What is adolescence



What is adolescence?

Introduction

The word adolescent is derived from the Latin word ‘adolescere’, meaning to ‘grow up’. Appropriately enough, the word adolescent, is first recorded in English in a work written in 1440, even before the word adult. The dictionary meaning of the word adolescent is,

‘A young person who has undergone puberty but who has not reached full maturity, a teenager.’[1]

Each teenager is an individual with a unique personality and special interests likes and dislikes. The period of adolescence is defined as the bridge between childhood and adulthood. It is a time of opportunities, a time where the person aims towards achieving ideals.

It is a phase in life where the preadolescent discovers more of himself / herself and of others; it is a time of freedom. But adolescence is also a period of anxieties and uncertainties, of stress and misunderstandings, of clashes with parents and with people in authority. It is a search for self-identity and self esteem in circles of friendship.

In the book ‘Non Siamo Capaci di Ascoltarli,’ the Italian sociologist and psychiatrist Paolo Crepet, dedicates his book on describing the good and bad qualities of adolescents. He talks about their emotions, about their desire to try drugs, about youths boredom, fantasies and even creativities ect .The main theme of this book about adolescents is that, adolescents are in an ‘eta’ difficile’[2]. This is a good book ideal for parents to try and understand their children.

In general however, there is a series of developmental tasks that everyone faces during the adolescent years. A teenager’s development can be divided into 3 categories:

1. early adolescence

2. middle adolescence

3. late adolescence

Teenagers will naturally vary slightly from the following descriptions, but the feelings and behaviours listed from each area are, in general, considered normal for each of the three stages.

Adolescents are typically exploring themselves and testing boundaries. They are just beginning to develop their identity and learn about themselves. They have many identities to explore, for example, vocational, sexual, ect. In addition, they experience many cognitive and physical changes that affect their ability and willingness to connect with people, especially their peers.

Adolescents want to explore these different options and really want to be accepted. They are very curious, and want a role model—someone who they can look up to and admire; someone they want to be like. Rather than establishing their own identity, it is easier for them to adopt someone else’s preferences and establish as their own.

Moral development takes place at pace with mental growth. According to Kohlberg, during childhood we regard as good that which gives us pleasure and bad that which is painful. Later, we act according to the rules of the family bearing in mind that good actions are rewarded and bad actions are punished. The adolescent tries to discover what is behind the rules. They become conscious that they are able to decide or themselves whether something is good or bad and that they become responsible for their decisions, actions and intentions.

According to Piaget, during adolescence the mind will be able to formulate the concepts of things. It penetrates the essence of things, that is, their reality. Adolescents will develop the concept of the future. They are able to decide to do things, which do not have immediate rewards. They become motivated even to go through immediate sacrifices (e.g. studies) with the hope of future gratification.

This stage indicates that the adolescents do not need the nucleus to help them in this intellectual activity. They are now capable of discovering reality on their own and are able to use past experiences to plan for the future.

Emotional development is another issue of the adolescent, i.e. the development of one’s feelings. During pre-adolescence the individual would have overcome certain emotional feelings which had dominated his/her childhood such as fear from the dark. They are also able to exercise more control on certain emotions such as crying. At this stage of development girls are said to be more sensible than boys, and more easily hurt or pleased.

Early Adolescence

When we are talking about early adolescence we are talking about students between 12 and 14 years. These are students trying to move towards independence.

These students are struggling with a sense of identity. They are very moody. These improve their abilities to use speech to express themselves. They are now more likely to express their feelings through action than through words. Here close friendships gain importance. Adolescents here give less attention to their parents, and even tend to be rude with the latter. Here children become aware that parents are not perfect as they used to believe before, they start to identify their parents’ weaknesses and faults.

Here adolescents start to search for new people to love in addition to their parents’ love. We can notice that the teenager now would have a tendency to return to childish behaviour. The child starts being influenced by the interest and clothing styles of their peer group. They start increasing their interests about their future careers, but mostly interested in the presents and near future. The child now has a greater ability to work.

