The problems of adolescence seem so insignificant for adults, but the biggest problem for adolescents themselves. The famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev identified the main causes of misunderstanding between generations in the novel "Fathers and Sons". Youthful maximalism, the desire to fulfill oneself, life plans are the main neoplasms of youthful age.
How old is the child becoming a youth?
Researchers in the field of physiology and biology have still not agreed on what time it starts. Some scientists say the following:
- For young men it is 17-21 years old.
- For girls - 16-20 years old.
At this moment, the child is formed into a personality, with self-awareness, capable of evaluating his own actions and actively developing physiologically. All of the above is called the period of growing up.
Western scientists in the field of age-related morphology combine youth and adolescence. At this time, the young man is actively developing, his working capacity is growing, and attempts are being made to self-realization.
More on periodization
Scientists did not agree in the general opinion that the neoplasm corresponds to early youthful development, because it did not distinguish its periods. The time frames are extremely blurred and differentiate differently from other cultures and teachings.
It is customary to consider the youthful period of growing up different from the teenage one, since this is already a passed stage of a person's life. There is also a periodization of various ages like maturity and youth. And on the basis of this, psychologists identify types of personalities, we will talk about this later.
In ancient cultures that have survived to this day, early adolescence comes in connection with a mysterious ritual. A teenager is usually given a tattoo or a public act on him.
In the Middle Ages, the framework of youth was not highlighted. At that time, growing up of children was much faster than today, due to the low level and quality of life of that time.
From a younger age, children worked on the farm, so they helped their family survive. It was also customary to give birth to many children and not at all because of an active social policy to increase the population. And with practical calculation, because the more children, the more working hands, and the chances of survival of at least one of them increase dramatically.
In the Middle Ages young men could be called a man who did not have a wife and lives alone. The social development of adolescence is variable and has several upper boundaries.
According to some reports, the period of growing up begins at 11 years, and ends at 21. And other researchers in this area claim that youth ends at 22 or 23 years. How easy it is to replace, there is no exact opinion on this matter.
Youth is also divided into early (this is the period of study in grades 10-11) and late, which begins after graduation and the beginning of education in higher education. In the historical framework, youth differentiates differently. We grow up later than our ancestors. This is due to accelerated acceleration and long training in educational institutions.
The concept of youth in the book of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The discovery of the concept of "youth" refers to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was born in 1762 at the dawn of the development of individualism. In those years, ideas of self-improvement, actualization of personality and confrontation against existing customs and the order of things were actively promoted.
Neoplasms corresponding to the early youthful age of that time are described in the book of Rousseau "Emil, or On education." After its release, people started talking about the romanticization of man, about the importance of feelings and emotions. In it, youth is presented as a rebirth of personality, the age of passions and rash decisions. In general, everything is in the spirit of sentimentalism.
Age features
The physical development of an individual is completed on average by the age of 21. At this point, growth stops, the reproductive system no longer undergoes reforms, and a new member of the “adult” society appears in front of us.
In psychological terms, the neoplasm of early adolescence seems to be almost the final development of the personality. Before this, the individual suffers many inconveniences in the form of a frequent change of mood and inability to choose a single point of view for himself. As well as strengthening the role of self-determination and increasing individuality, up to the state of rational egoism.
During this period, a personality is actively formed. A worldview is created, goals, tasks and position appear on various issues (social, political, moral). If nothing prevents the development of a person, then the result is a socially mature person.
During the development of the youth, the need for custody is reduced. Parents no longer act as the main authority, and attempts are made to monetary or any other independence.
Preferences in group communication are replaced by a desire for strong individual contacts. An individual does not lose touch with societies relevant to him, however, their number decreases sharply, and selectivity appears in the choice of a circle of communication.
Growth and development
The physical and puberty of the individual makes youth the most interesting and at the same time one of the most difficult periods in life. As noted, yesterday's teenager is striving for independence in all kinds of areas. The individual seeks to expand the boundaries of consciousness and asks himself questions of a cognitive nature:
- "Who am I? What am I?".
- “What am I worth? What I can?".
- "What I like?".
A person seeks to become aware of himself as a person using social roles. In adolescence, the individual perceives himself as a person who interacts with his own kind. Understanding begins to form that everyone performs some kind of social function.
At this moment, he begins to play a certain role, which is more preferable for him; the desire to know his own body is also rapidly developing. Each social role imposes on him a circle of duties and responsibilities.
A person forms a self-esteem, reinterprets past values and actively checks ("what am I worth?"). This is expressed in senseless bravado, ostentatious courage, vulnerability, sensitivity and other conditions.
