3rd Discussant:Marjorie Orfano

8.3 CHALLENGES DURING ADOLESCENCE

Adolescence is full of challenges for any child. The transformation is rapid, in all places, and tough to
maintain with: The body changes in retort to ever-increasing levels of sex hormones; the philosophy and
values changes as the child more broadly and in a conceptual way; the social life change as innovative
populace and peers come into range.

On the other hand, adolescents give a lot of recognition to their peers. They long to fit in to a peer
group which would identify and maintain their uniqueness. They may endeavor to do things very much
out of personality.

Adolescent development can be measured in terms of the following challenges which certainly
occur as:

BIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN ADOLESCENCE

Biological changes clearly present the adolescent with major challenges. The adolescent has to cope
with body changes which may be disturbing and worrying and with the emergence of sexual urges that
drive the young person into the exploration of new relationships which themselves produce new social
challenges.

PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES

During adolescence major physiological changes take place. The young person grows in height,
weight an strength, develops sexually, and changes in appearance. Consequently, there may be issues for
the adolescent who may feel embarrassed, self-conscious, and awkward and out of pace with peers who
are developing at a different rate.d

SEXUAL CHANGES

In puberty significant increase can be noticed in the production of sexual hormones. These effect not
only in changes to the body as described above but also generate an increase in sexual arousal, desire
and urge in both males and females. As sexual drive rises, the adolescent is confronted with issues of
personal sexuality and sexual identity.

EMOTIONAL CHANGE

Emotional the rise in sexual hormones may also pressure the young person’s condition. It would,
however, be a mistake to assume that hormones act in and that they alone are the cause of mood
changes.

COGNITIVE CHALLENGES IN ADOLESCENCE

Cognition refers to thinking skills, the intellectual skills that allow you to perceive. Acquire, understand
and respond to information. This includes the abilities to pay attention, remember, process information,
solve problems, organize and reorganize information, communicate and act upon information.

DEVELOPMENT OF ABSTRACT THINKING

According to Piaget(1948/1966),during early adolescence young people typically move from the
limitations of concrete thinking to being able to deal cognitively with ideas concepts and abstract
theories.The adolescent is able to become passionately interested in abstract concepts and notions is
therefore able to discern what is real from what is ideal.

Change in Attitudes, Interest and Interpersonal Relationships

The adolescence brings a change in the routine pattern of behavior, approach and individuality. There
are noticeable changes in the adolescent’s social concern.

The Ability to Think Critically and Creatively

 Adolescents develop the ability to think rationally and to use their ability for reasonable thinking to
make judgments and decisions for themselves. They are able to identify and delineate evils, congregate
information, form uncertain conclusion and judge these to make decisions.

Development of Peer Culture

Children talk to each other differently than they talk with adults. They use specialized Vocabulary,
phrases and slang.

The Development of Friendships

But during this age, children begin to select friends based on personality characteristics, not just
because they like to play with the same toy.. Friendships at this age reflect mutual appreciation for
personality traits and trust.

8.3.2 Psychological and Social Challenges in Adolescence

The biological and cognitive changes which have been described not only present challenges directly,
but also create a considerable blow on psychological execution. Additionally, there are major
psychological challenges for the young person which can be considered as a central trait of adolescence.

Individuation

A child is connected with parents and family, the adolescent detach from the family becoming a
separate individual.

Emotional Responses

As adolescents progress on their journey of self-discovery, they continually have to adjust to new
experiences, encounters and situations, while at the same time adjusting to biological, cognitive and
psychological changes.

A major disruptive emotion of early adolescence is shame. Adolescents repeatedly experience

tempers of ridicule, embarrassment and awkwardness, and feel offended and ashamed of them.

The adolescent is exposed to new social situations, patterns of behavior and societal expectations
which bring a sense of insecurity and also incidence of depression. The show the tendency of
impulsive urge to take immediate action which often leads to risk taking behavior in some adolescents.