Sexuality

In this subject girls are usually more mature than boys. We start seeing, boys and girls blushing, they become shier and even modest. Children start showing off to gain their friends attention, or to play the ‘cool’. The child starts having a greater interest in privacy. He/she starts worrying about being normal. Here ethics and self-direction are important.

Physical body growth is visibly apparent at the age of puberty. This includes development of the sexual organs and the accompanying manifestations such as the development of the breasts in girls and the start of menstruation and the change in voice and the growth of the beard in boys. During this period adolescents tie up their value as persons with their physical image. They start to view themselves in terms of how their body looks to themselves and to society. They require a firm knowledge of how they appear to the rest of the world. The rapid change in body growth and development is of great concern to them. They are critical to their changing physical self and at times they find difficulty to cope and accept themselves as they are.

By the age of 12 to 16 physical development reaches the point of sexual maturity where the adolescent reaches the ability to reproduce himself/herself. The person is physically able to form a family. In this situation nature creates forces which tend to push the adolescent away from his/her family orbit and become independent to join another orbit and eventually become a nucleus around which new satellites may revolve.

Rule and limit testing

Here the child occasionally starts experimenting with cigarettes and alcohol. They will start boasting with their friends that they got drunk at a bar, while they were smoking a cigarette among friends. Here the child has the capacity for abstract thought.

Middle Adolescence

We are here talking about 15 and 16 year olds who are trying their best to move towards interdependence. Students strive for self-involvement, alternating between unrealistically high expectations and poor self-concept.

The individual starts complaining that their parents interfere with their independence. They got also very concerned with appearance and with one’s own body. They start developing feelings of strangeness about one’s body and self. They also develop a lowered opinion of their parents, and they start withdrawing from them.

At this stage the individual tries his/her best to make new friends. They would be influenced very much by their new peer group. The individual also starts passing through periods of sadness as the psychological loss of the parents takes place. They also start examining their inner experiences, which may lead them to write a diary.

Career interests

Here the intellectual interests gain importance. Some of their sexual and aggressive energies are directed into creative and career interests.

Sexuality

Here adolescents are concerned with sexual attractiveness. Those who are not considered by society to be so good looking, suffer a lot. They feel worthless and develop a low self-esteem because their self-esteem is built on physical appearance.

Other pressures concerning the physical aspect of adolescence are conveyed through publicity-media and social prejudice. For them, mass media dictates what is beautiful. Top models give the impression of what a valuable person should look like. Any alternatives are of an inferior nature. This forces the adolescent to exercise stressful control such as diets, which can eventually lead to serious health hazards.

Being part of the modern audio-visual culture adolescents tend to have idealised norms for physical attractions and feel inadequate if they do not match these unrealistic criteria. It is at this point where adults and teachers should emphasise the real values of life, which are more lasting. The worst thing one could do is to try to ridicule the adolescent for his/her physiognomy in some way or another. As teachers, we must emphasise that the human being is someone who is much more worth than what appears on the physical level.

They frequently change relationships. The adolescents show tenderness and fears towards the opposite sex. Here the individual has strong feelings of love and passion. Here again we should refer to the ethics and Self-Description.

Development of ideals and selection of role models

There is more consistent evidence of conscience. The individual is now more capable to set goals, and more interested in moral reasoning.

Late Adolescents

The individuals striving for independence here are students between 17 and 19. These have a firmer identity. They have an ability to delay gratification. When they have an idea they reflect loads on it, and they come to a point that they can express their ideas in words.

Their sense of humour becomes more developed. The adolescent also develops stable interests. Now the individual becomes more emotionally stable. One is now able to make independent decisions. They can now compromise very well. The adolescent now starts being concerned about others. He/she becomes proud about his talents and work. We see self-reliance here.

Career interests

The individual adopts more defined work habits. They adopt a higher level of concern for the future. They start thinking about their role in life, and how they shall be contributing to society.

Sexuality

Now the individual is concerned with steady, serious relationships. They now have a clear sexual identity. Here there are the capacities of love.