Ignorance of how you should be naturally causes emotional instability. Moral principles are only being formed, and the young man is striving for maturity and is impatient in choosing. For this, he is paid with a correlating self-esteem, from understated to prohibitively high. On one day he can be cheerful and cheerful, and on the other he can be reserved and unsociable.
Favorable conditions for the formation of a young man
Early adolescence is actively developing in democratic countries, where individualism, participation in politics and the development of one's own country are encouraged. For example, in the United States of America, adolescents have all the necessary preferences. Manifestation of initiative is encouraged by the state, which is actively creating a favorable environment for personality development and the most “soft” transition to emotional maturity.
In such countries, young men are treated fully and their opinions are often taken into account. It is vital for adolescents to know that they are respected and treated well. When entrusting them with important tasks, such as planning or management, they try to prove themselves. In this way, teens learn about their inclinations and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
In the USSR, the life of young men was somewhat infringed upon by the party, and freedom of choice was limited by the state. And when trying to go beyond and test himself in a new image, the teenager was often subjected to harsh criticism from parents and teachers. This formed a dependence on public opinion, and, accordingly, the individual’s self-esteem was correlated with what others would think of him.
A skilled teacher does not order the student to perform one or another action, but skillfully brings him to the necessity of its fulfillment. In this case, the teenager will think that the decision was made by him. Due to low salaries, and this is a problem for the whole CIS, teachers lose motivation to innovate and apply new teaching methods. And because of the additional written load in the form of filling out unnecessary forms, reports that no one reads, the motivation of the teacher is reduced to a critical point.
Relationship
Communication in adolescence is reduced to narrower than it was before. If the teenager did not particularly seek to limit communication, the young man is more selective in this regard. Since communication with parents is practically lost, the individual begins to make up for it through communication with others.
Psychologist M.E. Litvak identified three stages of social interaction:
- A child (infantile, irresponsible).
- Adult (rational person).
- Parent (moralist, guardian).
During adolescence, the teenager tries on various masks and, in dealing with younger children, prefers the position of the parent, which is why relations with siblings deteriorate.
Despite the need for independence, some teenagers raised by authoritarian parents try not to leave them and retain respect for them throughout their lives. It is impossible to consider this positively, even from the position of the parent.
An individual who depends on the opinion of the parents remains in the position of the child and does not seek to take responsibility. And in world practice there are many cases where, at first glance, adults who, by definition, must take responsibility, cannot do this.
Roles in adolescence can be distributed unevenly, which is caused by the social stratification of society. And contacts between individuals from different groups are practically minimized. This is not because of the high self-esteem of one of them, but because of the difference in worldview, social status, etc.
The relationship between man and woman
According to statistics, in the United States of America, the sexual life of young people begins before the age of 18. In the countries of the post-Soviet space at this age, a teenager is only the first time trying the capabilities of his body. Although trends suggest otherwise, the generation that was born at the beginning of the 20th century is more prone to having early sexual relationships.
This leads to pregnancy, infection with dangerous sexual diseases and low social responsibility. Usually these are sexual contacts with unfamiliar people, while the teenager is intoxicated.
US authorities are spending large amounts of money to prevent the spread of HIV infection, using all administrative resources. Religious followers are also involved in promoting safe sex. In lessons in schools, young Americans are told about contraceptives, sex toys, and sexual abstinence.
In the CIS, things are still deplorable; in St. Petersburg alone, the number of HIV-infected is 1% of all city residents. And every year their indicator is growing. Currently, HIV treatment is not possible; to maintain a normal life, the state buys or produces drugs that can contain the infection.
And this is not all the problems of adolescence in the sexual sphere. Accessibility for some is envy of others. And in order to somehow compensate for this, the individual resorts to watching explicit videos. Frequent viewing of such content is addictive, and the attitude towards girls changes from “interested” to “inert”.
Behavior problems
Researchers of behavioral problems in adolescents speak of 20% of negative variations in individual behavior. What is caused by strong emotional fluctuations from one extreme to another, asceticism, avoiding problems in the fantasy world, refusal to realize intentions, problems with sexual development, or vice versa, an active sex life.
An important feature of adolescence is the formation of personality associated with socialization. And depending on the group of communication that the individual chooses, the behavioral model built by him changes, adapting to the interests of the association of adolescents.
Emotional instability stems from the inability to identify your own "I". Also, due to external stimuli of the psyche of a teenager, misunderstanding between a parent and a child can act as a catalyst.
The life of most adolescents is monotonous, and it is not subject to frequent changes. The appearance of a new attention in his zone causes uncertainty in actions and attitude to the situation, due to the banal ignorance of what to do.
