ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT THE WONDER OF IT ALL

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ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENTTHE WONDER OF IT ALL!!!
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The Wonder Of It All!!!!

• Central Massachusetts Regional Library System
• January 23, 2007
• 10am-1pm
• Worcester Public Library
• Saxe Room
• Joyce Fulmer
• Community Coalition for Teens
• North Quabbin Teen Pregnancy Prevention
  Coordinator
• 34 N. Main Street, Suite 5
• Orange, MA 01364
• 978-544-6912
• jfulmer_at_frcog.org

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Introductions

• Whats in a Name? Introduce yourself and share
  with the group how you got your name.
• One thing you are hoping to learn from this
  training?

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Cognitive Development

• Children think in concrete fashions
• Adolescents begin to develop more adult fashions
  of thinking starting at age 12.
• Usually by age 15 this adult cognition is fairly
  in place.

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Cognitive Development

• The Key Features of Formal Thought are
• Generate abstractions
• Generate hypothesis
• Consider contrary to fact information
• Generate all possibilities from a specific
  situation
• Approach a problem in a systematic fashion
• Use Combinatory Logic

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Cognitive Development

• Needs nurturing
• An adults body, a childs mind!
• A realistic self-image
• -early adolescence
• -middle adolescence
• -late adolescence

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Physical Development

• Most commonly referred to as puberty
• Adult height and weight are reached
• Physically capable of having children
• Can start as early as 7 or 8
• May not start for some until they become teenagers

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Physical Development

• Puberty should take about 3-6 years
• Growth Spurt-regular pace throughout childhood.
• -explosion of growth happens for girls when they
  are into puberty about 2 years and for boys when
  they are into puberty for 2-3 years
• -They grow very rapidly for several months then
  growth slows way down

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Physical Development

• Girls grow taller earlier then boys
• Girls start puberty earlier then boys
• Girls are physically mature in general 2 years
  earlier then boys
• A boy has to go through his growth spurt until
  he puts on muscles.

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Physical Development

• Children also develop sexually during puberty
• A girl will usually have her first menstrual
  period after her growth spurt
• A boy is able to make sperm by mid puberty
• A boy will also be able to have a nocturnal
  emission when is able to produce semen which will
  occur about a third or half-way through puberty

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Emotional Development

• Study of Emotional Dev. in children is fairly new
• Adolescents have become sophisticated at
  regulated their emotions
• Adolescents are adept at interpreting social
  situation as part of the process of managing
  emotional displays

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Emotional Development

• Adolescents develop a certain of expectations
• Children begin to break emotional ties with
  parents and develop them with friends
• Boys will start to regulate (hide) their
  emotions.
• Adolescents also regulate their emotions because
  of their sensitivity to others evaluations of
  them

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Emotional Development

• During adolescence (as early as age 10).children
  begin to realize emotions arent as simple as
  they thought when they were children
• Boys are less likely to display emotions of fear
  as girls are
• Displays of empathy also increase during
  adolescence

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Social Development

• Begin to form an organized system of personality
  traits
• Self concept-allows them to add new aspects of
  self-esteem (how they feel about their self).
• As confidence and self-awareness rises-they begin
  to form self-identity.
• More able to develop friendships that are based
  on loyalty and intimacy.
• These social milestones occur slowly over time.

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Social Development

• Social time spent with family decreases by about
  half from 5th to 9th grade
• Then drops even more from 9th to 12th grade.
• Time spent with friends increases and time spent
  alone increases especially for boys.
• One study found that the average time adolescents
  spend with their parents was only 28 minutes/day!
  Time spent with their friends however was 4 times
  greater at 103 minutes/day.

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Social Development

• Teenagers lean on their parents for their main
  source of support until the 7th grade.
• Then they move to not leaning just on their
  parents but on their same gender friends for
  equal means of support
• By 10th grade they lean more on their same gender
  friends then their parents.
• By emerging adulthood (starting around 17-18)
  they lean more on their romantic partners for
  their main source of support

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Social Development

• Provide support to teenagers when they need it
• Understand that this social development and how
  it unfolds is a sign of maturity and a natural
  process
• Help them make good academic decisions, realistic
  career goals, and plans for the future

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Moral Development

• Moral Development doesnt develop all at once.
• Earliest level-is that of a child-(pre
  conventional level)
• Second level-level most adolescents
  reach-(conventional level)
• Post conventional stage-defines right and wrong
  form a universal point of view.

