Adolescent

Portrait of Happy and Successful Teenage Boy

Adolescent is a person who is no longer a child but not yet an adult. The word adolescent comes from the Latin term adolescens, which means growing up or growing toward. An adolescent is someone who is "growing toward" adulthood. Most Western societies consider a person to be an adolescent from about 13 to at least 18 years of age. In these societies, adolescence thus roughly corresponds to the teenage years.

Nearly all societies consider boys and girls to have outgrown childhood when they start to mature sexually. Most young people begin this development in their late pre-teens or early teens. But the age when a person is expected or permitted to take on full adult responsibili­ties varies greatly among societies.

Successful Young Executive

In agricultural societies, which need many workers, most boys and girls are expected to become economi­cally productive when they reach sexual maturity or even before. Such societies are common in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Adulthood begins early in these so­cieties, and adolescence is brief or nonexistent.

On the other hand, industrial societies usually have a surplus of workers. They can therefore delay the entry of young people into the labour force. In addition, the culture of industrial societies is far more complex than that of agricultural societies and takes far longer for a person to learn. For all these reasons, the laws of most industrial societies do not permit people to assume full adult responsibilities before the late teens. Nor are young people expected to be self-supporting. Legally, they are the responsibility of their parents.

In the past, nearly all industrial societies set the legal adult age at 21. Since the early 1960's, however, most of these societies have lowered the legal age to 18,19, or 20. Today, a person legally becomes an adult at age 18 in most Western countries. In these countries, young people may vote, marry without the consent of their par­ents, and be responsible in law for a contract signed by them from the time they reach the age of 18. A child of 10 is judged in law to be incapable of criminal responsi­bility. So the period of adolescence can be fairly long from a legal standpoint.

In addition to its legal aspects, adolescence may also be viewed as a stage of psychological development. To a psychologist, an adolescent is a person who is learn­ing to be independent, like an adult, rather than remain­ing dependent, like a child. Some people reach this goal much faster than others. A teenager may thus become psychologically mature before reaching the legal adult age. However, most teenagers mature psychologically at the rate set by their society. As a result, psychological adolescence normally lasts at least as long as the period of legal dependence.

She is Young and Beautiful

In societies where adolescence is prolonged, teen­agers tend to form subcultures. A subculture is a group of people whose customs and values differ from those of society as a whole. However, teenage subcultures often help shape the customs and values of the parent society. In developing countries, with higher birth rates, the proportion of adolescents is higher than in industri­alized countries. But in Western countries, the influence of teenagers on society may exceed their numbers. They form an important market for goods and advertising of goods. Teenagers' preferences in such matters as music and clothing styles often affect the tastes of society as a whole. During the 1960's, the opposition of many teen­agers to established cultural values and institutions led to countercu/tural movements. The youth countercul­tures consisted mainly of older adolescents, some of whom wanted to set up a completely free and open so­ciety based on their ideals. They largely failed. Their ef­forts contributed to the growing questioning of tradi­tional institutions during the 1970's, but in the 1980's adolescents generally seemed more conformist.

Growth and development

Many studies of human development try to pinpoint the age at which most people develop a particular char­acteristic. These studies use data gathered in surveys in order to produce a statistical average called a norm. De­velopment that approximates to the norm is said to be normal. However, wide variations are not necessarily ab­normal.

He is playing Guitar

The norm is simply the average of many individual differences. For example, surveys may show that, on av­erage, girls in one country have their first menstrual pe­riod at the age of 12^ years. Therefore, 12{ years is said to be the "normal" age for a girl in that country to begin menstruation. However, few girls start menstruation at exactly this age, and many start it several years earlier or later. Parents and adolescents, therefore, should not be disturbed if the norm for a particular development is not met at a certain age.

Physical growth and development. Adolescence begins with a period of dramatic sexual development called puberty. Puberty is brought on by a sudden in­crease in the activity of certain glands, especially the hy­pothalamus, pineal, pituitary, and sex glands.

At the start of puberty, a girl's breasts become larger, her hips widen, and hair grows under her arms and around her genitals (external sex organs). A year or so after these changes begin, she has her first menstrual period. When a boy starts puberty, hair grows around his genitals, on his face, and on other parts of his body. His genitals become larger, his shoulders broaden, and his voice deepens. Most girls start puberty at about age 11. Most boys start at about age 13. Puberty ends when a girl or boy reaches sexual maturity- that is, becomes ca­pable of reproduction. Most adolescents are sexually mature two or three years after they start puberty.

