The Challenges of

the Adolescence
Period

Nistor Daniela Gabriela

Hancu Sarah Andreea
Introduction

Ever since the first years of existence life has brought us challenging situations to overcome.
It is known that every period has its own challenges and for sure the situations we must face
nowadays differ from those in past decades, even though some of our needs might be similar,
the context is surely different.
The most fragile and crucial period from our life is the adolescence. Advances in technology
mean today's teens are facing issues that no previous generation has ever seen. While some
issues are not exactly new, electronic media has changed or amplified some of the struggles
young people face.

We know that adolescence is a critical phase due to the biological, mental, and cultural
adaptations that need to be made in the transition to adulthood. Adolescence is a time of
sexual and relationship experimentation and of identity formation, when social norms, both
good and bad, can play a crucial role in setting behavioral patterns. Social change can
generate tensions between generations, and between rural and urban populations over what is
considered appropriate conduct. Caught between changing and conflicting norms and
behaviours, vulnerable young people who cross the accepted lines can be harshly affected by
discrimination and punished by repressive laws if they disobey the norms of their community
or country.

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 I. Adolescence Characteristics

Adolescence is the age period between 14-18 years. It is a critical moment in the
development of the individual because he seeks to relate permanently to others, as an
autonomous person, with the consciousness of his own identity. Physically, the teen is
experiencing an accelerated development at this age, girls evolving faster than boys. In fact,
girls end their physical growth at the age of 17. Most of them (75%) reach puberty before the
age of 14, while boys reach the point at the age of 15 (almost 85%). Adolescents consume a
lot of food and that is why nutrition and meal program are of great importance.
Psychologically, the adolescent is characterized by a rich imagination, he “daydreams”, but
also by increasing his judgment. Instead, the memory is deficient. During this time, the
individual develops special interests and abilities without having the tenacity and ability to
complete an action. Emotionally, teenagers are very sensitive and therefore can feel very
easily hurt when hostile attitudes are shown towards them. They also show an interest in
competitiveness and are willing to participate in any action that would allow them to display
their knowledge and skills. Socially, adolescents are characterized by self-definition in
relation to society, and identity appears as a position of their own in relation to the world in
which they live. From this status arise problems specific to adolescence: the tension between
him and society, gaining independence from parents, choosing a career and lifestyle, sex life.
As the adolescent builds his identity, first, in his relationship with the family and the society,
he exercises his own experiences because only in this way he lives with the conviction about
their opportunity.
Parents' relationships with adolescents have peculiarities that distinguish them from
childhood relationships. If in childhood, the individual is integrated in the act of family
consolidation, with beneficial effects for his growth and development, the adolescent tends to
be autonomous in the family. Parents are no longer role models, on the contrary, they become
the object of severe criticism, which is natural, because at this age the critical spirit is
defining, and his practice on parental behavior and mentality helps to form interaction skills
with adolescent aspiration. to individuality, sometimes exacerbated. Relationships between
parents and adolescents can be tense, reaching their point of rupture, a situation generated by
the parents' misunderstanding of the adolescent's real problems and the adolescent's excessive
spirit of autonomy. Parents, and adults in general, seek to socialize the adolescent by
orienting him towards what he will do in the future, towards adult life, giving little
importance to the problems specific to his age. Or the adolescent lives strongly everything

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that is happening to him at present because he is confronted with concrete aspects of his own
life, for him serious, and, therefore, he is preoccupied, first, with solving them, being less
interested in preparing for what he will do in the future.

II. Challenges and Changes During Adolescence

Peer pressure

Primarily during middle school and high school, many teens feel very stressed because they
are trying to be like their peers and fit in. This is nothing new, and I’m sure you can
remember it from your own high school days. These pressures lead to teenagers dressing and
behaving in ways that may surprise you as a parent or caregiver. Middle and high school
teens are well known for forming cliques and groups that have their own norms and rules that
people have to follow to fit in. Those who are not included feel a lot of pressure to be in
certain groups so they may do things out of their comfort zone to fit in. Since the adolescent
years are filled with teens struggling to define and discover who they are as a person, this
pressure leads to feeling confused, stressed, and overwhelmed. Just because peer pressure is
“normal,” it doesn’t meant that every teenager is going to be able to cope with it in healthy
ways. For some, the pressure is too much and can lead to destructive behaviors.

Grades and school performance

Teens are under constant pressure to perform well academically while trying to become their
own person and be independent of their parents. This pressure to succeed and the comparison
to other students who might be doing better can lead to depression and other mental health
issues.
Sometimes as parents, do not realize when they are part of the problem. Wanting for the child
to succeed academically is normal, but sometimes they add too much pressure. It can be easy
as an adult to be consumed with your own stress at work or with taking care of family, and
oftentimes they dismiss how much pressure kids are under at school.

Physical and hormonal changes

The adolescent years are characterized by rapid physical and emotional changes that affect
teens in different ways. This period is marked by increased attention to body image,
sexuality, and acceptance that often leaves the teen feeling confused, stressed, and depressed.
Teenagers are known for their “raging” hormones and drastic mood swings. Teenagers’

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parents or any other people around them must have noticed the mood fluctuations between
excitement, anger, anxiety, and depression. Teenagers’ self-esteem is often affected by their
appearance or how they might see themselves. The combination of your body changing so
rapidly with peer pressure and the desire to fit in is a lot for someone to deal with.

