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| {{dablink|"Teenager" redirects here. This article is about one of the stages of ]. For the ] band, see ]. For ] song, see ].}} | |||
| ] ] students]] | |||
| '''Adolescence''' (] ''adolescentia'', from ''adolescere'', to grow up) is the period of psychological and social transition between ] and ]hood (gender-specific, ] or ]). In common usage in western, English language countries, "adolescent" and "teenager" may be considered synonyms (though it should be noted that the term 'teenager' is an artifact of the English counting system, not something that occurs in most languages), though the exact endpoints of each category don't always coincide depending on the definition of "adolescent" being used. Adolescence is the transitional stage of ] in which a juvenile matures into an adult. This transition involves biological (i.e. ]), social, and psychological changes, though the biological ones are the easiest to measure objectively. | |||
| "Adolescence" is a cultural and social phenomenon and therefore its end points are not easily tied to physical milestones. The time is identified with dramatic changes in the body, along with developments in a person's psychology and academic career. In the onset of adolescence, children usually complete ] and enter ], such as middle school or high school. A person between early childhood and the teenage years is sometimes referred to as a ] or ]. | |||
| The ages of adolescence vary by culture. The ] (WHO) defines adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 19 years of age.<ref>Goodburn, Elizabeth A., and Ross, David A. (1995). "A Picture of Health: A Review and Annotated Bibliography of the Health of Young People in Developing Countries." Published by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.</ref> In contrast, in the ], adolescence is generally considered to begin somewhere between ages 12 and 14, and end at 19 or 20. As distinct from the varied interpretations of who is considered an "adolescent", the word "teenager" is more easily defined: it describes a person who is thir'''teen''' to nine'''teen''' years of age. | |||
| During this period of life, most children go through the physical stages of ] which often begins between the ages of nine and thirteen. (See ] below) | |||
| Most cultures regard people as becoming adults at various ages of the teenage years. (See ] below) | |||
| ==Puberty== | |||
| {{Main|Puberty}} | |||
| ] is the stage of the human ] in which a ] develops ]s (for example deeper voice in boys, and development of breasts in girls) as his or her hormonal balance shifts strongly towards an adult state. This is triggered by the ], which secretes a surge of ]s into the ] stream and begins the rapid maturation of the ]: the girl's ] and the boy's ]s. | |||
| The onset of puberty in girls appears to be related to body fat percentage. In most Western countries, the average age of ] fell, in a ], over the last century, possibly because of improved nutrition and increased caloric intake. | |||
| Some theorists believe that analysis of data shows the age of onset of menarche to correlate to whether a girl lives with her natural father, a ], or no father at all. Yet others propose a ] connection and attribute the decreased average age of menarche in part to ] or ]. The debates regarding both of these theories are politically charged. | |||
| There is some evidence that certain chemical pollutants can influence the onset of puberty. For instance, DDE (a contaminant and breakdown product of the insecticide DDT) mimics estrogen and is thought to be responsible for some cases of precocious puberty in girls. Polychlorinated and polybrominated biphenyls (PCBs and PBBs) may have similar effects. | |||
| ==Preteens== | |||
| {{main|Preteen}} | |||
| The word '''preteen''' describes a child approaching the teenage years. The ] '''tween''' has the same meaning, and isn't in general use as either a colloquial or scientific term. This word comes from the age being ''between'' that of a child and a teenager, and perhaps it has also been inspired by the first sounds of numeral ''twelve'' and the similarity to ''teen''. | |||
| Preteens are increasingly a specifically targeted market segment by business, because they tend to maintain the preferences they develop at this age. Even ]s are targeted toward this group. | |||
| There is no universally agreed definition of "preteen", but the term may roughly be considered as covering the ages from 10 to 12 inclusive. | |||
| == Teenagers == | |||
| {{main|Youth}} | |||
| A '''teenager''' or '''teen''' is a person whose age is a number ending in "teen" in the English language: that is to say, someone from the age of 13 to the age of 19. The word is of recent origin, only having appeared in the mid 20th century. <ref></ref><ref>Grace Palladino. "Teenagers: An American History". Basic Books, 1997.</ref> | |||
| Equivalent words in other languages may apply to a larger age bracket, including (at least some) preteens; e.g. ''tiener'' in Dutch officially from 12, colloquially from 10. | |||