Ethics and self direction

The teen is now capable of useful insight. There is a strong emphasis on personal dignity and self-esteem. The person can now set clear goals and follow them. They start to accept social institutions and cultural traditions. We talk here of self-regulation of self-esteem.

Ideal topics taught in Form 3, 4, 5.

The topics I would include in the syllabus for Form 3’s, 4’s and 5’s would definitely be on topics that would interest students. The topics should be of interest to students of this age, so they have to be subjects that involve them directly. I would emphasize the relationship, between God and man, Jesus and man and the Holy Spirit and man.

I would try and help students discover that one cannot do without the other. Man and God, Man and Jesus and Man and the Holy Spirit have to walk hand in hand to fulfil eternal happiness. The topics would allow students to think and also question faith.

The three main stages through which our faith passes in its growth process are:

1. The childhood stage: faith by birth

2. The adolescent stage: faith in transition

3. The adult stage: faith by choice

Of these stages, the adolescent stage is normally the most critical and the most painful. It is the most critical stage because at this time in our lines we begin the important transition from being a Christian by culture (physical birth) to being a Christian by conviction (personal choice).

This is the most painful stage as during this stage our childhood faith must die in order that our adult faith can be born. The dying of our childhood faith is what causes all the pain.

This death of our childhood faith makes us feel sick of heart—even guilty. This is unfortuanate, for our faith is simply going through an important growth stage. It is changing from being a cultural faith to being a convictional faith.

The transition from being a Christian by culture (birth) to being a Christian by conviction (choice) is a gradual process. Moreover, it is a process that is never fully complete. It goes on all of our lives.

Faith Growth

The transition from childhood faith to adult faith takes place at three levels: mind-openness to truth, heart-openness to love and soul-openness to faith (soul-the deepest dimension of our being.).

Mind level

Young people find themselves questioning things about their faith that they once took for granted. Questioning our faith in God does not mean there is no God. It just means that our perspective of God (or Jesus) is often incomplete and sometimes even erroneous.

In other words, questioning our childhood view of God is necessary. Equally important, however, we must also open ourselves to an adult view of God. And this is where an open mind view of God is needed, although it is not always easy. For the birth of new ideas is often as difficult and painful as the death of old ones.

Heart level

The transition to adult faith involves not just opening the mind to truth, but also opening the heart to love. When we open our heart to another in love, we automatically open it to God as well.

Soul Level

Of the three levels at which the transition to adult faith occurs, the soul level is the hardest to understand. This is because the faith journey is a mystery of gift and of freedom.

First of all, faith is a mystery of gift in that God’s grace—

• Prepares us for a journey

• Invites us to embark on the journey

• Embraces us every step of the journey

Second, faith is a mystery of freedom in that God does not force the gift of faith upon us. God respects our freedom. Concretely this means that we are free to respond to God’s invitation to enter into a relationship of love and trust. Or we are free to reject it.

Jesus the Son of Man (Ben Adam)

Religion teachers must present Jesus as the absolute value. Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. These are the three main elements, which constitute the fulfilled life of an integrated person. With the act of sinning one consciously reverses what is important to oneself. In the religious sphere the absolute value Jesus is replaced by harmful values.

Jesus should be best presented to adolescents by way of his human qualities. Jesus had all the human qualities necessary to make him a man of integrity. The human values, which the adolescent should acquire, can be identified in Christ.

The points emphasized should be the following:

• Jesus identified himself with the glorious image of the son of man, described in the book of Daniel Chp7vs 13. (The image has a messianic and political connotation.

• It is the most frequent title Jesus uses for himself in Mark (14 times) Ex Mark Chp8vs 31 ‘The Son of man must suffer’

• It is a mysterious title; while it does unveil somehow a mystery, it conceals it at the same title.

• It is the title, which Jesus alone uses to describe himself.

• In the expression Son of there is no question of sonship.In Semitic it simply means Man. However it is not any man. The gospel is specific The Son of man, that is a specific person.

• The Son of man sayings fall under three categories in the gospels:

1. Those in which Jesus refers , in the third person,

‘To a future son of man, coming to Judge the living and the dead.’