Suicides
The rapid social, political and economic development and the increase in the number of preferences for adolescents do not cause a general sense of happiness among young people. According to official US statistics, the number of deaths of their own free will among adolescents from 1955 to 1985 increased by 3 times.
In adolescence and youth, the individual seeks to know himself, and in case of failure, he chooses the easiest way to get rid of problems. In the 1990s, the cause of death "suicide" overtook accidents and occupied an "honorable" second place.
And at the same time, most young men could not successfully end their lives and actually doomed themselves to a permanent visit to psychologists in rehabilitation centers. There were difficulties with finding a job, employers did not want to see staff with mental instability.
According to statistics, girls are more prone to suicidal thoughts. However, guys are more effective, they are four times more likely to commit suicide. Psychologists of adolescence identify three reasons why a teenager wants to lay hands on himself:
- Frequent depression caused by hormonal imbalance or individual weakness.
- The problem of fathers and children, when parents do not accept effective methods of raising their children, but rely on school, college, friends, etc.
- Hopelessness in the family.
Which neoplasm corresponds to early adolescence?
The first signs of the onset of development begin in the 10th and 11th grades. A person seeks to know himself through the awareness of others. Pretentiousness in relation to life, as a rule, decreases. Professions are chosen more realistic, rather than fantastic and unrealizable in a given period of time.
Personalization becomes a teenager’s top priority. The search for the meaning of life, the cherished goal, to which we must strive, also begins. With a more conscious approach to oneself, an individual has a need for intellectual and social development.
But not every teenager is going through a period of growing up, with the accompanying negative emotions. Their development occurs gradually, and then they are easily integrated with the environment. In the novel “Ordinary Story” by Ivan Goncharov, the main character was a typical romance, waiting for all “sincere outpourings”. Some teenagers do not feel the need for such frank actions, they are more rational and practical.
Despite the favorable course of youth, the above described individuals have a number of disadvantages. As a rule, they do not prove their point of view and have friendly relations with parents and teachers. This leads to passivity of the person, a little enthusiasm for what is happening. The main indicator of success for them is personal authority and the opinion of others.
Their calm in the emotional sphere does not contribute to personal development. Many psychologists argue that the formation of personality is possible only through moral suffering. Having got rid of them, a completely new person appears before society. He is characterized by a creative approach to business, flexibility of thinking, high social intelligence and the desire to take responsibility for his life.
Not without the third option for the formation of personality. The neoplasm of adolescence in this case is self-regulation, which controls emotional processes. Usually, such a teenager determines his goal early and follows it. He acts as an authority among peers, characterized as disciplined and balanced. However, this type is unable to relax, the palette of his emotions is limited.
Attitude towards adults
Another distinctive feature of adolescence is communication with wiser people. The teenager believes that through dialogue with an adult he will receive important information. This trend is actively developing in high school.
As noted earlier, the young man seeks to limit himself from his parents in order to gain independence. However, when growing up, the individual understands the importance of family relationships. And they appear on a fundamentally new level when two personalities with formed views meet. In adults, the young man sees the "standard", that is, what he wants to be in the future.
Although relations with adults are built amicably, they do not reach familiarities. The older generation is a kind of repository of valuable information, from where teens get the necessary information. And irrelevant data is discarded.
Youthful maximalism
The search for the ideal is a torment. A teenager wants to see incompatible qualities in himself or has an absolutely unrealistic idea of other people. He distinguishes the more successful as an absolute to which one must strive. However, he may not have the necessary qualities, and his personal growth will stop.
The youthful person desires all the best and everything that causes him less bewilderment. For confident people, this is expressed in the pursuit of the most beautiful girl, the best clothes, etc. During this period, adolescents, as a rule, are uncompromising in relation to themselves, follow the principles of "all or nothing."
However, maximalism has significant advantages. He acts as a launching platform for career growth. The teenager believes that he can do almost everything, and with enviable tenacity strives for this, without being distracted by the details.
Maximalists easily make a career under authoritarian regimes, such as in the Third Reich or the Soviet Union. The reign of the dictators Stalin and Hitler was characterized by uncompromising and intransigence.
The young man considers his point of view to be the only correct one, in which maximalism encourages him. He gives determination to the individual in polemic disputes with teachers or peers. To convince such a person is almost impossible, but his views undergo changes over time.
Such personalities are selfish and self-confident, and the lack of life experience is compensated by “sound” reasoning about life. It seems to such a teenager that he has known life and no one has the right to teach him. He himself is able to act as a teacher.
With age, a teenager forgets about his "true" beliefs and increasingly understands how wrong he was. The period of attempting self-awareness begins, with a transition to a special form of growth - psychological maturity.