| In Western culture, a distinct ] has developed. This culture is often distinctly different from the mainstream culture, sometimes in rebellion against it, and thus is often referred to as a ] or ]. | |||
| == Emerging adulthood == | |||
| Some scholars have theorized a new stage of development, post-adolescence and pre-adulthood. Arnett (2000) calls this stage "emerging adulthood," and argues that it is characterized by "relative independence from social roles and from normative expectations. ... Emerging adulthood is a time of life when many different directions remain possible, when the scope of independent exploration of life's possibilities is greater for most people than it will be at any other period of the life course." (p.469). Arnett, notes, however, that this stage is situationally and culturally constructed (i.e., people in other countries may not experience this as a unique life stage.) | |||
| == Psychology of adolescents == | |||
| {{Main|Adolescent psychology}} | |||
| {{POV-section}} | |||
| {{citations missing|Psychology of adolescents|date=January 2007}} | |||
| At this age there is also a greater probability of drug and alcohol use, or mental health disorders such as ], ]s such as anorexia, and ]. The unstable emotions or lack of ] among some adolescents may also lead to ]. | |||
| Searching for a unique ] is another problem that adolescents face. Some, but not all, teenagers often challenge authority or the rules as a means to establish their individuality. They may crave adulthood and to find their place in the society. | |||
| ] denoted this period as one of "Storm and Stress". Conflict at this developmental stage is normal and not unusual. ], on the other hand, attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture. ] attributed this stage in development with greatly increased cognitive abilities, which can cause conflict as the individual has gained the cognitive ability to reason, dispute, and theorize on an adult level. | |||
| The ] theory, on the other hand, does not see this as a qualitatively different stage, but rather just part of the uniformally gradual slope in gaining more experience. Another equally interesting view is the ], which states that adolescence is merely a creation of sociohistory. Especially important in this view are the sociohistorical circumstances at the beginning of the twentieth century, a time when legislation was enacted that ensured the dependency of youth and made their move into the economic sphere more manageable. | |||
| ] is sometimes brought up when addressing adolescent psychology as well. In many groups, one encounters a surprising number of teens who are bored, unmotivated, and pessimistic about their future. A positive psychology styled approach attempts to start up their internal fires, help them develop the complex skills and dispositions necessary to take charge of their lives, to become socially competent, compassionate and psychologically vigorous adults. The article "Positive psychology and adolescent mental health: false promise or true breakthrough?", by ], discusses it more. | |||
| == Adolescent sexuality== | |||
| Physical maturation resulting from puberty leads to an interest in ], sometimes leading to ]. Increasingly, teenage sexual encounters do not occur in the context of a romantic relationship, but in an impersonal, merely sexual "hook up."<ref></ref> The "impersonality of twenty-first-century adolescent sex victimizes girls" and "plenty of harm" is done to boys as well.<ref></ref> As adolescents are not mentally or emotionally prepared to handle feelings and emotions that come with sex, nor financially able to support children, "early sexual activity - whether in or out of a romantic relationship - does far more harm than good."<ref></ref> | |||
| According to US News & World reports, among experts one thing "nearly everyone agrees on is that STDs and risky 'anything but | |||
| intercourse' behaviors are rampant among teens."<ref>Risky Business, US News & World Report, Cover Story, 5/27/02</ref> "Teens - and preteens - are too young to fathom the consequences, both physical and emotional, of" sexual activities.<ref>Risky Business, US News & World Report, Cover Story, 5/27/02</ref> According to Lynn Ponton, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco and author of The Sex Lives of Teenagers, "early initiation into sexual behaviors a toll on teens' mental health. The result, she says, can be 'dependency on boyfriends and girlfriends, serious depression around breakups and cheating, lack of goals.'"<ref>Risky Business, US News & World Report, Cover Story, 5/27/02</ref> | |||
| Of US teens aged 15-19 who are having sexual intercourse almost all (98%) use at least one form of contraception. The most popular form, at 94% usage, are condoms and the birth control pill is second at 61%. <ref>http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/U-S-Teen-Sexual-Activity-Fact-Sheet.pdf </ref> U.S. teen pregnancies had decreased 28% between 1990 and 2000 from 117 pregnancies per every 1,000 teens to 84 per 1,000 by the year 2,000.<ref>http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/U-S-Teen-Sexual-Activity-Fact-Sheet.pdf </ref> Research in the United States has shown that pregnancy and STD transmission in sexually active teens has gone down over the past 10 years.{{fact}} | |||
