Stages of Adolescences

The Stages of Adolescences

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. The ages of adolescence vary by culture. Teenagers are usually defined as signifying adolescence. Historically, puberty has been heavily associated with teenagers and the onset of adolescent development. In recent years, the start of puberty has seen an increase in childhood and extension beyond the teenage years, making adolescence less simple to discern. This makes the stages of sexual development become more visible to younger adolescence.

Adolescence is a challenging period for both children and their parents. Three stages of adolescence - early, middle, and late, are experienced by most teens, but the age at which each stage is reached varies greatly from child to child. These different rates of maturation are connected to physical development and hormone balance, neither of which the child can control. For this reason, adolescents should be treated as individuals and any guidelines should be adapted to the particular child.

In early adolescence which commonly falls between the ages of 12-14. This is rapid body changes as puberty is in full swing. It is very common to come across mood swings in this stage of development. Teens wonder if they are going to be normal. They are very sensitive to their changing body and often measure their physical appearance and skills against idealized images. This is especially true of girls, who tend to be less satisfied with their body image and most constantly want to lose weight. Television and media contribute a lot to this, as females are constantly trying to become the famous movie star they idealize. Males are constantly trying to overcome each other by trying to display their toughness. Also, rapid changes to the body occur for both sexes such as; shyness, blushing, modesty, and the need for privacy. Curiosity about sexual matters begins. Teens begin having new feelings, which are usually centered on their own bodies, rather than developing sexual relationships with the opposite sex. Their sexual curiosity is often expressed by affection for remote and desirable people (as mentioned above), such as teen idols, rock band members, and movie stars.

Parents often feel abandoned in early adolescence as young teens would much rather be with their friends than their family, especially their parents. Realizes parents are not perfect and often points out their faults. Searching for new adults to confide with instead of their parents, most often time this is were the older kids become to have influences on their counters. Young adolescents may be quick to disagree with parents and take the opposite view on an issue to test parental values. They will often cast away hobbies or objects that link them to their childhood. This shows parents less attention and is may be rude to them. Teens this age often feel invincible as if nothing bad could possibly happen to them; mostly interested in the present. This often times leads young teens to start engaging in risky behaviors such as experimenting with smoking, drugs, sex etc... I feel that this relates a lot to the early teenager due to the fact of being placed in a junior high school gives the child a progressive step up. They are no longer considered kids, now they are considered teenagers and are attending a junior high.

Close relationships with peer groups become important at this age. It is important to the young adolescent to fit in and not appear different from his/her peers. Most young teens would rather "hang out" with the same sex friends. Peer group friendships become more intimate with increased sharing of ideas, opinions, and activities. Conformity in behavior and physical appearance (clothes, speech, hair styles, etc.) becomes very important. Appearance is everything at this age it seems that most kids are quick to make a fashion statement rather then a conversational statement. They are quick to demonstrate feel through behavior or (acting-out). They become frustrated and anxious because of lack of experience and inability to cope with certain events and problems. I really find that a lot of adolescence try to change to much and often bit of more then they can chew! They have rigid concepts of right and wrong, once again this has to deal with the fact of knowing everything. This is just the first stage of adolescence.

Middle Adolescence occurs between the ages of 15-17 years of age. With the majority of changes associated with puberty already in effect. Adolescents at this age are very concerned with their physical appearance and believe that others are also concerned as well. Greater time is invested in grooming, exercising, and experimenting with new images such as makeup and clothing styles. This is done with the purpose of developing a satisfying and realistic body image. Which begins to have increased concerns about their own sexual attractiveness with a movement towards heterosexuality and some have concerns about attraction to same sex. Tenderness is shown toward the opposite sex with frequently changing relationships. Sexuality is a major preoccupation for the middle adolescent.

Experiences of middle adolescents are broadened by their relationships with adults outside the family. This exposes them to new and unfamiliar situations and lifestyles. These may be frightening to the middle adolescent causing them to begin to worry about the separation process. They often write down their inner thoughts and feelings in a diary. The middle adolescent often complains that parents interfere with their independence, teens during this stage experience the most conflict with their parents. There is a lowered opinion of parents and withdrawal from them once again. Achieving independence from their parents is particularly important to the middle adolescent. Annoying habits, such as refusal to wash clothes, poor manners, vegetarianism, messy rooms, and untidy dress are normal ways in which the middle adolescent tries to become independent. While they still need love and acceptance by their parents, most middle adolescents will hide such needs in an effort to be mature. Most teens this age still feel invincible and that nothing bad could possibly