Adolescence: Dynamic Change and Potential Risks

The adolescent stage depicts one of the most dynamic, significant, and influential phases of human growth. It is the evolution of being a child, who is depending on one's parents to a self-reliant and independent adult. The changes that take place during adolescence period involve behavioral, biological, physical, and psychological aspects of functioning (Quas p 27). The wide range of these transitions makes this stage to be risky, due to the notion that problems in one domain may spread and affect the functioning of different elements. Therefore, adolescence is a vulnerable and unbalanced time of changeover where a child becomes an adult.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Adolescence is constantly perceived to be a period that is characterized by difficult growth problem which influences a young person's behavior and development. Although this stage is viewed as a troubled one, some young adults move through this phase without facing trauma or serious problems. Teenagers are at a high risk of finding themselves in risky behavior that can ultimately cause illness or death, for instance, drunk driving, drug abuse, engaging in unsafe sex, and use of weapons, among others (Buchanan & Johna, p 265). Nonetheless, there is a need to promote positive behaviors during adulthood by taking steps that are crucial in not only keeping the young person safe but also preventing health-associated problems. The behavior of young persons is impulsive and risky, although these characters are attributed to different cognitive and neural processes. For instance, one of the primary features of cognitive development is the potential to overrule wrong thoughts and actions and focus on ideal practices, which is not normally witnessed among adolescents.

Subsequently, there are a lot of risks involved in adolescence since it is a developmental stage where teenagers start experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, among other drugs as well as engaging in unprotected sex habits. As a consequence, the outcomes connected with some of these activities can be catastrophic. For instance, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases is at a high rate during the young adult age. A majority of young girls experience unplanned pregnancies, which can enormously influence their life course by reducing future opportunities (Quas, p 45). Recently, my friend Mike was involved in a car accident which almost cost his life. After the investigations were done, it was found out that the driver who was also a teenager was driving under the influence of alcohol. Indeed, there are disproportionately high rates of automobile accidents especially among young persons, where alcohol is typically involved. Additionally, the adolescence stage is faced with immense rates of violence to an extent where homicide has been ranked as the second main cause of death among youths.

The other danger of the young adult phase is developing mental health. Depression is identified as one of the main causes of sickness and disability among young people. Violence, humiliation, poverty, and feeling undervalued can enhance or trigger the risk of developing mental health conditions (Buchanan & Johna, p 273). Therefore, it is crucial to come up with programs that will play a key role in strengthening the relationship between adolescents and their families. In that, when depression or any other problem arises, it can be detected and controlled by a qualified and caring health practitioner.

My seventeen-year-old brother, Victor is concerned more about time and always curious about his future which makes him do a lot of things for himself. My parents say that this character started when he was a child and now as a teenager, this unique identity is still there. This implies that Victor has developed his distinctive personality and the ability to plan towards the future despite him developing physically and emotionally. Therefore, this case illustrates that personality characteristics portray essential differences among individuals in their motivations. It is important to understand the personality of a teenager since it will help in predicting the way they will behave and respond to situations even when they are fully grown.

However, teenagers' personalities tend to change, which is largely associated with the type of people or friends one hangs out with. Young people will hang out with other individuals who have similar traits, changing friends may cause a person's traits to be changed due to peer influence. Developing from childhood to adulthood, young people's personalities and temperaments tend to be stronger as they adopt a more consistent way of thinking, feeling, and acting (Akker et al., p 158). Notably, personality is centered on character, temperament, and environment. Character is based on how individual reasons, behaves and feels; temperament is controlled by an individual's inborn genetic composition and the surrounding involves the teenager's life experiences. Adolescents are more susceptible to be influenced by peer pressure since they strive to feel affiliated and accepted by other young adults. Therefore, they are at a high risk of experiencing dangerous behaviors such as drug abuse and early pregnancy.

To sum up, parents have a role to play in shaping how their children's behavior and personality in adulthood by getting ready for issues that may be problematic and evading hard occurrences altogether. In that, parents have the power to steer a teenager toward their strengths and enhancing their positive experiences. After all, as young people get older they become more confident of themselves and are eager to try out new things until they find out what suits them. As successfully discussed in this work, adolescence is a time when a child's distinct identity emerges and starts to develop moral understanding. Young adults start spending a lot of time with peers and they are at a higher risk of being influenced to try out new things.

Works Cited

Akker, Alithe L. Van Den, et al. "Transitioning to Adolescence: How Changes in Child Personality and Overreactive Parenting Predict Adolescent Adjustment Problems." Development and Psychopathology, vol. 22, no. 1, 2010, pp. 151-163., doi: 10.1017/s0954579409990320.

Buchanan, Christy M., and Johna L. Hughes. "Construction of Social Reality During Early Adolescence: Can Expecting Storm and Stress Increase Real or Perceived Storm and Stress?" Journal of Research on Adolescence, vol. 19, no. 2, 2009, pp. 261-285., doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00596.x.

Quas, Jodi A. "Adolescence: A Unique Period of Challenge and Opportunity for Positive Development." PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2014, pp. 24-69., doi: 10.1037/e578812014-002.