| Contraceptive such as condoms lower the risk of concieving a child and can help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, but they are not 100% effective.<ref> http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn_myths.cfm</ref> One STD that can not be prevented with condoms or the birth control pill is the ] (HPV). "More than 30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted, and they can infect the genital area of men and women including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), or anus, and the linings of the vagina, cervix, or rectum. Most people who become infected with HPV will not have any symptoms and will clear the infection on their own."<ref>http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm</ref> | |||
| Some of these viruses are called "high-risk" types, and may cause abnormal Pap tests. They may also lead to cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus, or penis. Others are called "low-risk" types, and they may cause mild Pap test abnormalities or genital warts. Genital warts are single or multiple growths or bumps that appear in the genital area, and sometimes are cauliflower shaped.<ref>http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm</ref> | |||
| According to the American Academy of Pediatrics "early sexual intercourse among American adolescents represents a major public health problem. Although early sexual activity may be caused by a variety of factors, the media are believed to play a significant role. In film, television, and music, sexual messages are becoming more explicit in dialogue, lyrics, and behavior. In addition, these messages contain unrealistic, inaccurate, and misleading information that young people accept as fact. Teens rank the media second only to school sex education programs as a leading source of information about sex." <ref>, PEDIATRICS Vol. 107 No. 1 January 2001, pp. 191-194</ref> | |||
| The harm done to teenagers who engage in sexual activities is especially true for girls. In a 2003 study, 89% of girls reported feeling pressured by boys to have sex.<ref></ref> Before "age 15, a majority of first intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary."<ref>, US Department of Health and Human Services</ref> Girls will often become intoxicated before engaging in sexual activities because it "numbs the experience for them, making it less embarrassing and less emotionally painful."<ref></ref> A girl is "far more likely to feel used and abused after a typical" hook up.<ref></ref> According to the US Department of Health and Human Services early sexual experiences are a problem for several reasons. | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| First, the younger the age of first sexual intercourse, the more likely that the experience was coercive, and forced sexual intercourse is related to long lasting negative effects. Secondly, the younger the age of first sexual intercourse, the greater the risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. This is because those who begin having sex at young ages are generally exposed to risk for a longer time, are less likely to use contraception, generally have more sexual partners, and tend to engage in higher risk sexual behaviors such as alcohol or drug use prior to sexual intercourse and having multiple concurrent sexual partners. It must be recognized as well that early intercourse is frequently not voluntary. Among females, as noted above, the majority of initial sexual experiences that occur at age 14 or younger are non-voluntary.<ref>, US Department of Health and Human Services</ref> | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| Boys are less likely to see sex as connected to an emotional relationship. However, by the time a young man is "in his early twenties, he will rely on his girlfriend or wife to be his primary emotional caregiver."<ref> See also </ref> If he can not establish an emotional relationship with a woman, who does view sex as connected to intimacy, then he is more likely to become depressed, commit suicide or die from illness.<ref>Becoming Married and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study of a Cohort of Young Adults, Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 58, 1996</ref> With all the issues and problems relating to adolescent sex, according to the Medical College of Wisconsin, "Ideally, won’t be having sex."<ref>, HealthLink, MCW Health News, 09-13-2002</ref> | |||
| ==Social and cultural== | |||
| {{Main|Youth culture}} | |||
| In commerce, this generation is seen as an important target. ]s, contemporary ], ]s, ] programs, ]s, ] and clothes are heavily marketed and often popular amongst adolescents. | |||