The increased glandular activity that brings on pu­berty also causes other physical changes in adolescents. These changes include rapid increases in height and weight. Most girls start to grow rapidly at about 9 to 12 years of age. Girls are normally taller and heavier than boys during these years. During the early teens, most boys start to grow rapidly, and the girls' rate of growth declines. After about the age of 14, males are heavier and taller, on average, than females. Most males reach adult size during their late teens or early twenties. Most females reach it somewhat earlier.

A Young Woman Jogging Outdoors

Many younger adolescents become intensely con­cerned about their physical appearance. They may com­plain that they are too tall or too short, that their hands and feet are too big or too small, and that overall they are unattractive and awkward. A girl who matures early may feel self-conscious because her breasts are notice­ably larger than those of other girls her age. A girl who matures late may feel self-conscious for the opposite reason. Late-maturing adolescents—especially boys- tend to have a poorer opinion of themselves than do adolescents who mature early or at an average rale. They may also have more difficulty making friends. In most cases, however, these difficulties disappear as the boy or girl matures physically. Many teenagers are em­barrassed by acne or pimples, though minor skin prob­lems are common during adolescence.

The concern that younger teenagers have about their appearance is understandable. Adolescents feel a strong need to compare favourably with others their age. Anything that makes them different may upset them. Differences in physical development are obvious during the early teenage years, and so they naturally be come a focus of attention. During middle and late ado­lescence, such differences fade in importance.

Social development. Most young people mature sexually by the age of 14 or 15. They are thus physically able to have children. In some societies, girls are con­sidered ready for marriage at this age. But generally a young person of this age lacks the experience and social maturity needed to function as an adult in most societies today. People are considered socially mature if they can act independently and accept full responsibility for their actions. Developing this ability is the chief task of an ad­olescent.

Most adolescents welcome the opportunity to take on more responsibility and become more independent. However, they may have difficulty at first in handling the challenge. To accept responsibility, a person needs self- confidence. But it is hard to develop self-confidence if the self seems to be constantly changing. Most younger adolescents have this difficulty because of the many physical changes they go through during puberty. These changes tend to interfere with an adolescent's sense of personal identity— that is, the awareness one has of one­self as a consistently whole person. As adolescents ma­ture physically, they normally develop a stronger sense of personal identity and greater self-confidence. Their capacity for social development then increases.

Five teens play basketball in a park

Adolescents develop socially chiefly by expanding and testing their social relationships. A young child's so­cial environment usually centres on the home. Children model themselves on their parents or other adults they know and admire. They may adopt bad traits as well as good ones, and so adults have a heavy responsibility in their behaviour in front of children. In general, young children avoid types of behaviour of which their parents or elders disapprove. However, most adolescents be­come deeply involved with their peer group -\ha\ is, their circle of friends and acquaintances. These teen­agers look to their peer group, rather than to their par­ents, for approval, and they may change their behaviour to win that approval. Within the peer group, adolescents also begin to define their relationships with the oppo­site sex.

Family relationships are important to teenagers, though in ways that are not always apparent. Most teen­agers prefer the company of their friends to that of their family. While at home, they often prefer being alone. These preferences are normal, though they may not seem so to the adolescent's family. Conflicts between an adolescent and younger family members usually lessen as the family adjusts to the adolescent's need for inde­pendence and privacy. But adolescents often have in­creasing conflicts with their parents over the amount of freedom they think they deserve.

Social development is easiest for adolescents who feel that their parents love and trust them. Parental love should include discipline, and so the leenager who is truly loved will receive guidance. Parents display trust by granting their children sufficient freedom. An over­protected adolescent may have great difficulty learning to act independently.

Unhappy Male Teenage Student Sitting  
Outside On College Steps

Peer group relationships help adolescents learn to deal with people on an equal basis. Developing this abil­ity is an important part of becoming an adult. However, adolescents tend to measure social development chiefly in terms of their personal popularity. They assume they are developing normally if their peers accept and like them. Teenagers thus become absorbed in matters they think affect their popularity, such as their style of dress, leadership ability, and success with the opposite sex. Parents may be annoyed by the amount of time and en­ergy an adolescent devotes to such concerns. But these concerns are part of growing up, and teenagers need freedom to pursue them.