Social Challenges in Adolescence

Another major challenge an adolescent faces is the need to find their place in society and to achieve a
sense of appropriate position in that place. This is a process of socialization and it involves an
adolescent’s incorporation with society.

Society’s Expectations

In certain communities where adults show constant beliefs, values, morals and outlooks. Adolescents
tend to mature a positive sense of self. In contrast, in communities where family, school and community
fail to offer constant trend and constructive goals, adolescents point towards unwanted behaviors, tend
to become more disordered and suspicious.

Many of the tasks of adolescence involve strong social expectations. Havighurst (1951) believed that the
mastery of the nine developmental tasks listed below were critical to adaptive adolescent adjustment:

 Accepting one’s physique and sexual role.

 Establishing new peer associations with both sexes.
 Achieving emotional autonomy of parents.
 Selecting and preparing for a job.
 Developing rational skills and perceptions indispensable for civic expertise,
 Achieving assurance of economic independence.
 Acquiring socially responsible behavior patterns.
 Preparing for marriage and family life.
 Building conscious values that are harmonious with one’s environment.
  Changes in the Body Image

Due to rapid physiological changes taking place in an adolescent, a consciousness and increased
interest about one’s own body develops. The body image can bring a sense of fun, pride, shyness or even
unhappiness.

Parental Expectations

Rutter (1995) argues that the parents’ response may create negative feelings and throw the adolescent
into anti-social behavior. Steinberg’s (1990) hypothesis is that when children reach puberty the
combination of the adolescent phase of development and the behavior and emotions of parents
produces tremendous changes in the parents, with parents becoming increasingly distressed.

Adolescent Expectations

Adolescents believe that their major challenges revolve around relationship issues with peers and
others and performance issues within society, school or college.School pressures have been identified
by young adolescents as being the most problematic, for adolescents of 14 years and older, parent-
adolescent conflicts identified as being the most problematic.

Psychosocial Challenges Facing Adolescents

Adolescents due to the developmental crisis are prone to face a myriad of psychosocial challenges.
Among the major challenges are:Juvenile delinquency,Drug and alcohol abuse,Early pregnancy and
Sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS

Juvenile delinquency

It refers to the predisposition to and indulgence in criminal or unlawful activities by children under the
age of 18.

Drug and alcohol abuse

It is one of the risky-taking behaviors among adolescents. Drugs are capable of providing pleasure by
giving relaxation and prolonged heightened sensation.

Teenage pregnancy among adolescents

With their mounting idealism and capacity to reflect in more theoretical and imaginary ways, young
adolescents may get caught up in a mental world far from reality. For an adolescent who has decided to
become sexually involved – pregnancy is a factor that one needs to think about.

Sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS

Adolescents who are sexually active may be susceptible or exposed to sexually transmitted disease
including HIV/AIDs. Sex education by itself cannot solve the problem of teenage pregnancies or in the
absence of a vaccine or efficacious cure, the prevention of the spread of HIV will for many people require
changes in risk-taking behavior.

8.3.3 Moral and Spiritual Challenges in Adolescence

Important to the processes of social development and the formation of a personal identity are issues
relating to moral and spiritual development.

Moral development: During adolescence, the young person is challenged and tested by a wide range of
moral decisions. During this stage, the adolescent learns to follow the society in which they live. The
aims for doing well or avoiding wrong depend on the consent of older people.

Spiritual development:As adolescents seek to launch their personal identity, they attempt to find
meaning in their lives. They become self-aware of thoughts and feelings, and to start reason about them.
This leads many young people to seek answers to questions of a spiritual nature. Conventional religious
beliefs and participation in organized religious practices demonstrate aspects of spirituality..
 In adolescence, life experiences, codes and rites may play a major part in the development of spiritual
beliefs. At this stage the young person is likely to recognize that other people might have different and
equally valid ways understanding and expressing their spirituality.