Development in Adolescence - Research Paper Example

Development in Adolescence Development in adolescence Introduction It borne in mind; adolescence is the stage of transition from being a child to an adult. With no doubt; adolescence is so complex and dynamic that is characterized by several development streams. Generally, the stage starts from 12-18 Years, and at this stage one becomes fully developed physically, socially, and mentally (Kroger, 2007). This is one of the most sensitive stages in life because it involves a lot of monitoring; failure to this may lead to loss of direction in life. Therefore, it is important to enhance proper monitoring which entails accountability, mentorship, and guidance. At this stage, most people fail to depict the development process in adolescence thus, when conflicts emerge misunderstanding and miscommunication occurs. To ensure that all people navigate the transitions well, it is vital for adults to understand what is happening to the teen socially, physically, and cognitively. In facts, if all people are equipped with knowledge of what occurs in adolescence stage then, there will be few issues to deal with and conflicts to solve. In reality, this stage involves a lot of transformation in terms of body features, brain, and mind among others. Girls develop differently from boys but, in all changes there are similarities in the way the changes appear. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to discuss development during adolescence, and in doing this, I will highlight various developments that occur. In doing this, the essay will be divided in different sections that outline various developments that occur in this stage, and how these changes affect teens. After reading this essay, one should be able to recognize the development in adolescences and various issues that adolescents encounter during this stage. 1. Physical development Studies outline that, adolescent years involve a lot of physical changes that include development of muscles, bones, and organs (Thomburg, 2007). During this stage, there are a lot of physical developments, which occur at a high rate as compared with infancy. Physical developments include rapid gains in weight and height, development of sex characteristics, and brain development. Rapid gains in weight and height occur during one year growth spurt where boys and girls gain an average height of 3.5 Inches and 4.1 inches respectively. This change occurs differently whereby girls tend to develop two years earlier than boys. In facts, weight gain is attributed by the increase of muscles in boys, while body fats are responsible for weight gain in girls. During puberty, change in hormones plays a vital role in enhancing development of secondary sex characteristics. These include menstrual period for girls, growth of hair in private areas, penis growth for boys, an increase in production of oil, underarm hair growth, voice changes and growth of facial hair for boys, and the increase of sweat gland activity. Recent studies indicate that, adolescents’ brain is not fully developed until in the late adolescence (Kroger, 2007). Specifically, it is said that, the connections of neurons affecting physical, mental, and emotional abilities are incomplete. Therefore, this explains why some teens are incoherent in controlling their impulses, judgment, and emotions. How these changes affect adolescents The above changes affect teens in various ways. First, teens tend to sleep longer to allow their bodies to conduct energy required for such a rapid growth. On average, require about nine and half hours of sleep at night. Secondly, teens may be more awkward because body parts do not grow at the same rate. This can lead to depression as adolescents try to cope with changes that occur in their bodies. Thirdly, teenage girls may become exceedingly sensitive with their body image, and this may arise because of rapid weight gain linked with puberty. In this case, most teenage girls become so worried about their weight that, they develop eating disorders such as dieting to lose weight. Fourthly, teens may change the way they relate with the opposite sex whereby, a teenage girl who was used to kiss her dad may perceive this differently to the extent of being shy. Finally, at this stage, teenagers develop curiosity about sex whereby, they try to understand values and pleasure around sex. At this stage, most teens may ask various questions that relate with sex such as when is the right time to engage into sex, bets methods of birth control, and how to be protected from sexual transmitted diseases (Kroger, 2007). 2. Cognitive development It is obvious that, teenagers are viewed to have better thinking skills than young adults. These proceeds in thinking are divided in various areas. These include development in reasoning skills, abstract thinking, and the ability to think fast. In development reasoning skills, teenagers advanced their reasoning in the way they think about multiple possibilities and options. These include more reasonable thoughts and the ability to think hypothetically. This entails asking and answering questions that perceive any discussion such as what of, why, how, and when among others. Development in abstract thinking involves thinking about things that cannot be touched, heard, or seen. These include trust, beliefs, faith, and spirituality. Finally, teenagers develop the ability to think fast, making them understand why people think the way they do, why things appeal the way they do, and why life appeal the way it is. How these changes affects adolescents First, teens demonstrate a high level of self-consciousness hence; tend to assume that everyone is concerned with their behaviors and thoughts. This makes them think that they have people who are watching them. Secondly, teens assume no one understands them since no one ever experienced similar emotions and feelings. Thirdly, teens develop an attitude of it can never happen to me commonly known as a personal fable. As a result, they engage into drinking, unprotected sex, smoking, and drunk driving. It borne in mind; a lot of conflicts occur in this stage since, teens to tend to think that, no one understands them, which may result to suicidal thoughts, and risky behaviors such as stealing. It is therefore, obligated to build a genuine relationship with teens whereby they can talk about their vulnerabilities, mistakes, and their problems. 