I always would look back at old
pictures of me from 7th grade when I had glasses, braces, and
terrible hair and say “Thank God for Puberty!” I never really thought about all
the steps and phases that I went through to get to where I am today though.
This chapter was very interesting and made me laugh at some of the things I
know I did.
The
obvious, puberty is the start of adolescence. To my surprise, the sequence of
puberty is constant and happens between ages 11 and 12 (pg. 187). Growth and development
happens in this period and usually isn’t the most enjoyable times of our lives.
Surprisingly, the age to start puberty has decreased throughout the years, and
in the US, it has decreased from age 17 to age 12 (pg. 189). The cause of this
could be childhood obesity, no father presence, or bad relationships with
parents. These reasons were shocking to me, but I can understand how it happens.
Girls tend to have a tougher time when going through puberty, mainly because of
their self- confidence and unwanted sexual attention they begin to get.
The biggest
thing that stood out to me in this chapter was how attitudes and behaviors of adolescents
begin to change. This is called adolescent egocentrism (pg. 192), and this is
where we exaggerate importance and severity of social and emotional experiences.
Our love and pain are the biggest issue in the whole world and we can’t
understand why no one thinks that. We think we are the center of attention and
we must look 100% perfect always. I remember to this day begging my mom to let
me buy eyeline because I HAD TO WEAR MAKEUP! Or, when getting ready to go out
took hours because I had to pick out the perfect outfit and it had to be from
Abercrombie or American Eagle. I was a typical ridiculous adolescent and I
still laugh about it today. Also, another thing that adolescents tend to go
through in this stage of their life is risk taking, drugs, and sexual behavior.
I know in high school every one was drinking and to my surprise later in high
school, smoking. It was the time to be a risk taker and experiment with new
things.
Going
through these changes, what are we really trying to accomplish? According to
Erikson, we were searching for our identity (pg. 194). We start hanging out
with other people and changing our views to fit in with different groups of
people. We may dress differently or talk a different way. Marcia says we must
go through the crisis to find the commitment we choose to continue with (pg.
194). College experiences gives great strides to identify development, and I
can agree with that. I always say that I feel like I grew up so much going away
to college and I really found out who I was and what I wanted to be as a
person. I’d encourage anyone to take the risk and go far away to school to just
find yourself. If you don’t give yourself the opportunity to be on your own and
experience new things, you will never find who you are meant to be, and the
full potential you can be. Going through these stages of adolescence may not
have been the most enjoyable, but it is important to get out of it on a high
note.
Hi Anne,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog this week. I especially can relate to the makeup. But my makeup was probably not as normal as yours. Especially when your trying to fit in and be like the famous people in the 8o's early 90's. Big hair and lots of makeup. My daughters do not wear nor do they care to wear makeup. Which is fine by me. Two of my nieces on the other hand get up early, like 2 hours early, for school so they can do their hair and makeup. and when I say makeup, it looks nice but it looks like they are ready for a night on the town. Being the old fogies that my sister in law and brother in law are, it surprises me they let their Freshman and Junior wear so much. The money they spend in Ulta and Sephora is unreal. They seem like they are too grown up.
I could relate to looking back at old pictures of myself during my teen years. It is pretty bad! It is such an awkward phase in a person's life. I struggled for a long time with self confidence issues. Every teen wants to do their best to fit in. The crazy thing is I bet even the teens they are trying to fit in with don't feel like they fit in. My ten year old step daughter already wants to wear makeup to school. She said all the other girls wear it. There is no way we will let her go to school with make up on at that age. I feel it is too young. It is one thing to play dress up and wear it but, to wear it to fit in in 4th grade is unbelievable. It is sad how we care so much about what everyone else thinks. Especially during the adolescent years. I agree that college helps people to find themselves. Everyone needs a purpose in life.
ReplyDeleteOmg, I can totally understand the changes that one goes though when they get into middle school! I can remember wearing big ponytails and dress shoes and dress clothes and having big teeth when I was in grammar school and being overweight. But as soon as I got to middle school and I'll begin to change classes and see all of the different children different clothing and different types of hairstyles I wanted to change. I can remember going home tell him my mom can I go to the beauty shop and get my hair all day and seventh grade for picture day. She La me to do so and from then on I wanted to always wear my hair down. Even though in grade school I was picked on for having long hair and being especially smart I use that to my advantage once I got to middle school. I want to be in The In Crowd you want to have friends that everyone knows so you do the things that make you look and feel like the crowd you want to be a part of them. So I totally agree with your blog. Great point.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne,
ReplyDeleteI think many of us have either burned or hid our old middle school yearbooks! It was a difficult time for many of us. I also found it surprising that puberty is coming on earlier in kids. Unfortunately, it is coming on at a point when they are still a bit young to understand what is happening. The adolescent egocentrism that you mentioned is also really prevalent. It's hard to go to the mall anymore without seeing kids overreacting to everything. Maybe I'm just getting old! I also liked how you tied your thoughts into Erickson's research on identity. I think identity is constantly changing, and something we are constantly searching for.
Phil
The title of your paragraph alone is awesome. I really like that you tied that in with this time in a kids life because they are finding out who they are. The points you make about kids making a big deal out of nothing is great because this is the first time they are actually experiencing these things and believe that the world will end with a break up. The ideas of trying to fit in a feel is so true because I can remember when I was this age and talking to many different people trying to figure out where I fit in, in life and who I can talk to.
ReplyDelete