Adolescence

Details

Hits: 29410

Adolescence

1. Coming into this course I had misconceptions that adolescents have mature brains like adults. I thought this way with an assumption that brain development is complete by the time a child enrolls in a kindergarten. I, therefore, lacked the need for a parent to provide learning tools for their adolescents as it is the case with toddlers. I thought that hormonal surges cause emotional changes among adolescents. I perceived teens as difficult, troublesome and wanting to be different from other people. I also misconceived that adolescents are resilient and thus can recover easily from the effects of drugs, which would otherwise cause adult permanent effects. During this course, I have learned that these assumptions are incorrect. The stage of adolescence includes vital brain development stages and therefore much different from the mature mind of an adult.

2. My view of adolescence has changed from the beginning of the course in that I have established why adolescents are impulsive and prone to addiction and need the protection of their brains by society. The brain of teens is not fully developed, which makes it difficult for them to manage their impulses. They experience difficulty in making quick informed decisions like adults do due to the partial insulation of their frontal part of the brain, which is responsible for rapid, smart decision-making. That results in slowness in how stimuli flow in their brains. This explains why teens cannot be good in selecting what or not to do depending on the consequences of their choices. I have also changed my perception of teenagers getting addicted to drugs more than adults. Addictive drugs have more long-lasting and toxic effects to the brains of a teenager as opposed to that of an adult. Since addiction is also a learning experience when teens are repeatedly exposed to the drug then the effect is more permanent than in an adult since teens learn fast.

3. I would apply most of the knowledge I gained in class on adolescence in correcting the myth that scientists have held for years that the brains of adolescents are equally developed as of adults. Since I have appreciated that teens learn better than adults, I would make a collaborative environment with the youths every time I have a common learning environment with teens to learn more from them. I base this on the fact that teens have a higher ability to build memories from their experiences in life compared to adults. That also calls for me as a future parent to involve my teen sons and daughters in more constructive activities to avoid their advanced adaptability from being hijacked by vices such as drug addiction. I also have learned that girl's brains develop faster than those of boys and are two years more mature than their boys' counterparts. This is helpful in how I shall handle boys and girls regarding their different social behavior.

4. For the future of this course, I would suggest the inclusion of the emerging issues about adolescents. Such emerging issues include adolescents suffering from isolation in society right from their own families. This disconnects the teens making them feel alienated from the society. The cause of isolation is adults lacking adequate, quality time with the teens especially in one own family. Most families have adopted lifestyles that have reduced the contact time between parents and their teenage sons and daughters. Social media also has taken a lot of adolescents' time making it difficult to integrate them fully in society. Communication between parents and teens lacks good foundation as parents are busy at jobs, which has denied parents parental skills. The teens, therefore, end up forming their own families in the form of peer groups, which may impact negatively on them. It is therefore paramount to get rid of the isolation and help the adolescents cope with their other issues.