PERDEV

Adolescence

 often characterized as a period of transformation, primarily, in terms of physical, cognitive, and

social-relational change.
 It is a vulnerable time when children might develop unhealthy habits that grow into problems in
their adult life.
 This period is not an easy time for children or parents. The only way to deal with needs and
problems at this age is to know about them and be ready to face them.

Challenges during Adolescence

1. Physical Development
2. Attitudes and behavior toward sexuality and sexual relationships
3. Academic Concern
4. Group Belongingness
5. Developing or regaining Self-Esteem
6. Role
7. Family Situation (Parent/s Working Abroad)
8. Career Choice
9. Relationships

Physical Development

Early maturing boys:

 Tend to be stronger, taller, and more athletic than their later maturing peers.
 Pubic hair growth, as well as armpit, leg, chest, and facial hair.
 Change of voice.
 Having regular nocturnal emissions (wet dreams).
 These maturing boys are usually more popular, confident, and independent, but
they are also at a greater risk for substance abuse and early sexual activity.

Early maturing girls:

 Breasts development.
 Pubic hair, armpit, and leg hair grow.
 Having menarche (the beginning of menstrual periods).
 Girls may start to feel conscious about their figure. They may be teased or overtly
admired, which can cause them to feel self-conscious about their developing
bodies.
 These girls are at a higher risk for depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders

Late-blooming boys and girls

 (i.e., they develop more slowly than their peers) may feel self-conscious about their lack
of physical development. Negative feelings are particularly a problem for late maturing
boys, who are at a higher risk for depression and conflict with parents
 Other changes are:

 Acne breakout
 Muscle gain sometimes leads to excessive body weight in teens.
 Body odor

Ways to deal:

 Be aware of these changes

 Understand that everyone goes through puberty differently in a lot of aspects-time,
nature, and degree.
 Adapt to these changes – acknowledge the change and accept it.
 Stay healthy and fit through a nutritious diet and exercise
 During the age of being conscious of one’s physical appearance, an individual tries a lot
of physical modifications to figure out what fits his or her preferences most. Do not be
someone another person’s identity completely. Be yourself. It takes time.

Attitudes and behavior toward sexuality and sexual relationships.

 Puberty drives the adolescent to experience surges of sexual desires, which often lead them to
experimentation and exploration.
 Adolescents exploring their sexuality should be able to draw their limits in terms of sexual
expressions and should be responsible enough to see the future results or consequences of their
behaviors.
 Sexual relationship is healthy when the adolescent sees this as part of a loving relationship and
not as something that is just for exploration or pleasure

Ways to deal

 The proper and healthy attitude toward sexuality and sexual relationships is being
responsible. It implies that entering into relationships is all about genuine loving and
caring for the other person, and not just to satisfy one's urges and needs which can lead
to bigger problems like teenage pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases
 Love is based on respect for the other person's uniqueness, which means accepting and
respecting that he or she is different from you; has a different set of priorities in life;
different values that he or she gives more importance to; has a personal plan for the
future; and has different emotions and feelings, attitudes, thoughts, and likes and
dislikes.

Academic Concerns

 The role of a student is the primary role of an adolescent who is still in school. Many adolescents
become problematic with their academic studies.
 Quizzes and tests, home works and projects, oral recitation, quarterly and final exams, and
grades most especially, epitomize the kind of stressors adolescents have when it comes to
 studying. Although grades are not the only gauge of what one has learned, it is what the
educational system relies on when trying to measure one’s learning capacity

Ways to deal:

 Manage your time. Invest in a daily planner and keep one calendar for assignments,
exams, and family events.
 Don’t be afraid to ask for help from family, friends, and other support groups as you try
to balance work, family, and school

Group Belongingness

 An adolescent wants to belong. While there is an urge to be independent and autonomous from
his family and parents, there is also an urge to seek a replacement of this support system, this
time in the form of social groupings such as school friends, memberships in organizations, and
community
 An adolescent with low self-esteem might be drawn toward organizations that promise
camaraderie in the form of "Walang iwanan," "do or die," or "one for all and all for one" kind of
social support. However, there is a possibility that these types of organizations may be more
destructive than constructive

Ways to deal

 Healthy and wholesome organizations whose objectives aim to help individuals develop
themselves are better choices
 Avoiding organizations that adhere to violence and other anti-social behaviors is a
responsibility of the adolescent because he is responsible for his welfare, his family, his
friends, and his school

Developing and regaining Self-esteem

 Related to self-esteem is one's perception of one's body type. Adolescents at this stage are very
self-conscious and often view themselves as unattractive, lacking the kind of physical look that is
often dictated by the advertising and the image business

Ways to deal:

 Adolescents who are creating their self-identity should be objective and balanced when
viewing themselves. Being objective means seeing one's self as having both strengths
and weaknesses of having positive and negative characteristics. Balancing how one sees
oneself means avoiding over-emphasizing an aspect of one's identity to the detriment of
another aspect.
 They have to learn to be gentler and kinder, and less demanding for them to maintain a
balance in their view of what and who they are.
Role

 All human beings have roles to play in their lives.

 Roles are part of one's identity, such as being a son or daughter to your parents, being a brother
or sister to your siblings, being a student in your school, or a member of your organization

Ways to deal:

 Although these roles seem separate and different from each other, adolescents must
learn to integrate all these roles and it should be clear that these roles are related to the
tasks expected of them by others
 Balancing his or her time and energy in addressing the responsibilities demanded by
each role can be achieved through discipline and time management

Parents Working Abroad

 Many Filipino families experienced have parents who leave their families to work abroad to
support the needs of their families.
 Sadness, loneliness, and thoughts of being abandoned are often experienced by adolescents in
this given situation.

Ways to deal

 There must be recognition of the emotions and feelings brought about by the situation.
 Turn the unpleasant situation into an opportunity and challenge for growth and
improvement to achieve higher and greater results in whatever they do. An example of
this is getting good grades and learning desirable qualities like discipline and hard work

Career Choice

 The adolescent who is creating an identity for himself is faced with an urgent need to identify
what course to take in college and establish a career path for the future.

Ways to deal:

 While many private schools provide career counseling and guidance which involves
testing and interviews, the adolescent can be more proactive by accessing many
resource materials found on the internet to help him identify his capabilities and skills
and the wide choices of work that he can take.
 When finding the right career, adolescents need to know what their interests are, what
things they find exciting and challenging, and what their skills are.

Relationships

 Maintaining a healthy relationship requires a certain level of maturity. An adolescent who is still
in the process of acquiring maturity may often find maintaining relationships challenging.
 Healthy friendships are necessary for adolescents' social development, but the challenge in
maintaining them is also equally challenging. Envy due to comparisons is also a major cause of
breakdowns in relationships.
 At home, a female adolescent who desires autonomy and independence will encounter more
parental objections. She may not be allowed to attend social gatherings without chaperones, or
go on out-of-town trips with males in the group.
 When this happens, relationships at home are strained, and the adolescent who does not see
the real purpose of why her parents are restricting her will react negatively to such restrictions.
 Romantic relationships are inevitable and equally challenging to an adolescent. When emotions
are involved, it is often difficult to be objective, and many adolescents are still developing their
skills in understanding their emotions.
 Breakups in romantic relationships occur very frequently among adolescents because of
immaturity. However, experiences such as breakups are positive ways to grow toward
emotional maturity

Ways to deal:

 An adolescent can learn to understand and deal with conflict by accepting there is a
conflict that exists, between him and another person, and understanding what is
causing the conflict