2. Those in which Jesus identifies himself as the

‘Present Son of man active in his mystery (Bar nasha)’

3. Those in which Jesus speaks of himself as a,

‘Suffering, dying and rising son of man,’

As was mentioned earlier, the adolescent passes through a phase in search of self-identity. They search for those values, which they think they should cherish in order to succeed in life. We must help students understand that Jesus must be presented as the one who helps them become truly fulfilled though which they should seek their success in life, (for their studies, their life at work, in taking important decisions, etc…). For this purpose we should discuss the human qualities Jesus had during his mission on Earth. We should help students know that Jesus was man like us. He was made of bones and flesh like us. He suffered like us, he weeped like us, he smiled like us. The gospels present Jesus’ human nature very well. Ex. Jesus on the cross.

So we must teach students that the person who we try to imitate was a person like us, except sin. Students tend to see Jesus as some one of the past, but we need to help students understand that we are not trying to imitate an unrealistic model when we say we want to be like Christ. Jesus died, but is still present through the Church. He is a good guide who wants the best for us and is always with us.

Getting to know God through experience.

God revealed himself through history, because of his interest in all events related to man. Note that the Israelite concept of history is near: past, present and future, while the Eastern concept of history is cyclic..no start, no finish.

God revealed himself to man through action and word

Action

• This covers the billions of years before the call of Abraham. (Creation Of Cosmos)

Words

• Following the call of Abraham. In this period we find God (Yahweh) getting directly involved in:

1. The liberation of the sons of Israel from the Egyptians by Moses.

2. The wondering through the desert.

3. The covenant on Mt.Sinai and the proclamation of the law.

4. The occupation of the Promised land.

We should talk of a personal God

• The basis of this definition is being.

• God is not a local God, but personal God

• God is not bound to a spot: he is to be found where man is.

• ‘I am who I am’

The Israelites formed this picture of God:

• God is Unique: he is the ONE, not like other gods.

• God who is spirit: is the creator of heaven and earth.

• God is holy: and man’s holiness is participation in God’s holiness

• God is just: He rewards but he also punishes

• God is love: having created the world through love for man.

• God is wisdom: his wisdom being relevant through the marvellous works he created.

Jesus gave us a more divine picture of God:

• God’s love for all, especially the poor, sick, children,women and sinners.

• God wants his sinners to repent and return back to him. (The Prodigal Son)

• The just are to rely on his love.

• Jesus heals the sick through kindness, to show the kingdom of the devil is at an end, and the Kingdom of god is being established.

• In this Kingdom of god all men are called to spread the ‘new era’.

I would tackle this topic as I think students do not believe in God, as God never appeared in the body of a man, except for Jesus. We teach students that God has no gender, and students still do not understand this. As a religion teacher I would tackle the topics above to help students understand that we will learn about God through experience, through history like our Ancestors.

God as Creator

The Scriptures portray God planning the world, creating it and pronouncing it good. The highest point of creation is the fashioning of the first human beings.

God’s creation of the first human being reveals the closeness or intimacy between God and them. It shows God sharing a part of God’s own being: the ‘breath of life.’

To appreciate how revolutionary this idea was, recall that the Genesis writer penned the creation story at a time when other religions were stressing the distance between their gods and humans. In contrast to this, the Genesis writer portrays God as being closer to humans than a mother is to her own Son.

Besides creating and sustaining everything, God resides in creation, especially in humans, who are made in the image and likeness of God. In other words, God becomes present in the world through creation.

God’s presence in creation leads us to an important point: God resides in the world in different ways and degrees:

• Through creation, which God made.

• Through scripture, which God inspired.

• Through Jesus, the Son of God became one of us.

Students study both science and religion, but when they are adolescents they find it difficult to believe in God as the creator. In my youth, like other adolescents, I used to believe that theologians say that God is the Creator because they had no solution about the origin of man and creation. I used to belief that the scientific explanation was the only valid reason because it had proven facts, unlike the religious belief.

