1 In Chapter 8 we learn about the adolescence which is usually marked by the onset of puberty. In girls, menstruation marks the start of Adolescence. In boys the first ejaculation usually signifies adolescence. Although the ages can be different for everyone, the average age when in which these major transitions happen for girls is 11 years old and boys is 12 years old. Major physical changes in girls are broader hips and boys develop broader shoulders.( Fiore2011) What I found very confusing was that in the late 1700's and early 1800's the average age that girls first began menstruating was 17 years old. I wondered what external factors could be contributed to this. Could it be that back in the period food was more organic and less processed. Their may have been less exposure to pollution. The chapter also talked about the correlation between obesity and an earlier age of menarche.
Parents are usually razzed about watching out for when their kids become teens because of attitudes and emotional behaviors. My 3 children currently fall within the age range of adolescence. I have an 11 year old daughter, 13 year old son, and my oldest daughter is 15. I do notice their preoccupation with image and better self care with respects to hygiene. They are all involved in sports. As a parents I was a bit relieved to see that teens involved in sports are less likely to get involved in risk taking behaviors and also less likely to be sexually active. Of course there are other factors that increase the chances of an adolescent doing risk taking behaviors. Statistics show that factors like uninvolved parents and teens that come from a low socioeconomic household are most likely to become involved in drugs, alcoholism and sex.
Teens go through so many transitions and it is a time that is very critical to finding their identity. I really enjoyed reading James Marcia's Identity Statuses. He states that there are 4 Identity Statuses that determine where someone is in regards to attaining mature identity which involves crisis and commitment. I strongly agree with his ideas on Identity Statuses.
* Identity Confusion: No crisis has been experienced and no commitments have been made.
* Identity foreclosure: No crisis has been experienced but commitments have been made, usually forced on the person by the parent or society.
*Identity Moratorium: A number of crises have been experienced, but no commitments are made.
. * Identity Achievement: Numerous crises have been experienced and resolved. Permanent
commitments have been made.: (Fiore 2011)
Piaget describes this period as the Formal operational stage (11 years or higher) where thinking is more abstractly, logical reasoning takes place along with hypothetical thinking and the combination of groups of concrete operations are happening as well.
Elizabeth, my daughter is 10 and I feel like she has not entered adolescence yet. I have seen other girls her age enter adolescence; being very obsessive about their appearance, watching their weight, talking about boys, being a part of the cheer leading squad, etc. But I've seen this start at age 7. I was so surprised.
ReplyDeleteI am anticipating my daughter entering adolescence; it's inevitable. But I'm staying positive.
I think I'm going to go cry now!
I liked how you talked about how the attitude of the individuals begins to change during there adolescents years. I remember when my younger sister was going through puberty she would have some rough days, I would imagine I was the same way. I do not have any children yet, however many of cousins are around this age, and I also think there involvement in sports keeps them out of trouble. In a sense I believe the parents influence the teens the most, they can guide them in the right direction.
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