A teen is a person within the age range of thirteen and twenty. The teenage period can also be referred to as the adolescent period.
In trying to discuss adolescence, some people confuse the adolescence and puberty by using them synonymously.
However, puberty refers to the physiological changes involved in the sexual maturation of a child as well as the body changes that occur during this period.
Adolescent on the other, refers to the stage from puberty to adulthood and it includes the psychological experiences of the child during this stage.
During this period of adolescence, children experience a large degree of psychological growth which causes them to make adjustments in their personality due to the rapid physical and sexual development they are experiencing. This period can be a very challenging one to the child and also to the parents. This period is filled with anger, frustration, self doubt, confusion and alienation on the part of the child. During this period of adolescence, children become dissatisfied with the kind of relationship they had with adults before they got to this stage and they seek a new kind of relationship which will correspond with their own assessment of their current level of maturity and when the adults around fail to develop this new kind of relationship with them, they run to their peers as they expect to be better understood by a person of the same psychological terrain.
There are three distinct stages that can be identified in the psychological development of the adolescent:
Early adolescence
Mid adolescence
Late adolescence
Early adolescence begins from 11yrs-14yrs. During this stage, the child grows taller and stronger and also begins to think and feel like a more mature person. As the name implies, the stage is the onset or the beginning or starting point of adolescent hood. At this stage, the child develops in 4 main areas which includes:
Physical development: A growth spurt usually occurs near the time of puberty. Girls begin to develop breasts and start menstruating and boys grow facial hair. Both boys and girls grow public hairs. Boys sometimes lag behind in height during these years but they usually end up taller than the girls in later stages.
Cognitive development: This is when the brain develops how to think, reason, learn and remember. Children at this stage usually focus on the present as they are beginning to understand that what they do now can have long term effects; that issues are not usually cleared-cut and that information can be interpreted in different ways.
Emotional and social development: Children start to feel the urge to be more independent from their families and sometimes would replace parents with friends as a source of advice. When at home, they may prefer to spend time alone thereby isolating themselves from their family. Yet, family is important to help them build a strong sense of self.
Sensory and motor development: Children at this stage can be a little awkward or clumsy and someone may ask why? Their brains need time to adjust to longer limbs and bigger bodies. Getting regular moderate exercise can help improve coordination as well as build healthy habit.
Mid-Adolescence begins from 15-17 yrs of age. This period begins the more frequent and intense conflict between parents and their teenage children. One could wonder why it is so: During this period, freedom matters to them more than ever before and the issue of freedom has become intensely practical unlike the usual protests to parental restrictions on his personal freedom during the early stage of adolescence. Now, all that matters to the teen is going out into the world, exploring and adventuring in the company of his new family of friends and in most cases, their parents usually get in their way as they worry about the teen’s brash push for more freedom.
In mid-adolescence, the child is preoccupied with attaining three freedoms: freedom to focus on self, freedom to have fun and freedom to gratify wants now.
Yes! It is not the parents’ job to change the young person’s priorities but it is their job to insist he met a more responsible set of their own. Parents can focus on disciplining them in a way so as to enable the child know that though it is not wrong to focus on self, he need to show some level of consideration for the welfare of others; though it is okay to have fun, they sometimes need to work first to earn their fun; though it is fine to want something now, they sometimes need to delay some gratification until later. Parents who do not take these stands are mostly at risk of sending a young person out into the world with the belief that self, fun and now are all that matter in life; and soon, reality will provide harsh lessons to the contrary that parents neglected to teach.
The late adolescence period starts from 18-20 years of age. During this stage, the adolescent is close to full development in the physical, emotional and social domains.
At this stage, the teen is almost fully developed but fully grown. The teen develops a better sense of self, gradually becoming more emotionally stable and has a greater concern for others and his thoughts about his purpose in this life. The teen has become self-reliant and able to make his own decisions, he has become more comfortable around parents and developed interest in serious relationships. The teen can now combine both emotional and physical intimacy in a relationship as he/she has developed a clear sexual identity.
The teen now has the ability to think ideas through, set goals and express ideas. The teen has developed a deeper view of life and may become involved in community issues: environment, homelessness and world hunger.
Throughout the three stages of adolescence, peer relationships remain important to the teenager.