Self-Esteem and Body Image

Teenagers undergo and have to cope with numerous body changes. Some teenagers feel too
fat, too skinny, too tall, too short, etc. This feeling leads them to spend time wishing they
were not too skinny, too short, their hair was not too curly or vice versa. The problem with
this feeling is that it affects their self-image. As a teenage boy or girl's body changes, so does
the self. When they do not like something in themselves, they have self-esteem and body
image problems. They also perceive others, particularly schoolmates, to view them as they
view themselves. They can suffer more from these problems when they have trouble
adjusting.

Hormonal changes have huge effects on the general growth and mood of the teens. Puberty
changes tempt teenagers to compare themselves with people around them and when they find
they do not match their standards, they feel low. They also compare themselves with those
seen on TV, in movies, and in the magazines. Most youths' ability to develop positive self-
esteem is affected by family life and parental criticism. Teenagers who experience negative
comments about their appearances, the way they talk, etc stuff also develop poor self-esteem
and body image.

Family issues
All families experience varying degrees of stress at different times and for different reasons.
Being a teenager is hard enough as it is, and when you add familial stresses such as divorce,
illness, abuse, separation, merging of families, and financial struggles, it only makes the
stresses greater. All these stresses can cause many mental and physical illnesses. Some
examples of common triggers and types of stress include career stress, financial stress,
personal health concerns, managing parenting responsibilities, and marital and relational
stress, among others.
Every parent has a different outlook towards parenting. A healthy relationship between the
child and parents is the most essential during the teenage years. Communication is the key to

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developing a rapport, which results in the child feeling comfortable talking to their parents.
Finding the correct balance between being a friend and a parent is important as this will help
develop the required rapport. For e.g. teens facing body image concerns like being too fat, too
skinny, too tall or too short will benefit from balanced approach towards parenting, which
may stem from good rapport.

Bullying
Bullying is one of the worst teenage problems and affects millions of youths. Bullying causes
fear in the minds of kids, and makes them nervous going to school each day. The adults do
not always witness the bullying in their lives. The teenage children may be subject to heavy
bullying as they may not understand how extreme it can get. Any form of bullying is
relentless, causing the affected teenagers to live in a state of constant fear. Two of the prime
reasons teens are bullied are their appearance and social status. Bullying has caused many
serious and life threatening problems for bullied teens. As they get bullied often in school,
their academics, and mental health suffer.

Bullying can be cruel when it becomes physical attacks on the victims. Some bullies attack
their targets physically while others repeatedly spew verbal insults, affecting the psychology
of the affected teens.
The latest edition of bullying is cyberbullying . It can get as worse as it gets in the real life
experience of the teens. Cyberbullies use cruel instant messages, text messages, emails
online, and voice messages in many cases. Bullying is a very offensive behavior and crime.
Bullying leads to more violent behavior in the bullies in their adult years. They eventually get
rejected by their peers, lose friendships and become depressed as they age. Parents, teachers,
and people in general should educate their teenagers about bullying and tell them to report
any act of bullying to them. Media can also educate the teenage children about bullying when
some teenagers are bullies.

Usually, you find that bullies are actually the most insecure, they overcompensate for their
insecurities by appearing stronger than others. Usually their tendency to bully comes from a
place of hatred or it is behavior that they have seen and are mimicking.Their insecurities can
stem from variety of things like a lack of feeling loved, feeling inadequate with the work that
they are doing or they can be a reflection of their environment. Often the children getting
bullied tend to have low confidence levels and are not aggressive.

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Depression

Depression is one of the worst problems that some teenagers suffer from and it can lead to
more problems in the future. Depression may arise from poor self-esteem and body image
problems. If that is the reason of depression in a teen, then parents should talk to the teen,
listen to their child, comfort him or her, and accept their child for who they are. It is crucial
that teens feel validated in their feelings and thoughts because what they are going through is
a real part of their lives. Parents and guardians should not judge or criticize their feelings or
thoughts. They should tell the teen how important it is to have high self-esteem and be
comfortable in their body.

Depression symptoms in teenagers may be exhibited in various ways. Changes in sleep

patterns, eating habits, declined interest in normal and healthy activities, dropping grades in
school and college, and preferred isolation are all signs of depression. When teenagers exhibit
one or all of these symptoms parents should intervene immediately. If teenagers begin talking
about their depression, then they should be allowed to express their feelings, and parents
should validate their feelings by listening to them without interrupting the conversation.

Cyber Addiction
The Internet offers undeniable benefits in developing a teen's ability to grow with modern
technology, technical ideas, knowledge and other skills. However, using the internet,
particularly the social networking websites, unsafely puts the teenagers at very high risk for
many problems. When children spend more than enough or agreeable time online they tend to
be cyber addicts. As they spend more time on social networking, gaming, and other websites,
particularly adult sites, they suffer from cyber addiction.