God as Father

Adolescents tend to be very lonely, they loose the trust they have in their family members and start to trust their friends even though their friends my let them down. I would do this topic as students must try and understand that God loves us with an infinite love. God loves us infinitely, even more than our parents love us and infinitely more than we can ever love ourselves.

Jesus taught us to have the same trust in God as a child has in his or her parent. But God’s love is not limited, as is the love of human fathers and mothers. God is all loving.

God and the Scriptures

When we read the Scriptures we should keep in mind that the Scriptures were originally written for people who lived a simple way of life close to nature. As a result, God’s self-revelation is described in simple images, often drawn from nature. The following are a few:

• God is a mother eagle: who nurtures her young and teaches them to fly (Deut Chp32vs11)

• God is a shepherd: who leads the flock to ‘fields of green grass’ (Ps23:2), seeks them out when they are lost and nurses them when they are sick. (EzChp34vs16)

• God is a mother bird: who gathers her young under her wings and protects them in time of danger (MtChp23vs 37)

• God is a glorious host: who seats guests at table and feeds them generously and joyfully(PsChp23vs5)

• God is a great king: who is strong and mighty(PsChp24vs8,10)

• God is the Holy One: before whom the angels bow and cry out, ‘Holy,Holy,Holy!’(IsChp6vs3)

• God is the Creator: who ‘set the earth firmly on its foundations’, and decorated it with seas and mountains (PsChp104vs5-8)

• God is the Father: who embraces his children and presses them lovingly to his cheek. (HosChp11vs1-4)

• God is a mother: who gives birth to and loves her child with an everlasting love. (IsChp49vs15)

I would tackle this subject so that they can understand how powerful God is. Students should understand that God has sent Jesus Christ on earth to teach us the Good News. With the help of Jesus, God tries to bring us together to his kingdom.

Man and Inspiration

• The church teaches that the Bible is God’s word, and at the same time it is the work of a free human agent with his qualities and his limitations…

• It is God who assisted, excited and moved…but it is man who conceived rightly and willed to write down faithfully. Hence he had to do some research work: to gather material, sift it. For example Luke at the beginning of his gospel describes the painstaking work he had to do in getting the material of his Gospel. Having collected his material, the author sets about his work; it is then that Divine Inspiration really takes place. God helps the author to select, to interpret, to connect.. God is behind the story, but man is behind the style.

• We cannot divide the authorship, that is, restrict the religious teaching to God and the remaining details…history, dates, biography… to the man. The Church teaches that all the books of Scripture have been inspired by God in all their parts, provided that each part is considered in the right context and in line with the accepted rules of the times of its composition.

I would tackle this topic in this class is about Man and inspiration. I would tell students that the whole Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but I will also explain, that it was with man that God collaborated to write His Word. Students should know this so that one can realize that man and God have always worked hand in hand. This should allow students to understand that we should fulfil God’s will, as he is continually with us.

Bibliography

Crepet P, Non siamo Capaci di ascoltarli, Italy, Einaudi, (2001).

Dolto F, I problemi degli adolescenti, Italy, republished by Tea , (2001).

Erikson E, Identity, Youth and Crisis, New York W. Norton, cited in Santrock, (1996).

Gage N L & Berliner D, Educational Psychology (5th Ed.), Boston, Houghton Miffin, (1992).

Hawkins J M, The Oxford Mini Dictionary, New York. Oxford University Press, (1984).

Horrocks J, The Psychology of Adolescence (2nd Ed.), Boston, Houghton Miffin. (1993)

Lewis E, Children and their Religion, London, New York, Sheed and Ward, (1962).

Lee James Michael & Rooney Patrick C, Toward a Future for Religious Education. Pflaum Press, Dayton, Ohio (1970)

Kelly Rev. G A, The Catholic Youth’s Guide to Life & Love, Robert hale Ltd. London (1962)

Babin Pierre, Crisis of Faith – The Religious Psychology of Adolescence, Lowe & Brydon Printers Ltd. London (1963)

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[1] Hawkins J M, The Oxford Mini Dictionary, New York. Oxford University Press, 1984.

[2] Crepet P, Non siamo Capaci di ascoltarli, Italy, Einaudi, (2001).

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