Non Parental Adults

“It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things,”. Children mature as they grow older. Manifestations of maturity include; overcoming adversities, perseverance, and making decisions that positively impact one’s future.

For those of us that are parents, we know that raising a child to adulthood is not an easy task but one which we do lovingly (hopefully) and responsibly. I’ll go out on a limb to say here that everyone agrees that the teenage years are the most challenging. The general consensus is that teenagers are unruly, aggressive, careless, spoiled and dependent on technology. On the other hand, I believe along with a small group of other parents that teenagers are also brilliant and in the process of becoming and reaching their potential and that they deserve much more respect than what they are given.

Emerging adults have reached a step up from childhood but are not yet ready to fully take on adult responsibilities. This part of life is open to many new experiences which can be very good for the morality of this upcoming generation of adults. People find themselves changing majors in college or taking different classes to explore their interests and find out where they best belong in their future career field.

Boundaries must become flexible to allow the adolescent to experience things independently, and still be able to come back and depend on their parents if needed. Parents must recognize that they cannot control all aspects of their child’s life anymore. Some changes that occur may include the early beginnings of caring for grandparents (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p.18).

As a young person moves from childhood into adulthood there are many changes that they will face with freedoms, rights and responsibilities. These may include changes in their

Social Development: Although they are considered an adult, they will continue to seek advice and guidance from others as they lack experience.

any person who is not a parent of his but who has parental responsibility for him; and

As boundaries are pushed, the standards of what it means to be an adult are changing. One factor that is keeping our young adults from becoming functioning members of society is their lack of independence. In Eve Tushnet’s “You Can Go Home Again,” a 2008 study showed that out of those who have returned home or those who never left the nest, “few contributed financially to the household or [do] chores”(par. 5). If the leaders of our future generations refuse to contribute to their homes, what can they contribute to the betterment of our society? There is a growing stigma around adults who live with their parents yet these consequences are not proving any prevention, and those who ignore the reputation are being described as having “failed to launch,” (par. 4). The numbers of those adults are steadily rising. As less emphasis is placed upon the value of responsibilities, adults feel that they are given the excuse to move back home after college or at least find a way to depend upon their parents again. An article by Karen L. Fingerman and Frank F. Furstenberg entitled "You Can Go Home Again," argues for a recent study depicting that almost 70 percent of parents still provide some type of “practical assistance” to their children every month. This specific reliance teaches adolescents that they will never have to work to their maximum potential as their parents will never truly stop cleaning up their mess. While it must be considered that higher satisfaction and clearer life goals have been reported amongst those receiving assistance (par. 3), this gives leeway to indolence and overdependence, essentially teaching our children that effort is not necessary so long as you are

In this paper I plan to discuss the developmental stages of adolescence. Adolescents are also referred to as "teenagers" or "young adults." Adolescence begins after the childhood stage and ends right before adulthood. The years of adolescence range from 12 years old to 21 years old. The years of adolescence can be quite a roller coaster ride. Young people in this stage encounter a great deal of changes in their life as they prepare for adulthood. I will discuss emotional, intellectual, physiological, and social domains of development and how it relates to adolescents. I will also discuss some helpful tips for teachers to aide in communicating effectively to adolescents and understanding their

Young people don’t maintain the same personality, feelings and views throughout their life. At some point in their life, which very often starts during adolescence, they start looking for their true identity. The transition into becoming a more mature person may be very exciting and very uncertain at the same time. It is a process that involves many changes shaped by the family, friends, environment, community and culture. Young people become more independent, dream of living their life the way they always wanted to, they explore the world, look for new possibilities. At the same time they still ponder their personal identity, are vulnerable and easily influenced by others. They take on new responsibilities, face new challenges and make mistakes.

There are many new responsibilities young adults take on that can be difficult and complicated. Today young people are dependent on their families and often continue to rely and live with them into their twenties (“Home - Child Welfare Information Gateway). They do this for emotional and financial support and stability.

Being an adult is the number one thing that children want to be: The desire to get older to do things that you want when you want and having no one say otherwise. However, what is an adult? An ambiguous term that really falls into the hands of the individual, where at Sixteen you can drive, eighteen you can vote, and twenty-one you can drink, for those in the USA, all varying ages that individuals could use as indications of adulthood. Robin Heinig wrote and article “What is it about 20- somethings?” where she discusses Arnett’s proposal about a new developmental stage, “Emerging Adulthood”. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, an American professor in psychology, believes that we aren 't entering adulthood till the later portions of our twenties. For some, this may be true but for the general population including myself I find this hard to believe. Leo Hendry’s article, “How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example”, on emerging adulthood gives a deeper understanding to what this generation 's kids are going through. The late teens are a crucial part to the lives of a young adult. It 's the time that we spend trying to identify ourselves, escape the circumstance that we are put into at a younger age, or just had a better family income. Arnett is not wrong, but all other external factors need to be accounted for before we know, or even consider if emerging adulthood is a new developmental stage.

For instance, young adults may join social groups their parents do not approve of and/or test boundaries of everyday life by combatting authority figures. Yet, even during this stage adolescents still carry the worldview of their family members because they are not, yet self-sufficient adults.

We would like to start this speech off with a little comparison between what parents think and what we, being the teenagers, think. It is well known that parents and teenagers have not been always been known to agree on everything. Whether it was that haircut you got our that meal they tried to feed you. Sometimes we just don’t agree on everything. For instant, parenting in general, is often described differently depending on who you ask. According to some parents, “parenting is 50% love, 10% lies, 10% yelling and 30% unclogging toilets”. To them, “parenting is basically just listening to yourself talk because nobody else is.”. However, according to some, well most teenagers, “parenting is embarrassing us whenever, wherever 90% of the time”. To us, “parenting is having our own personalized cook, counsellor, chauffeur and bank”. So yeah, there's a little bit of controversy there. But parents, they’re great, I mean, it is an huge understatement to say that you guys are awesome! To

Parents put maturity demands on youth. Parent use their authority to keep children safe and guide children’s choice. At the same time, also listen to children’s point of view to encourage their input on activity choices within specific bounds.