Adolescence is a sensitive and mysterious time that exposes growing children to new environments and challenges and makes them feel like they are on the cutting edge of life. Errors in the way of life that were previously undetected may also have surfaced during this period, and these errors grew so large that they could no longer be ignored.
For every young person, puberty means one thing first: they must prove that they are no longer children.
Many adolescent behaviors stem from the desire to display independence, equality with adults, and achievement of masculinity or femininity.
The direction of this behavior depends on the children’s understanding of what “growing up” means, and if “growing up” means breaking free, they will rebel against all limits.
Once obedient children suddenly become disobedient, people don’t understand. In fact, their attitude has not really changed. The obedient children had clearly been resentful of their parents, but only now, with more freedom and strength, did they feel able to confront them openly.
Teenagers are often given more freedom and independence, and if their parents continue to supervise them as before, they will rebel violently.
Such fights can breed hostility, leading to a classic “teenage rebellion” scenario.
In addition to psychological characteristics, physical characteristics also change greatly during puberty.
During this period, all the organs of the child’s body are growing and developing. The taller the child grows, the more hands and feet will grow, but the flexibility may not keep up.
They need training to improve coordination, but if they are laughed at in the process, they can become really clumsy.
Endocrine glands also become active at this time, boys begin to grow beards and become hoarse, and girls develop a fuller figure with more distinct feminine features.
Children who are ill-prepared for adult life panic about careers, friendships, love and marriage without any confidence that they will be able to handle it later.
In extreme cases, such individuals are completely unable to adapt to any of life’s problems and no one understands them.
They don’t want to see others, they don’t want to talk, they don’t want to listen to others, they don’t work or study, they retreat into a fantasy world.
This is the state of schizophrenia, a state born out of a mistake.
If such children can be encouraged, pointed out their mistakes and shown a better path, it can be cured.
They must be analyzed objectively from a more scientific perspective and look at their past, present and future, rather than from their personal logic.
Many adolescent “losers” were spoiled children in childhood. They are used to being spoiled, but when they grow up, they find that they are no longer the center of the world, so they feel that life has cheated them and wronged them.
Some young people will show a tendency to stay in the childhood, they even imitate the babble of babies, like to play with the younger children, pretend that they can be childlike forever.
In more serious cases, children may turn to a life of crime, and if they do something bad and are not caught, they will feel even more confident that they are smart enough to get away with it again.
For less active and outgoing children, the shortest route to escape is neuroticism, and it is during adolescence that many children begin to suffer from dysfunctions and neurological disorders.
Neuroticism occurs when the individual is not prepared to deal with social problems in a social way. Difficulties are stressful. The physiology of adolescence is particularly sensitive to these stresses, and all organs may be stimulated and affect the whole nervous system.
In this period we can see a clear reversal of the situation, as those children who have been given high expectations fail in their studies and work, while those who previously seemed mediocre begin to surpass them and show unexpected abilities.
Children who previously seemed to have a promising future may be burdened by a fear of disappointment.
As long as they are supported and appreciated, they will keep going, but when it comes to struggling alone, they lose their courage and give up the challenge.
Others, perhaps inspired by their newfound freedom, see a sunnier path to their ambitions. Their brains are full of new ideas and plans, and they explode with creativity and enthusiasm for all aspects of human life.
For these courageous children, independence means not the risk of hardship and failure, but a broader opportunity to achieve and make a difference.
Children who felt neglected or ignored in their early years may now wish they could finally be appreciated by others after forming better relationships with their peers.
Many of them are hungry for praise. While a boy’s focus on praise can be dangerous, many girls lack confidence and only find their value in the praise and appreciation of others.
A person’s attitude towards the opposite sex has already begun to form by the age of four or five.
Parents must be careful when touching children. Warm hugs and kisses between parents and children are fine, as long as they don’t inappropriately provoke a physical response from the child.
And parents should not constantly indoctrinate their children with unnecessary and inappropriate information about sex.
Many adults seem to be passionate about sex education, fearing that children will grow up ignorant and that telling them too much too soon is an inappropriate way to do it.
It is better to wait until children are curious and want to know about it.
Many pampered girls find it difficult to fit into female roles. Their culture still often has the idea that men are superior to women, so these girls hate being women.
They embody what is called “male admiration”.
Girls are not the only ones who show “male admiration.” All children who have a high view of masculinity see masculinity as an ideal and wonder if they can ever be strong enough to be a real man.
It is common to assign significant personal significance to a stage of human development as a critical turning point.
Adolescence is given such a meaning.
However, there is no significant change at this stage. It is merely a continuation of the development of life, and the phenomena it presents are not of great significance.
What matters is what the individual expects from this period, what meaning they give to it, and how to deal with it.
When puberty hits, children are often frightened and act like the enemy.
What they worry about is not the physical changes of puberty at all, but the lifestyle adjustments and changes that social circumstances require.
The common problem is that they see adolescence as the end of everything and all their values go with it.
They no longer have the right to cooperate and contribute, no one needs them anymore, and all the problems of adolescence stem from these feelings and worries.
If children learn to see themselves as equal members of society, understand their responsibility to contribute to the community, and especially learn to see the opposite sex as equal partners, adolescence will give them the opportunity to be creative, and they will be able to independently find answers to the problems of adult life.