| In the past (and still in some cultures) there were ceremonies that celebrated adulthood, typically occurring during adolescence. '']'' (literally "adult ceremony") is a Japanese example of this. ] is a coming of age ceremony for males in the ] world. In ], 12-year-old females and 13-year-old males become ] and often have a celebration to mark this coming of age. Among some denominations of ], the ] or ] of ] is received by adolescents and may be considered the time at which adolescents becomes members of the church in their own right. ] boys also have a coming of age ceremony in which, upon reaching adolescence, the males state a promise to never do anything to shame their families or their village. This was also continued among ] slaves in the early days of slavery before the practice was outlawed. In ], girls will often have a "]" party to celebrate turning the aforementioned age, a tradition similar to the ] in ] culture. | |||
| Teenagers have also been an important factor in many movements for positive social change around the world. The popular history of adolescents participating in these movements may perhaps start with ], and extend to present times with popular ], ], and other efforts to make ] heard. | |||
| == Legal issues == | |||
| {{POV-section}} | |||
| {{Unreferenced|date=December 2006}} | |||
| A number of social scientists, including anthropologist ] and sociologist ], have repeatedly noted the contradictory treatment of laws affecting adolescents in the United States. As Males has noted, the US Supreme Court has, "explicitly ruled that policy-makers may impose adult responsibilities and punishments on individual youths as if they were adults at the same time laws and policies abrogate adolescents’ rights en masse as if they were children." | |||
| Internationally, those over a certain age (often 18, though this varies) are legally considered responsible adults. Those who are under the age of legal responsibility may be considered too young to be held accountable for criminal action. This is called the ]. | |||
| The issue of ] affecting political, social, educational, and moral circumstances is of growing significance around the world. Youth-led organizations around the world have fought for ], the ] seeking to gain teenagers the ], to secure more ], and demanding better schools through ]. | |||
| Youth are also becoming more involved in community leadership, governance, and service. ]ism among youth is at a record high, <!-- REFERENCE? --> while ] in schools and ] in communities is being engaged in community organizations, government boards, and in youth-serving nonprofit staffs and leadership. | |||
| The sale of selected items such as ]s, ], and ]s with sexual or violent content is often prohibited based on age. Such age restrictions vary widely. In practice, it is common that young people engage in underage ] or ], and in some cultures this is tolerated to a certain degree. In the ], teenagers are usually allowed to drive at 16 (each state sets its own minimum driving age of which a ] may be imposed), but they cannot legally purchase or consume alcohol until 21. In ] it is more common for the driving age to be higher (18, usually) while the drinking age is lower than that of the US (usually 18 when unaccompanied). The traditional age of full maturity in the U.S. is 21 and, until recently (see: ]) people were not legally allowed to vote until this age. At present, citizens may vote at 18 and usually can run in local and state elections at that age (and sometimes do; in rare cases, ] students have run for school board positions{{fact}}, and at least one has been elected ].<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4429192.stm</ref> One must be 25, however, to serve in the ] and 30 to serve in the ], or 35 to serve as the ]. | |||
| Since the advent of the ] in 1989, almost every country (except the U.S. & Somalia) in the world has become voluntarily legally committed to advancing an anti-discriminatory stance towards young people of all ages. This is a legally binding document which secures ] throughout society while acting against unchecked ], ], ], and ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| <references/> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{commonscat|Young people}} | |||
| {{wikibooks|Guide to Growing Up}} | |||
| *Activism | |||
| **] | |||
| **] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] - the irrational fear of adolescents gaining more rights or showing behavioral, emotional or social emancipation | |||
| *] - a sexual preference in which an adult is primarily or exclusively sexually attracted to postpubescent adolescents | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ===Human development and psychology=== | |||
| *] | |||
| * ] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] particularly stages 5 & 6 | |||
| *] particularly stage 3 | |||
| ===Compare with=== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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| * | |||
| * article by the . | |||
| * - Article by Mardi Keyes on the origins and effects of modern attitudes regarding adolescence. | |||
| * | |||
| * - Offering diverse informative articles related to Teenage Parenting. | |||
| * - Information and advice for teenagers through email, live help, chatroom and a large support forum. | |||
| * [http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/U-S-Teen-Sexual-Activity-Fact-Sheet.pdf | |||
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