Middle_Childhood_and_Adolescence

Middle Childhood and Adolescence Paper The relational developments that take place through middle childhood and adolescence can be difficult and confusing. This development involves physical and psychological changes, which move at a much more rapid pace than previous stages. The child quickly goes through dramatic shifts in personality, sexual maturation, and bodily changes. The various developmental shifts influence his or her cognitive, social, and moral development (Piaget, 1983). Numerous complex emotions and discoveries begin to take place. Within western culture this process pinpoints a time in which a teenager begins to seek independence and responsibility for his or herself. He or she begins to promote assertion, rights, and personal beliefs. The milestones that one encounters through this stage will provide him or her with the abilities, skills, and attitudes that will follow the child to adulthood. The perceptions of what one need out of personal relationships begins to Significantly change in middle childhood. In infancy and early childhood, children easily establish friendships out of convenience. However, in middle childhood and predominantly through adolescence, a child’s friendships become on commonality and emotional connection (Collins & Russell, 1991). The child begins to make friendships out of choice. He or she connects with peers who have similar interests, music, and taste in clothing. Cliques form and exclusivity becomes a heightened problem. No one wants to be the one that is “left out.” Not yet developing proper tools for introspect combined with the need to find their place in this world, the child easily gathers opinions and advice from his or her peer group. Those who the child spends time with the most he or she relates to the most. Adolescents start to understand the concepts of betrayal and rejection and while connecting and associating so closely with peers those moments of betrayal and rejection can be impacting and crushing. In young adulthood one forms the premise of what he or she will base intimate future relationships on. The young adult forms opinions about marriage, children, and spouses. It is here that the child either forms bonds or chooses to live in social isolation. During the middle adult years one learns to look outward when approaching social interaction or inwards by occupying time with the needs of self (Piaget, 1983). From infancy, parents can begin to give a child a solid foundation of security and love. This will keep the child in connection to his or her parents as the child takes this journey through adolescence. Parental influence will change in this process. With learning assertion and his or her opinions, the emphasis on friendships grows stronger and the acknowledgment of need for parents weaker. This is a season where the focus moves from looking to one’s parents as a role model to looking to one’s friendships to fill that role. “Children are in need of an attachment figure across childhood, even though the frequency and intensity of attachment behaviors decline and physical proximity becomes less important” (Bowlby, 1982; Main and Cassidy, 1988). As physical availability becomes less important, children’s expectations about an attachment figure’s accessibility and responsiveness become more important” (Bowlby, 1982). To help children lean toward healthy peer relation’s parents can create strong bonds with their children and open communication. Building a child's self esteem and developing his or her own decision-making abilities will enable the child to keep healthy boundaries and self-awareness. The term egocentric means “self at the center,” (Berger, 2008, p. 392). Beginning around age 11 and lasting until around 17, adolescents think about themselves intensely and imagine that others are thinking about them also. This is typical adolescent egocentrism. During preoperational thought, or in the years leading up to adolescence, egocentrism occurs as well, but manifests differently. This difference is contributed to the fact that an adolescent has a well-developed theory of mind, which allows him or her to understand that other people have their own thoughts. An adolescent’s egocentrism distorts his or her “understanding of what others might be thinking, especially about them,” (Berger, 2008, p. 392). This intense preoccupation with their own feelings creates a lack of feeling connected to others (Cavanaugh & Ateah, 2006). Adolescent egocentrism is a cognitive limitation that is developmentally normal; they cannot stop being egocentric even if they are made aware of it (Berger, 2008). There are four characteristics of adolescent thinking. The first characteristic is adolescent egocentrism, which was discussed previously. The second characteristic is imaginary audience. The third characteristic is called personal fable, and the last characteristic is the illusion of invulnerability (Cavanaugh & Ateah, 2006). Imaginary audience is the misperception that other people are watching them. Because they feel like their peers are judging every physical oddity or behavioral oddity thy present, they will either feel like they are the most attractive teenager alive and make choices that draws additional attention to themselves or they will be uncomfortable being around others if they have a blemish, a bad haircut, or the wrong shoes. In essence, a teenager believes all eyes are on him or her and those others are highly attentive to, and are taking note of, what he or she looks like and how he or she behaves (Berger, 2008). Personal fable describes the misconception by adolescents that no one else can understand what they are feeling or what they are going through because they are unique. Teenagers may think that their experiences are special and nothing that happens to them happens to anyone else. Some challenges arise when this type of thinking occurs, one of which is having difficulty believing the sincerity of someone who expresses empathy. An example would be when parents tell their teenager they know how he or she feels; the teenager thinks it is not possible because he or she is the only person who has ever felt this way (Cavanaugh & Ateah, 2006). Illusion of invulnerability describes the egocentric conviction of adolescents that they are not vulnerable and cannot be harmed by anything that will defeat other mortals. Feeling invincible can lead to teenagers engaging in risky behaviors that lead to disease, addiction, accidents, and death. For example, they believe engaging in unprotected sex, diving at a high rate of speed, and using drugs will not harm them as it does so many others (Cavanaugh & Ateah, 2006). In human development, the adolescence years, is major part for social and emotional growth. Adolescence can be influenced in many multidirectional ways. From peer pressure, to dating and abuse, as well as substance abuse and sexuality can impact an individual to be successful or emotionally destroyed. In this period of time, it is important for parents to help their adolescent children by making boundaries and rules in ways that will help guide them from not making wrong choices. The biggest impact on adolescence is peer pressure. Peer pressure is “Encouragement to conform with one’s friends or contemporaries in behavior, dress, and attitude; usually considered a negative force, as when adolescent peers encourage one another to defy adult authority”(Berger, 2008). Peer pressure is influential because adolescences are with their peers more than they are will their family or parents and adolescence will do whatever they can to fit in with their group of peers. The most vulnerable adolescences are ones that have a low self-esteem. Peer pressure can influence adolescence to wear particular clothing, behave differently to parents or teachers and it can even influence them to participate in doing drugs, skipping school or having unsafe sex. This type of behavior is called high-risk behavior, because it can cause major harm to the adolescence physical and psychological well-being. One activity that can be influence by peer pressure is dating. An adolescence can be peer pressured into which dating patterns is best for them and they could be pressured into dating or sexual activity with one or multiple individuals. A negative dating pattern such as dating multiple people or being emotionally controlling can impact adolescences future health. They can become depressed and withdrawn, which can lead to drugs or abuse. They can produce disease or heart attach (Berger, 2008). It is important for parents to set rules and boundaries for their children. They need to teach them about safe sex and make sure that they don’t get into the wrong crowd of friends. It is almost impossible to eliminate peer peruse, but it is possible for parent to guide their child to peers that will positive pressure. References Piaget, J. (1983). Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen (ed). Handbook of Child Psychology. 4th edition. Vol. 1. New York: Wiley. Collins, W. A., & Russell, G. (1991, June). Mother-child and father-child relationships in middle childhood and adolescence: A developmental analysis. Bowlby, J. (1992). Attachment (2nd ed). New York: Basic Books. Main, M. & Cassidy, J. (1988). Categories of response to reunion with the parent at age six: Predictable from infant attachment classifications and stable over a 1-month period. Developmental Psychology. Berger, K. S. (2008). The developing person through the life span (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Kail, R., Cavanaugh, J. C., & Ateah, C. A. (2006) Emerging Adulthood (Canadian ed.) Custom Edition of Human Development: A Life-Span View. Scarborough, Ont.: Thomson Custom Publishing.