Sunday, August 28, 2011

Middle Childhood and Adolescence Development

Group Paper -

Middle Childhood and Adolescence Development

Social and moral growth fosters peer interaction in a positive climate. A child’s interaction and acceptance with peers rises during middle childhood. During middle age friendship is an important development. Friendship also fulfills needs of middle childhood such as communal, intimacy, companionship, and acceptance. Adolescent egocentrism is an adolescent thinking intensely about him or herself while wondering what others think about them (Berger, 2008). An adolescent will practice new thinking skills on his or herself, which helps with detachment. The adolescent child worries about how other’s perceive them, and thinks about their conflicting interests in school, close friends, family, and about their own future. All of this thinking of self, refection of experiences, and self-awareness is a distinct to adolescence and egocentrism. These changes for the young adolescent often bring rebellion, low motivation, drugs, alcohol, pregnancies, rocky emotions, and peer pressure. Life for the adolescent can be a conflicting demand of tug of war, filling the adolescent life with demands, mixed messages, and forcing a path of reliance on others and independence while creating stress and depression for the inexperienced adolescent to handle.

Relationships in middle childhood and adolescence

Peer relations are important aspect of human development. During middle childhood, children typically hang out with other children of the same gender. Friendships require a deeper understanding in middle childhood than it does in earlier stages. Peer groups are based on common interests and background. School-aged children are highly influenced by their close peers, so building positive friendships is important. Possessing positive friends keeps children from succumbing to the influence of delinquent behavior. Self-worth is also gauged differently in middle childhood than it is during adolescence. Children of this age are very aware of the differences between them and other children. Comparisons of worth based on things such as grades or athletic ability are common. This shows the social development occurring at this stage.

During adolescence, peer relations predominate whether teens want it to or not. Teens may hang around peers that share similar interests, but unlike middle childhood there is more of an emphasis on identity and image. Old friendships may end as teens enter separate cliques. This is first stage of development in which boys and girls begin to mingle extensively. Romance and dating enter the picture for the first time and sexual activity becomes an option. The influence of friends and other peers are still very strong, but the stakes are higher. Drug use and higher levels of delinquency are a threat during adolescence, especially if one’s peer group is involved with it.

Self-worth and self-esteem are common themes throughout the entire life development cycle. In middle childhood, comparisons are made to see if abilities are up to perceived standards. This goes in line with Erikson’s developmental stage of industry versus inferiority. How good a child believes he or she is concordant with how good they are at given tasks. As adolescence approaches, the focus shifts from what they do to who they are. In middle childhood, the challenge is to do a good job and not fall behind one’s peers. However, in adolescence one is faced with the decision of what to do with their skills. The role one plays in society becomes more important whether it be in mainstream culture or some counterculture. A person’s culture, and age can influence egocentrism, teens believe that their appearance and behavior is under the watch of others.

Adolescent egocentrism

Egocentrism starts from childhood and enters adolescence. Egocentrism is very different from person to person. Adolescent’s egocentrism is based on thoughts and problems enhanced by thinking and the examination of oneself. This way of thinking helps the adolescent develop a clear and consistent identity. The adolescent will eventually lead to periods of self absorption, which helps serve in the development of identity, and decision making. In adolescent egocentrism there are two components: imaginary audience and the personal fable. The imaginary audience is the object of the person thinking about his or herself and thinking about the thoughts of others. The adolescent becomes consumed with their own thought and beliefs and they believe that everyone else must be consumed with them also. At this point the adolescent becomes self conscious (1967, Elkind).

The other concept is the personal fable, which complements the imaginary audience. The imaginary audience becomes consumed with how young people look and act and how unique and special they are. The adolescent believes that they are somehow immortal and special. The personal fable has the adolescent believing that no one else understands or believes that no one else has ever been in this circumstance. The personal fable can make the adolescent over exaggerate their own beliefs. Adolescents have a large amount of risk-taking behavior such as unprotected sex, drug taking, drinking and driving, and worry about the consequences. Most adolescents believe that nothing bad will happen to them and that they are special. The personal fable and imaginary audience explains much of the strange behavior seen in adolescents. Studies show that egocentrism has been found to be more prevalent in females and it increases during early adolescents. It has been found that college age females have a higher level than that of high school students (1986, Hudson).

Many adolescents have several issues with egocentrism and some take this to a negative perspective. Some adolescents focus too much on their looks and personal appearance until it leads to unhealthy behavior such as bulimia and anorexia. Much of this focus comes from the media and magazines. Because focus also comes from family and peers, this can put a pressure on the adolescent, known as peer pressure, but the adolescent will also face other pressures.

Pressure in adolescence

Children face numerous amounts of pressure in their adolescent years. Many pressures that adolescents face are peer pressure, substance use, substance abuse, dating, sexuality, and changes within one’s family relationship. Some pressures that adolescences face are within their teen years such as peer pressure. Some major choices from what these teens do are what their faces want them to do. Some types of peer pressure are sex. Adolescences may be out partying one night and one thing turns into another and next they know the girl is pregnant. Boys may pressure girls to have sex because everyone else is doing it. Dating and having sex can lead to sexual transmitted disease and AIDS.

Another form of pressure that adolescence can face is to fit into a certain group. Adolescence girls may feel as if they are too skinny and beautiful. Girls may feel as if they have to starve themselves to be the perfect weight and fit in with the cool girls. Whereas adolescent boys may feel as if they have to fit in gangs to appear cool. While in gangs these adolescences may have to commit crimes to be initiated. Other pressures can come from home.

Increases in family problems can also cause pressure on the adolescence. Some stressors on the family can be parents filing for a divorce, a parent losing his or her job. Stressors on the parents can be directed to the children causing them to go to their friends for moral support, because they may feel that they cannot talk to their parents. Depending on how the parents address the issues with the adolescence can help or break a family. When a parent has stress the children can sense the tension within the family. Having low income can also affect the pressures on adolescence because the adolescent may think that they have to get a job in order help the family out in poor economic times. The adolescent may have to miss out on normal adolescent behaviors because of having to help his or her family out.

Sexuality may have an enormous pressure on adolescences. Adolescence may believe that he she cannot come out of the closet because of the fear of others not accepting them. A homosexual adolescence may also be afraid of gay bashing and what may happen to him or her if others his or her sexuality.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a growing adolescent will go through many stages from the age of 14 to 17. Relationships for adolescents change, peers seek more substantial friendships that will be supportive of them. Teens also want friends, who have common interest and share similar goals. This will help with the child’s self esteem, which can become self absorption or egocentric. This stage of development happens in middle childhood as the child becomes a teen he or she believes that his or her behavior and appearance is always under watch. This watch makes an adolescent have a need to fit in or belong and places her or him under peer pressure. Peer pressure can come from family or friends, and to much stress can make the teen depressed, or act out. Acting out can be drinking, drugs, or even having unprotected sex. Teens face many obstacles in life, and have many stressors besides family and friends. Having a support group can help with this developmental stage and ways to address pressure of adolescence.

References

Berger, K. S. (2008). The developing person through the life span (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Elkind, D. (1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1034.

Hudson, L. M., & Gray, W. M. (1986). Formal operations, the imaginary audience and the personal fable. Adolescence, 21, 751-765.

2 comments:

  1. thank you your papers are really helpful to give me a start of what is expected. Sometimes I get confused on what is expected because of my disabilities. Your papers have been a big help.

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