Why are Adolescents Emotional?
Introduction
Adolescence is the most important period in the human life.This is a period in human development beginning at puberty( 10- 12 yrs) and ending when full adult status has been attained (22 -25 yrs).
During this period, developmental changes starts to appear in both boys and girls.
Physical changes in adolescents
Girls have sledder shoulders, their hips become broaden, enlargement of breasts , growth of pubic hair, onset of menstruation, growth of womb/ vagina and their voice becomes melodious.
Boys have wider shoulders, broad chest,growth of penis and testes, enlargement of muscles, their voice becomes low and break,growth of beards and experience wet dreams at night.
Adolescents have later physiological changes in the internal system of the body. These systems include:
1.digestive
2. Respiratory
3. Circulatory
4. Blood pressure
5. Hearts and purse rates
Due to physical changes,many adolescents become anxious whether they have the right shape and size.
Psychological effects of physical appearances
- Adolescents are not satisfied with their physical appearances such as being fat,acne, big breast etc.
- It can lead to anxiety, withdrawal and depression if they are not informed of the changes in advance.
- They worry alot eg. girls worry about menstrual accident where boys may worry about uncontrolled erections.
- Adolescents become very self conscious and they feel that everybody is watching their every movements.
Solutions to the above problems/effects
- Prepare the child on the onset of the menstruation and wet dreams ahead of time.
- Teachers and parents should provide guidance and counselling to those children explaining them the physical changes they would expect to find.
- Be friendly to the children and be ready to correct them appropriately.
Cognitive development in adolescents
This refers to any process where an individual becomes aware of or Obtaining knowledge of objects or situations. This includes, sensing,testing,touching,hearing using the senses. It also includes persiving, reorganising, conceptualizing, reasoning and problem solving.
Their thinking is characterised by:
- They can reason about abstract ideas. This means they can think about the future in terms of symbols and imaginary events.
- They acquire the ability to generalise facts
- They are able to solve problems
- They are able to make decisions
- There is increased memory.
Factors affecting cognitive development
- Biological factors÷ This involves mental readness.
- Equilibration÷ It refers to the process of achieving harmoneous relationships between one thought and environment.
- Social -cultural factors÷ This include mother or parents child interaction, diet and nutrition.
- Stimulating Environment÷ This is determined by poor or better environment.
Emotional Development in adolescents
Adolescents' emotions are increased by increase in physical changes. Emotions may be termed as internal reactions or feelings which may be either positive such as joy, laughter etc. or negativesuch as anger,bitter ,distress etc.
For good emotional Development, love and security must be provided by parents or caregivers.
Emotion can be expressed by:
Vocal qualities -one's voice and words convey emotion.
Body movements-gestures and movements for the whole body will portray emotion.
Facial expressions-A smile will tell about an individual.
Why are adolescents Emotional ?
- Social expectations-Due to the physical growth, they are expected to act as a mature people yet they have not matured intellectually
- Adjustment to the members of the opposite sex--As the adolescents grow, they are attracted to the opposite sex and are not able to understand the correct social behaviour. They tend to be inadequate, shy and uneasy.
- Religious conflict ‐‐going to the church
- Adjusting at home, school and society
- Unfavourable relationships at home with their parents due to lack of parental guidance.
- School achievement -- incase a child fails,it heighten emotion which may make them to commit suicide, ran away or withdrawal.
- Vocational concern--what do they expect after school. They are affected emotionally when they fail to be employed.
Social development
Social development is characterised by:
- Search for role model. They identify with cerebrity such as musicians, actor,news anchor etc.
- They dates the members of the opposite sex.
- They develop peer language e.g sheng
- They Search for independence from teachers and parents.
- Girls are ahead of boys in social development. They dates boys who are older than them.
Moral Development
It refers to the process by which an individual learn to determine what is right or wrong in the society. Morality entails what is acceptable in a certain community.
Adolescents learn that rules are flexible and may be subjected to change.
Morality may be learned through the following:
. Reward and punishment
When adolescents receive praises and approvals for their behaviours, they are likely to engage in such behaviours in the future.
. Imitation of role model
When the adolescents are exposed to their parents and teachers who have good morals, they emurates these moral behaviours.
Basic morals that adolescents should have
- Honesty
- Respect for other people's properties
- Self discipline.
- Respect of other people's views or ideas
- Patience and tolerance
- Sensitivity to other people's needs.
Factors that influence moral Development
Moral Developments are influenced by:
- Families- The family give direct instructions eg proverbs or storytelling.
- Culture and community. Different communities have their own moral values to be followed.
- Peer group experience. Adolescents copy behaviours from their peers and friends.
- Mass media.-Adolescents may learn bad or good behaviours from different media through observation and imitation.
Problems and behaviours encountered during Adolescence
The physical and psychological changes that adolescents go through during this period result into some disorders. These are:
. Depression
Characterised by boredom, restlessness, disturbances in eating and sitting, imaginary ill health etc. All this leads to ant -social behaviour
. Adolescents suicide
Adolescents who fails to explore in sport ,job Mark etc feel detached from the society and commit suicide to solve their problems.
Early warning of suicide among adolescents include talking about suicide, withdrawing from families and friends ,truancy and poor school performance, a history of suicide attempts, disturbances in eating or sleeping, sudden change in mood and behaviour etc.
. Conduct disorders
These are persistence behaviour in adolescents that violate the basic rights of others and the norms of the society.
. Substance abuse
This is taking of alcohol, cigarette,miraa ,bhang,heroin etc.
. Eating disorders/habit
. poor communication with parents and other adults
They use a language only understood by themselves.
. Sexual related problems
E.g premarital sex,unwanted pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality,rape, pornography, masterbastion,leisbiansm etc.
. Choice of friends
They tend to choose bad friends who influence them negatively.
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