Adolescents who have a strong need for peer group approval may feel forced to adopt all of the group's val­ues. Problems arise if these values conflict with the ones taught at home. Parents should try to remember that the choice is not always easy for a teenager to make. Girls tend to have more difficulty resolving these conflicts than do boys, probably because girls are expected to be better behaved and, in some societies, remain more closely under parental supervision.

Boy-girl relationships. During early adolescence, boys and girls get together mainly in group activities, such as school functions, parties, and club meetings. Friendships often lead to dating, a casual courtship with some sexual involvement. Older teenagers may have se­rious relationships with a particular partner. The amount of freedom allowed to boys and girls to socialize and date varies according to social, religious, and moral cus­toms around the world.

The earliest age at which people may marry varies among societies. Persons under 18 are generally not ma­ture enough to take on the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. But most adolescents mature sexually long before the age of 18, and many of them find it diffi­cult to control their sexual desires. However, sexual rela­tionships involve moral and practical considerations. Many people regard intercourse outside marriage as morally wrong. In addition, such relationships may pro­duce serious consequences, especially unwanted preg­nancies.

Despite sex education in schools and the availability of birth-control, many teenage girls become pregnant each year. Some are married at the time or marry soon after. A few have miscarriages, and a growing number have medical abortions. The rest have the child outside marriage. Teenagers who have sexual relations also run a high risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease. The sexually transmitted disease rate among teenagers is far greater than among adults.

Special problems of adolescence

All adolescents have problems from time to time. However, most young people pass through adolescence without serious difficulty. They make new friends, join clubs, and take part in sports and social activities. For these young people, the teenage years are generally happy and exciting.

Most of the problems that adolescents have are re­lated to schoolwork, employment, finances, or peer group and family relationships. The majority of such problems are minor, at least from an adult's point of view. However, a problem that appears unimportant to an adult may seem overwhelming to an adolescent. This difference in viewpoints may itself cause problems if it leads to a breakdown in communications between par­ents and their teenage children. Parents accomplish little by lecturing. They help by being willing to listen and by avoiding the temptation to give instant advice.

Most personal problems of adolescents do not affect society as a whole. But certain other problems involving adolescents are so serious and widespread that they are considered social problems. These special problems in­clude (1) attitudes toward schooling, (2) the use of drugs, and (3) delinquency.

Technology and Skills

Attitudes toward schooling. Education is increas­ingly important in today's complex industrial societies. More and more jobs in these societies require a high degree of specialized knowledge or technical skill. In addition, democratic societies have traditionally relied on schools to help produce well-informed, responsible citizens. Many countries now require young people to attend school until they are at least 16 years of age.

Some teenagers show a decline in motivation during the final years at school, while others are under growing pressure to work for examinations necessary to obtain entrance to university and college courses. Those who leave school with inadequate qualifications and without skills training are likely to have difficulty in finding good jobs. Youth unemployment is a serious problem in some industrial societies. Some teenagers take on jobs with poor career prospects simply to enjoy an immediate in­come, without considering the long-term implications of their choice. Even everyday living can be difficult for adults who cannot read well, express themselves clearly, or do simple arithmetic.

Many teenagers who perform poorly at school come from homes where learning is not encouraged. But many students do not fully develop their abilities even though they receive ample encouragement at home. In some cases, parents may need to reassess the goals they have set for their children. Even able students may rebel if they feel that too much is demanded of them. Parents should try to encourage good performance in school without exerting unreasonable pressure.

Image of Teen Boy Smoking

The use of drugs. In some countries drug abuse among adolescents causes great concern. Surveys in the United States have shown that the majority of teenagers in that country have at least experimented with such drugs as alcohol, barbiturates, cocaine, LSD, or mari­juana. Some have experimented with heroin, morphine, or other narcotic drugs. Many of these drugs are physi­cally harmful if taken regularly. A single overdose of some drugs, such as heroin or a barbiturate, can result in a coma or death.

