What’s more, throughout much of adolescence, a youngster can be farther along in some areas of development than in others. Not all teenagers enter and exit adolescence at the same age or display these same behaviors. Eventually teenagers develop the capacity for falling in love and forming romantic relationships. Adolescence has the effect of a stone dropped in water, as her social circle ripples outward to include friendships with members of the same sex, the opposite sex, different social and ethnic groups, and other adults, like a favorite teacher or coach. Until now, a child’s life has revolved mainly around the family. They may yo-yo back and forth between craving your attention, only to spin away again. Yet adolescents frequently feel conflicted about leaving the safety and security of home.
The march toward autonomy can take myriad forms: less overt affection, more time spent with friends, contentious behavior, pushing the limits-the list goes on and on. This demands that they distance themselves from Mom and Dad. If teenagers can be said to have a reason for being (besides sleeping in on weekends and cleaning out the refrigerator), it would have to be asserting their independence. But because they are still relatively inexperienced in life, even older teens apply these newfound skills erratically and therefore may act without thinking. Their capacity to solve complex problems and to sense what others are thinking has sharpened considerably. They rarely set their sights beyond the present, which explains younger teens’ inability to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.īy late adolescence, many youngsters have come to appreciate subtleties of situations and ideas, and to project into the future. Most boys and girls enter adolescence still perceiving the world around them in concrete terms: Things are either right or wrong, awesome or awful. By mid-adolescence, if not sooner, most youngsters’ physiological growth is complete they are at or close to their adult height and weight, and are now physically capable of having babies. Puberty is defined as the biological changes of adolescence. The fundamental purpose of these tasks is to form one’s own identity and to prepare for adulthood. In addition to physiological growth, seven key intellectual, psychological and social developmental tasks are squeezed into these years. Adolescence, these years from puberty to adulthood, may be roughly divided into three stages: earlyadolescence, generally ages eleven to fourteen middleadolescence, ages fifteen to seventeen and lateadolescence, ages eighteen to twenty-one.