Just Another Generation Of Normal Degrassi Teens

Erikson theorizes that in such a period, adolescents have certain tasks, one of which is identifying who they are. An individual successfully completes the task by staying true to his or her self, whereas when a person fails that stage, it leads to role confusion; consequently creating a weak sense of self. (Block 2011). The stage also entails a variety of personal challenges and limitations faced as well as a series of needs to be met, including: attention, guidance, independence, stability, and acceptance, among other needs. Meeting an adolescent’s needs is fundamental to their healthy development and personal growth. Nevertheless, adolescence remains as puzzling of a period in time for both the teens experiencing it, as well as for the individuals surrounding them, watching them as they navigate through the trials that adolescence brings them.

It has not been too long ago that I still remember my adolescent years. I always remember the unintelligent things I did that I wish could change, but this Psychology class made me realize that all adolescents go through the same things I experienced. Adolescents are known to try to find their identity, go through peer pressure, make mistakes, and try new things. The move I picked that closely represented what adolescents go through was “Mean Girls”. Some of the scenes in the movie seem a little exaggerated, but it has happened in certain high schools even though I had not experienced it personally.

Despite self-awareness, a person makes many decisions everyday, even if many are subtle. Getting out of bed, deciding what clothes to wear, and even the attitude you display to others. While there are many factors that contribute to these decision making, a major factor is who your peers are. Peers, whether they be a close friend, family member, or even a teacher, can influence what you aspire to do, and how you live your life. In The Other Wes Moore, peers’s play a big role shaping the lives and decisions of both Wes’s, further leading them to their places in the current world, just as peers have shaped my sister, Katie’s decisions as well. Friends heavily influence teenagers, attributing to teens’ stubbornness. By setting examples to follow, peers either set positive or negative standards that teens attempt to assimilate, gaining either positive or negative traits.

The play, “Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare, and the article, “The Teenage Brain: Still under construction,” from the National Institute of Mental Health, prove that hormones affect teens in multiple ways. In the play, Romeo falls in love at first sight with Juliet, but their families hate each other. In the end the hate is relieved from the families due to the death of the two children. Also, in the article it explains what causes teenagers to act out, and why it happens. As soon as teenagers stop letting their hormones control them, they will be able to make better decisions and control how they feel.

Hormones sure are a mischievous system in a teen’s brain when it comes to decision making. Without them, Romeo and Juliet may have stayed alive and wouldn’t be so heartbroken over losing each other. They might not have ever fell in love if it was not for their hormones. This would have prevented many issues. But, because teens do have hormones, it is very important to teach them responsible

Teens are wild, mad, insane, and occasionally deranged. We’ve all seen it, and if it wasn’t obvious enough then read “The Terrible Teens” by Elizabeth Kolbert. In her essay, she uses various rhetorical devices such as, metaphors, and climatic word order to keep her writing intriguing. She even keeps the essay credible by showing personal examples of her own teens. Throughout Kolbert’s essay, she effectively uses rhetorical devices, and methods of development to help establish the idea that neurology helps to explain teenagers wild behaviour.

High School culture has changed since the “old days.” Students from all grades are not only striving for academic success, but also participate in many extracurricular activities as outside forces continue to impact social life. With this comes the typical struggles of students figuring out who they are, and what kind of person they want to become as college becomes a daunting factor.

Every public school lunch room is filled with many tables, every day these tables are the perfect place for a student to find where they “belong”. Like Beverly Daniel Tatum states in “Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”, part of the social groups forming in high schools goes to thank adolescents. Tatum writes, “As children enter adolescence, they begin to explore the question of identity, asking ‘Who am I?’ ‘Who can I be?’”(375). At this point in their life everyone begins to see their own interests and hobbies that makes them a little different than others. Because students are starting to realize their differences, in modern day high schools there are many social groups that students can identify with and feel the most comfortable being themselves.

In 2014, advertising, colleges, and parents pressure teenagers to change their identity. They are pushed to earn good grades, participate in clubs and teams, and make good life choices, all with the goal of acceptance to college, and a successful life. Teenagers’ pressures in 2014 are similar to their pressures in 1942 at the Devon School, portrayed in John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace. Here, war, classmates, strict teachers, and society push teenagers to perfection. These forces attempt to form youth’s identity for them, leading to significant challenges.

There is perhaps no greater studied and “troubling” time in a person’s life than their teenage years. From the ages of 13-19, a person grows up- during this time, they began to realize that the world has problems, and to wonder whether those problems have always been their and are just being noticed, or if the world has suddenly began falling apart. This is also the age in which children attend High School- a place where, on one end, there are kids who are still afraid of crossing the street without their parents’ help, and on the other end, students who want nothing more than to break free, explore the world, and exist on their own. It is also the time in a person’s life where they are told they must be ready to do the latter; so, the question

The period of adolescence is crucial in the development of identity and social integration, and for many teens can be very trying. From the moment children begin attending programs such as daycare and elementary schooling, they are transferred from an environment that no longer exclusively contains their parents, to one where they are integrated with other children who are similar in age; also known as peers. In the United States, adolescents spend twice the amount of time within peer groups from a day to day basis than with their parents (Dijkstra & Veenstra 2011). The socialization that occurs within these peer groups plays a large role in influencing the behaviors of adolescents during this developmental period; whether reinforcing positive behaviors such as academic achievement or encouraging questionable behavior and delinquency. The importance of peer groups in contemporary society is accurately represented in the 2004 movie Mean Girls, adapted from self-help book The Queen Bee’s and Wannabees, depicting the life of a young adolescent who struggles to prove herself worthy of being accepted by the dominant social group. Whether it is deciding on identifying with the ‘Brains’ or choosing to imitate the ‘Cheerleaders’ in hopes of obtaining status, overall adolescent behavior is greatly influenced by their peer groups.

Culture, ethnicity, family, sexuality, and society are all factors that can influence a person’s identity. A combination of all these elements usually result in the successful discovery of self-identity. Preadolescents and adolescents often find themselves in a constant battle attempting to find who they are or who they want to be. Adolescents are faced with questions like, What do you want to be when you grow up? What colleges are you looking into? What are your plans after high school?. In a normal process of growth, teens experiment with new activities in order to find their identity, but this is not the case for every teen. Some adolescents do not go through the normal process of experimentation for various reasons.

“Identity Development “ Identity is most simply defined as a person's own sense of self; their personal sense of who they are. Identity development is intrinsically linked with adolescence because, according to John Santrock author of the book entitled Adolescence 15th edition, "...for the first time, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development advance to the point at which the individual can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and identifications to construct a viable path toward adult maturity.” We often see the results of this sorting process in behaviors of adolescents such as adopting and shedding different personas, including speech patterns, clothing styles and peer groups. Although these transitions

Teenage years are the time of a person’s life when they really start exploring their identity, who they are and who they want to be. During these years it can be hard trying to figure out who you are and where you belong, with the constant

Having a busy lifestyle and mixed emotions can lead to teenagers making rushed decisions without reflecting upon them. For example, teenagers develop fast and that can have a negative effect: “The teen years are a time of rapid growth, exploration, and risk taking. Taking risks provides young people the opportunity to test their skills and abilities and discover who they are. But, some risks—such as smoking, using drugs, drinking and driving, and having unprotected sex—can have harmful and long-lasting effects on a teen’s health and well-being” (CDC 1). Usually teenagers have such busy lifestyles and they are growing and developing in a rapid pace. They can make risky decisions that they do not reflect upon because they are growing and have not fully matured. Teenagers want to explore new ideas and in that mindset they can end up making hasty choices. These choices which they make out of haste, impulsively can