In societies where drug-taking is a problem, nearly all the drugs that teenagers take cannot be obtained or used legally without a doctor's prescription. Alcohol is Part-time employment gives students valuable experience and enables many of them to save enough the major exception. It is the most widely used drug among both adults and teenagers. Teenage drinking is a serious problem in some countries, despite restrictions on the sale of alcohol to adolescents.

Adolescents experiment with drugs for various rea­sons, including peer group pressure, the example of parents, and curiosity. Most teenagers pass through the experimentation stage without developing a drug abuse problem. Others are not so fortunate.

The causes of teenage drug abuse are not well under­stood. Some teenagers may be led into it by boredom or by an unconscious desire to escape mental or emo­tional pressure. Teenagers who feel genuinely useful are perhaps least likely to develop the problem of drug abuse.

Delinquency. In most societies offenders under 18 are tried as juveniles rather than as adults. Many juve­nile offences are relatively minor. They include certain offences, such as running away from home, that apply only to juveniles. However, adolescents may also be ar­rested and charged with more serious crimes such as stealing and driving away cars, burglary, shoplifting, and violent behaviour, often aggravated by drunkenness. Rowdiness and vandalism are other offences particu­larly associated with adolescents. In many cases, hooli­ganism in cities and at sports events involves adolescent participants. Teenage boys may belong to street gangs. On average, only 20 per cent of teenagers charged with serious offences are female.

In general, the juvenile delinquency rate is highest in deprived inner-city areas with few employment and rec­reational opportunities for youth. Many juvenile delin­quents, but by no means all of them, come from low- income families. In numerous cases, juvenile delin­quency results mainly from faulty parent-child relations and poor parental example, not from economic hard­ship. However, delinquency also has other causes. Pressure from the peer group may be a principal cause in many cases. Some juvenile offenders have strong anti­social feelings or other deep-seated psychological prob­lems.

Couple Jogging in Park

Preparation for the future

During the final years of secondary school, and often earlier, teenagers must decide how they will support themselves after they are on their own. In planning a ca­reer, students should first decide what their goals are, what types of work they prefer, and what special skills they have. By comparing the answers to these questions with the descriptions of various careers, a student can narrow the range of possible choices. However, it is wise to keep the range as broad as possible at first. Ei­ther through choice or through necessity, many teen­agers change their goals as they grow older. They then need to be open to other career possibilities.

It is sensible for all teenagers, whatever their aca­demic abilities, to attempt to gain as good an education as they can. When planning a career, they must consider the benefit, and cost, of a university or college educa­tion or other special training. For those seeking a career requiring higher education, government grants, loans, or scholarships may be available to help meet the cost. Even so, parents and students must be prepared for ad­ditional expense, some of which may be met by part- time and summer jobs.

Some teenagers plan to marry as soon as they are old enough. But in many countries the divorce rate among people who marry in their teens is several times greater than the overall divorce rate. For a marriage to work, both partners must have a high degree of emotional and intellectual maturity. Each also has to be willing to ac­cept the other's faults. In societies where marriages are arranged, a youthful union may well have as good a chance of success as one between older partners. How­ever, it usually takes time for two people in love to see each other realistically. Many teenage marriages fail be­cause they were entered into too quickly. A marriage is more likely to succeed if the partners know each other well before they marry.

Related articles: Town, Homosexuality Boys, Child, Juvenile delinquency, Culture, Developmental psychology, Marriage, Minor, Drug abuse, Personality, Family, Physical education, Growth and Recreation.

Outline:

I.  Growth and development:

A.  Physical growth and development

B. Social development

II.  Special problems of adolescence

A. Attitudes toward schooling

B. The use of drugs

C. Delinquency

III.  Preparation for the future

Questions:
What is the chief task of an adolescent?
Why is adolescence usually shorter in agricultural societies than in industrial societies?
What factors should adolescents consider in planning a career?
What is a norm in the study of human development?

What is a peer group?
Why is education especially important to adolescents in industrial societies?
How do boy-girl relationships vary from early to late adoles­cence?
How do adolescents tend to measure their social development?

Why do many teenage marriages fail?

Others:
Adolescent images and identities
How to Help Your Teen Quit Smoking
Body Image and Self-Esteem Among
Adolescent Girls