| INTRODUCTION:
According to the oxford dictionary, Adolescence
“is a time in a person’s life between
childhood and adulthood. (i.e roughly between
the ages 13-17)” Basically it is a transitional
phase of developmental changes that every individual
goes through. In this period of development many
dramatic changes takes place, which are related
to the psychological as well as physical growth
of an adolescent. As a consequence of these dramatic
changes, these teenagers start recognizing relationships
and get attached to those they feel confident
to be enough close to them and share a certain
level of understanding to them. These attached
relationships could be parents, brothers and sisters
or any close friends. Therefore, “adolescence
culminates a developmental process in which interaction
with parents has shaped children’s minds
and behavior in ways that may or may not prepare
them for life outside their families.”
UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENCE:
This is the most sensitive phase of a child’s
mental as well as psychological development where
the parents should give quality time and full
attention to their kids. So in this period, according
to the national Mental Health Association, “Teens
need adult guidance more than ever to understand
all the emotional and physical changes they are
experiencing.”
Furthermore, adolescence undergoes certain psychological
as well as physical changes and develops a sense
in them and endures many changes in their experiences
and roles. Another change the adolescence undergoes
is the establishment of their identity and to
become a complete productive adult. Teenagers
are also influenced by their adults and idealize
them. So on one hand they follow their adults
whom they idealize and on the other hand they
desire to explore their role and status in the
society
Therefore, it is the key responsibility of the
parents as well as teachers to be very careful
in dealing the adolescence. They should develop
a strong bond of understanding to them so that
they feel comfortable to express their thoughts
and feelings. If the parent notices any negative
changes in the behavior and actions of the adolescence,
they should not overlook and ignore it. They need
to concentrate on the root cause and be supportive
to remove it. For instance child abuse may result
into violent youngsters. Another instance is the
medium of toys and the nature of media shown to
the kid. If the kids were provided toys like guns
and other stuff related to fighting and aggression,
its mental growth would be in that very aspect.
Or too much action movies would also leave same
impression on the psychology of the kid. Therefore,
a balance should be maintained in choosing the
toys as well as movies for the kid. In this way
the teenager can learn more about the society
and relationships.
Moreover we also need to understand teenagers
when they are going through the phase of physical
maturity. This physical maturity is directly related
to the development of peer relations of teens
that changes with the level of maturity of the
adolescent. So, it plays a very important role
in developing sexual relationships. For instance,
if a girl whose bodies are fully mature at an
early maturing age she will like early sexual
activity. Therefore, parental monitoring is an
important tool to understand adolescent. Parents
by understanding their kids and developing a healthy
friendly relation to them can easily monitor and
guide them and place limits to outside activities.
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