Cyber addiction can be just as harmful as addiction to drugs or drinking alcohol. Teenagers
who spend unhealthy amounts of time on the Internet or online suffer from a condition
recognized as Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). Those who have IAD conditions may
experience distress, withdrawal symptoms including obsessive thoughts, tremors, and other
mental and physical problems. Cyber addiction impairs the quality of their lives. Parents
should talk to their children and agree on a list of rules that clearly say when to use the

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internet, which sites they should visit and what safety measures they should follow. Teachers
can also ensure safe browsing of the web at schools and colleges for teenage students.

Eating Disorters
Eating disorders and Anorexia both represent serious conditions that teenagers and
particularly girls face. Such conditions must not be taken lightly, for if ignored and left
untreated, such conditions can be deadly.
Some of the causes of eating disorders include social pressure from a popular culture that
emphasizes unrealistic thinness, with such pressure being presented on social media, TV,
movies, popular web sites; social pressure to diet and be thin; families who overemphasize
slender bodies and mock any minor sign of excess weight and personal factors, such as
genetics or biological factors might make some teens more vulnerable to developing eating
disorders.
It is essential for parents to not contribute to the problem, instead they should actively
encouraging healthy dietary habits, realistic body images and ensuring that the child has
access to counseling and clinics if needed.

III. Personal Comment and Experience

We consider ourselves lucky because this transition (although it has not ended yet) was mild
on us. We have seen many of our friends struggling to find out who they really are or trying
too hard to fit in a society that will not help them much. From self-insecurities to continuous
fights with parents, the way those experiences impact the individual is major and it has long
term effects on the future’s adult life. We must admit that at some point we felt the pressure
that comes with this age and if it was not for the support and understanding received from our
families and friends, things might have looked different. It is difficult to live in a word where
there are so many bad influences, so many temptations and so much confusion. You see all
the models on social media, and you want to look like them, same clothes, same make-up,
flawless skin and so on, and thus it is so hard to accept your flaws and imperfections.
Moreover, our society is becoming more and more superficial and people value appearance
more than personality, which makes it is so difficult to keep up to all these standards and at
some point, frustration will make its way out. You want to feel appreciated, admired, valued
and loved. You want to fit in, to belong in a community, to be seen and heard by others. All

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these needs will rush you into decisions that may not resonate with the values taught by your
parents.
Being a teenager also implies a lot of drama. You fight with your friends, you experience
betrayal and maybe guilt, you get along with them again and learn from the mistakes or move
on and carry the disappointment with you until you are mature enough to forgive and forget.
You worry about other people’s opinion about you, you think about whether your crush likes
you back or not, you feel the threat among the colleagues, you have rivals, you have best
friends and so on.
Honestly, leaving aside all these scenarios, the greatest pressure that we felt was about the
expectations parents (and sometime teachers) have. Trying to have good marks, studying
hard, feeling like the curriculum is overwhelming, thinking about university and a possible
successful career (which is quite difficult nowadays if you are not passionate about areas such
as IT). Even thought some of us get support from school and family, the pressure is still
overwhelming.

IV. Conclusion

Adolescence is the transition period to maturity, the period of self-knowledge and projection
of ideals in life. This manifests itself differently from individual to individual, based on the
behavior and qualities of each. Nowadays, being a teenager is not easy, because of the many
temptations that are available to anyone. Most of the time, in order not to be humiliated,
judged by a certain problem, financial situation, appearance, physical features, teenagers sink
into temptations, follow a dangerous path, full of obstacles, between life and death, passing
from or extreme high. This created universe is the “antithesis” of reality. The desire for
freedom, the state of euphoria, the imaginary concept of ascension caused by temptations, the
burning desire to get rid of suffering, of the daily routine, lead most teenagers to a cruel, dark
destiny.
The chance to aspire to a career, an ideal end slowly, so that it disappears, leaving behind
regret and helplessness.
Thus, we consider that the main cause for which the adolescent gives up the fight so easily,
leaving himself to the fate, is the society and the environment.

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We discover day by day that the examples of "models" promoted by the media are devoid of
humanity, kindness, compassion for your neighbor, qualities that define the "soul" and
distinguish us from other species.
Few teenagers are aware that they represent the future of this society. They strive and
struggle to learn, to accumulate new information, to develop their abilities and capacities to
make important decisions, to assume their mistakes and to bear the consequences, climbing a
step on the scale of maturity.
Like the first steps, saying the first words, learning the alphabet and writing that a child
follows, the teenager starts confused and undecided in life and begins to rediscover the world.
Some are endowed with an extraordinary power to overcome temptations, hatred and envy,
carving out a prosperous future "among dry leaves." Others, influential, tend to the easiest
way, the way that makes them forget about problems and for a few moments feel free.
One of the great challenges is finding inner peace and tranquility, reconciliation with the
self. The questions “Who am I? "What is my purpose in life?" it often grinds teenagers, who
later find out the answer or maybe never.
Another challenge a teenager faces is personality development and maturation. Their key
factor is the model they choose in life, a model in which culture, desire for knowledge, self-
confidence, wisdom should be present.