the changes they are undergoing. In return, understanding may help teenagers find their true identity. Over all, the class positively influenced the way I looked back at my adolescence period. I came to understand that conflict is inevitable at this period because of behaviors that is not in congruent to what the majority expect me to display. Work cited Santrock, & Yussen, S., (1984). Children and adolescents: A developmental perspective. Brown Publisher. Iowa. Read More