3. Psycho-social development In adolescence, there are various things that adolescents deal with such as establishing autonomy, identity, intimacy, achievement, and understanding their sexuality. Teens establish autonomy when they are self-regulating from others whereby this is equated with teen rebellion (Kroger, 2007). In this case, teens believe that their decisions are final thus; they are guided by their own principles and become less dependent to their parents. Establishing identity has been the most paramount task in adolescence. Many questions about identity linger most teens particularly “who am I”. Teens begin to assimilate the opinion of influential people such as caring adults and friends, teachers, and parents. The final aspect of identity is the formation of self-esteem whereby, feelings and thoughts about one’s identity and self-concept are developed. In reality, teens’ self-esteem formation may be attributed to various things such as the environment and family relationship among others. In this case, a teen from a harsh family background may be affected socially, and as a result may tend to withdraw from social ties. Those with high self-esteem may tend to be confident in carrying out their daily activities. With this in mind, adolescents are more pro to attacks than any other group since they tend to respond positively and negatively as they search for identity. Because of this, parents are obligated to enhance a friendly environment that molds teens’ behavior particularly, in self-esteem formation. Typically, many teens equate intimacy with sex, which makes most teens to engage into sex activities at a tender age. In reality, intimacy is usually obtained within the context of friendship and then romantic relationship. Teens become more comfortable with their sexuality, which makes them think they are physically mature to reproduce. This contributes to problems such as early pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases. During adolescence, the teens perceive the relationship between their current plans and abilities and their future aspiration. This makes them figure out their achievements, and eventually this motivates them to work hard towards their respective goals. How these changes affects adolescents First, teens begin to spend most of their time with their friends, and it is within friendship ties, they practice and develop social skills. Even though teens are spending most of their time with their friends, it is vital they conform to parental ideal for guidance in terms of education, values, and short and long term goals. Secondly, teens develop questions about sexuality for instance, inquiring from adults when is the right to engage into sex or why wait. Thirdly, teens begin to live a private life whereby often, they may lock their bedroom doors for privacy. Fourthly, in an attempt of finding out their identity, teens participate in multiple hobbies and try many activities. Fifthly, teens may become elusive particularly when asked about their friends or various activities they have performed during the day. Sixthly, teens may become argumentative to the extent of questioning adults. Seventhly, teens may disregard parent’s company but maintain strong social ties with their friends. As a result, peer pressure is a significant element in this stage whereby, dating becomes vital. In the modern society, teens have conformed to social networks that create a platform to interact effectively with others. With no doubt; if there is proper parental guidance, a teen loss direction and focus about life as he gets conformed to the medial ideal. On the basis my literature review, adolescences are characterized by a number of emotional, physical, cognitive, and attitudinal changes, which causes conflicts and the development of personality (Thomburg, 2007). In this case, parents and the home environment are important for choices and behaviors of adolescents. This implies that, teens who have a good relationship with their guardians or parents are less likely to engage into risk behaviors such as fighting, smoking, drug abuse, and sex. In search for identity, teens may be frequently upset particularly, when a parent misunderstand his or her needs. No wonder, as discussed previously, adolescence is a time for cognitive development. As Piaget describes adolescence, it is the stage in, which teens’ becomes more curious to various subjects of life and think in a wider perceptive (Everaerd, 1983). The ideas, concepts, and thoughts developed at this stage play a major role in personality and character formation. This approach call towards giving adequate guidance and mentorship to teens borne in mind: most teens are unmotivated, indecisive, and bored. Parental guidance is vital in shaping the adolescent’s behavior thus, shouldn’t be sidelined. Teens’ changes in body, relationship, and mind often present challenges that require genuine friends such as teachers, adults, and parents who help in mentorship and guidance. Social relationships are vital during adolescence. As teens long for strong social ties, it is vital to enhance parental guidance borne in mind; there are all types of friends that the teen may immitate. A teen’s behavior may be transformed positively or negatively depending on the type of friends he or she keeps bearing in mind; bad company corrupts good morals. Peer pressure may lead to risk behaviors such as sexual immorality, stealing, poor academic performance, and drug abuse. Conclusion In conclusion, this paper draws various assumptions from the research. It is imperative to augment proper monitoring that includes accountability, mentorship, and guidance. During adolescence, most people fail to depict the development process in adolescence thus, enhance misunderstanding and miscommunication when conflicts emerge (Everaerd, 1983). To ensure that people navigates the transitions well, it is vital for adults to understand what is happening to the teen socially, physically, and cognitively. In facts, if people are equipped with knowledge of what occurs in adolescence stage then, there will be few issues and conflicts to solve. Development in adolescence varies from physical, cognitive, and Psycho-social development. In physical development, various changes take place, which include rapid gains in weight and height, development of sex characteristics, and brain development. In cognitive development, there are various changes that occur such as development in reasoning skills, abstract thinking, and the ability to think fast. In Psycho-social development, adolescents deal with various things such as establishing autonomy, identity, intimacy, achievement, and understanding their sexuality. During adolescence, teens perceive the relationship between their current plans and abilities and their future aspiration. As discussed in the paper, there are various effects that emerge from development in adolescence. Overall, teenagers may become much sensitive with their body image, and this may arise because of rapid weight gain linked with puberty. Still, most teenage girls may become so worried about their weight that, they develop eating disorders such as dieting to lose weight. Teens may exhibit a high level of reticence as they assume that everyone is concern with their behaviors and thoughts. Still, teens may prefer spending most of their time with peers to parents, and it is within friendship ties, they practice and develop social skills. It is vital for teens to conform to parental ideal for guidance in terms of education, values, and short and long term goals. On the basis of my literature review, if I was to conduct a formal research project it would entail what it can be done to help and mold teens’ behavior in adolescence. In this case, I would find out what would create an opportunity to establish right behaviors and consequences in teens. References Everaerd, W. (1983). Development in adolescence: psychological, social, and biological aspects. New York: Springer Publisher Kroger, J. (2007). Identity Development: Adolescence through adulthood. New York: Sage Publisher. Thomburg, H.D. (2007). Development in adolescence. New York: Brooks/Cole Publisher Read More