What is Adolescence:
The adolescence is he period of life after childhood and before adulthood. It runs from the first signs of puberty appear, between 10 and 12 years old, until the complete development of the body and the beginning of adulthood, between approximately 19 and 20 years old.
Etymologically, the word comes from Latin teenager.
See also Puberty.
Characteristics of adolescence
During adolescence, an important transformation is experienced at various levels in the human being. The child begins to feel changes in his body and mind that will take him into adulthood.
In the physical
It is a time of physical growth and hormonal changes. You grow in height, weight, body fat and muscle. Acne appears, adult teeth are defined, and changes are experienced in the vocal cords and voice.
Sexually
In addition to a change in the genitals and the appearance of hair both in the pubis and in the armpits and throughout the body in both sexes, boys begin to produce sperm and have their first ejaculation, and girls increase their breasts, or mammary glands, and the first menstruation or menarche appears.
Psychologically
The adolescent begins to know how to control his emotions, and to feel and develop the emotions that are identified with love, both as a partner and as a friend; He can choose which friends and classmates he will love, and begins to seek self-affirmation, identify his Self, and develop his self-esteem. In addition, he begins to learn tools to achieve individual autonomy as an adult, and continues to develop abstract and formal thinking.
Stages of adolescence
Adolescence, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), extends from 10 or 11 years to 19 years, and is fundamentally divided into two phases or stages:
early adolescence: is the period between 10 years (girls) or 11 years (boys), and 14-15 years.
Late adolescence: It is the period between 14 and 15 years old until 19 years old.
This is followed by full youth, which is the period that extends from 19 years to 24 or 25 years of age. Some psychologists consider it part of adolescence.
Risks associated with adolescence
Adolescence is a stage in which people begin to expose themselves to life in a way they were not exposed to before. Hence, nearly 1.7 million adolescents die each year from various causes.
In The education, the adolescent begins to be more responsible for his or her time and decisions. If you do not have adequate supervision, this could lead to misused free time, poor school performance, contact with drugs (tobacco, alcohol, etc.). Furthermore, at this stage many begin to drive cars, which brings certain risks if one is not careful enough.
In health, the adolescent begins to expose himself to acquiring some eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, malnutrition). Furthermore, when he begins sexual activity, there is a risk of early pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
He social ambitOn the other hand, it is very important for teenagers to have friends, be popular, admired and loved, etc. If this does not happen, the adolescent can fall into depression, develop suicidal tendencies, and even aggressive or criminal behavior.
See also