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Moral Development

• Many factors can stimulate a persons growth
  through the levels of moral development.
• One most crucial factor is education
• Studies indicate that a persons behavior is
  influenced by his or her moral perception and
  moral judgments.

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Moral Development

• Moral issues great us everywhere.
• First step is to get the factsbut facts alone
  will not tell us what ought to bethey only tell
  us what is.
• Philosophers have developed five different
  approaches to values that deal with moral issues.

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Moral DevelopmentThe Utilitarian Approach

• Conceived by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
  in the 1900s to help legislators determine which
  laws were morally best
• Using this approacha person must identify
  various courses of action available
• Then ask who will be affected by each action that
  will produce the greatest benefit and least harm
• The ethical action is the one that provides the
  greatest good for the greatest number

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Moral DevelopmentThe Rights Approach

• Rooted in the 18th century by a thinker named
  Immanuel Kent
• Focused on the individual right to choose for
  himself or herself
• According to these philosophers, human beings are
  different from any other beings because they have
  dignity based on their ability to choose freely
  what they will do with their lives, and they have
  a fundamental moral right to have those choices
  respected. (the right to truth, privacy, the
  right not to be injured, the right to what is
  agreed).
• In deciding whether an action is moral or immoral
  using this approach, then you must ask if the
  action respects that moral right of everyone.
  Actions are wrong if they violate the rights of
  other, the more serious the violation, the more
  wrongful the action

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Moral DevelopmentThe Fairness or Justice Approach

• Has its roots in teachings of Aristotle
• Equals should be treated equally and unequally
  should be treated unequally.
• How fair is an action
• Does it treat everyone in the same way or does it
  show favoritism and discrimination
• Favoritism and Discrimination are unjust and
  wrong

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Moral DevelopmentThe Common-Good Approach

• Assumes that a society comprising of individuals
  whose own good is inextricably linked to the good
  of the community.
• Originated in the writings of Plato, Aristotle
  and Cicero. Most recently contemporary ethicist
  John Rawls defined the common good as certain
  general conditions that are.equally to
  everyones advantage
• Focus on ensuring that social policies, social
  systems, institutions and environments on which
  we depend are beneficial to all.

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Moral DevelopmentThe Virtue Approach

• Assumes that there are certain ideals towards
  which we should strive, which will provide for
  the full development of our humanity.
• Discovered through thoughtful reflection on what
  kind of people we have the potential to be
• In dealing with an ethical problem using the
  virtue approach, we might ask, What kind of
  person should I be? What will promote the
  development of character within myself and my
  community

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Moral DevelopmentWhat the Five Approaches Suggest

• Once we have the facts, we should ask ourselves
  five questions to resolve a moral issue
• What benefits and what harms will each course of
  action produce, and which alternative will lead
  to the best overall consequences?
• What moral rights do the affected parties have,
  and which course of action best respect those
  rights?
• Which course of action treats everyone the same,
  except where there is morally justifiable reason
  not to, and does not show favoritism or
  discrimination
• Which course of action advances the common good
• Which course of action develops moral virtues?

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Moral Development

• Of course the last few slides about the
  approaches to values and moral decisions doesnt
  provide anyone with an automatic solution to
  moral problems. It is not meant to. The method is
  merely meant to help identify most of the
  important ethical considerations. In the end each
  individual including adolescents must deliberate
  on moral issues for themselves keeping an eye on
  both the facts and on the ethical considerations
  involved.

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Early Adolescence(12-14)

• Rapid Growth
• Confused by changes
• Curious about final outcome
• Personal interest in their own development
• Rebellion against home
• Acts in way that looks to be considerable
  maturity and in the next moment babyishness

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Early Adolescence(12-14)

• Absorption with close friends of same age and
  gender
• Moodiness
• Sloppiness and Disorder
• Establishment of independence of self Who am I?
• Body-conscious
• Strong desire to conform to and be accepted by
  peer group
• Appearance of Sexual Maturity
• Skin problems

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Early Adolescence(12-14)

• Constantly hungry (more than in younger years)
• Companionship at meals and after school snacks
  provide dining pleasures)
• Sleeps more than during younger years
• Sleepy at getting up times
• Wants to sit up at nights as sign of increasing
  maturity
• Clash between physiology and culture

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Early Adolescence(12-14)Special Characteristics
of Boys

• Boisterous
• Clumsy
• Secretive, clams up especially around adults or
  at home
• Aggressive
• Dirty-cant seem to get him near the bathroom
• Gain more weight and height than girls
• Much talk about sex and girls
• Out of house more

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Early Adolescence (12-14)Special Characteristics
of Girls

• Vague and diffuse
• Crush on older men
• Interested in romantic love
• Playacting
• Talkative, but not communicative
• Giggly!

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Early AdolescenceSexuality

• Boys express their sexuality through masturbation
• Same-gender sexual encounters are relatively
  common
• These occur frequently enough to be considered as
  a variant of normal sexual development
• Questions that adolescents have about erotic
  feelings or behaviors toward the same sex need to
  be addressed directly and fully.
• It is not helpfulto just saythis is no more
  then a passing phase.

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Middle Adolescence (15-16)

• Greatest experimental, risk taking time
• Drinking, drugs, smoking and sexual
  experimentation are often highest interest during
  the 14-16 years olds
• Peer groups gradually give way to one-on-one
  friendships and romances
• Peer groups tends to be gender-mixed
• Dating begins
• Less conformity and more tolerance of individual
  differences
• Omnipotence and Invulnerability are the rule
• This results in an inability to link drinking
  with auto accidents or drinking with pregnancy or
  STDs

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Middle Adolescence (15-16)

• Striving for independence and autonomy is greatly
  increased
• Parental conflicts occur which need confrontation
  and resolution (these are normal and necessary)
• Adolescents confide in each other
• Sexual development results in unpredictable
  surges in sexual drive
• Often accompanied by sexual fantasies
• Sexuality is a MAJOR preoccupation of the middle
  adolescent

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Middle Adolescence (15-16)

• Sexual activity occurs more frequently among boys
  than girls
• Testosterone increases are found in both boys and
  girls but much more abundant in boys
• Higher testosterone levels in boys may result in
  greater sexual drives, sexual aggressiveness and
  more purely physical gratifications
• Girls at this age tend to view sexual
  gratification as secondary to fulfillment of
  other needs such as love, affection, self-esteem
  and reassurance

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Late Adolescence (17-18)

• Rebellious
• Concerned with personal appearance (cant get
  them out of the bathroom)
• Moody
• Interest in the opposite gender
• Establishment of ego identity-where do I fit
  into the world
• Growth finally subsided
• Full stature almost attained
• Sleep requirements approaching adult level

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Late Adolescence(17-18)

• Food requirement approaching adult level
• Companionship when eating
• Intimate relation with friend fades
• Greater interest in opposite gender
• Needs acceptance by society, in job and in
  college
• Needs parental respect for opinion and acceptance
  of maturity

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Late Adolescence(17-18)

• Whom am I as a vocational being?
• Work opportunities during these years allow
  exploration of tentative career choices
• A choice of vocation reinforces the adolescents
  self-concept and is important to identify
  formation

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Late Adolescence (17-18)Factors Influencing
vocational choice

• Family values
• Social class
• Socioeconomic conditions
• Need for prestige
• Vocational Independence
• Special Abilities
• Motivation

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Late Adolescence (17-18)Special Characteristics
of Boys

• Interest in plans for career
• Sexual interest prominent and demanding
• Less interested than girls in mate seeking

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Late Adolescence (17-18)Special Characteristics
of Girls

• Interest in boys, now directed towards mate
  seeking
• Absorbed in fantasies of romantic love
• Less interested than boys in plans for career
• Sexual interest less demanding than in boys

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Professionals Working With Adolescents

• SMALL GROUP WORK

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Issues that Teens Often Face

• Alcohol and Drug Use
• Injuries
• Sexual Behaviors
• Tobacco Use
• Skin Cancer
• Food Safety and Adolescents
• Nutrition
• Physical Activity
• Terrorism
• Youth Violence