After completing the readings in Unit 4 and further researching the topic, post a two-paragraph response to the following:

Think about your own adolescent years.

• How would you describe your self-esteem and sense of identity during adolescence, and how did it evolve?
• What sociocultural influences played a role in your identity formation? How did your relationship with your parent(s) influence your identity development?

Adolescent Development

Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Children who are entering adolescence are going through many changes. This article offers advice for adolescents and parents to negotiate these changes.

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What is adolescence?

Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Children who are entering adolescence are going through many changes (physical, intellectual, personality and social developmental). Adolescence begins at puberty, which now occurs earlier, on average, than in the past. The end of adolescence is tied to social and emotional factors and can be somewhat ambiguous.
What are the physical changes of adolescence?

There are three main physical changes that come with adolescence:

The growth spurt (an early sign of maturation);
Primary sex characteristics (changes in the organs directly related to reproduction);
Secondary sex characteristics (bodily signs of sexual maturity that do not directly involve reproductive organs)

What are the intellectual changes of adolescence?

Adolescent thinking is on a higher level than that of children. Children are only able to think logically about the concrete, the here and now. Adolescents move beyond these limits and can think in terms of what might be true, rather than just what they see is true. They are able to deal with abstractions, test hypotheses and see infinite possibilities. Yet adolescents still often display egocentric behaviors and attitudes.
What are the social and emotional changes of adolescence?

Adolescents are also developing socially and emotionally during this time. The most important task of adolescence is the search for identity. (This is often a lifelong voyage, launched in adolescence.) Along with the search for identity comes the struggle for independence.
How can parents support healthy adolescent development?

While adolescence can be a trying period for both youth and their parents, the home does not have to become a battleground if both parents and young people make special efforts to understand one another. The following guidelines may help parents:

Give your children your undivided attention when they want to talk. Don’t read, watch television or busy yourself with other tasks.
Listen calmly and concentrate on hearing and understanding your children’s point of view.
Speak to your children as courteously and pleasantly as you would to a stranger. Your tone of voice can set the tone of a conversation.
Understand your children’s feelings, even if you don’t always approve of their behavior. Try not to make judgments. Keep the door open on any subject. Be an “open/approachable” parent.
Avoid humiliating your children and laughing at what may seem to you to be naive or foolish questions and statements.
Encourage your children to “test” new ideas in conversation by not judging their ideas and opinions, but instead by listening and then offering your own views as plainly and honestly as possible. Love and mutual respect can coexist with differing points of view.
Help your children build self-confidence by encouraging their participation in activities of their choice (not yours).
Make an effort to commend your children frequently and appropriately. Too often, we take the good things for granted and focus on the bad, but everyone needs to be appreciated.
Encourage your children to participate in family decision-making and to work out family concerns together with you. Understand that your children need to challenge your opinions and your ways of doing things to achieve the separation from you that’s essential for their own adult identity.

What can adolescents do during this time?

Avoid looking at your parents as the enemy. Chances are that they love you and have your best interests in mind, even if you don’t necessarily agree with their way of showing that.
Try to understand that your parents are human beings, with their own insecurities, needs and feelings.
Listen to your parents with an open mind, and try to see situations from their point of view.
Share your feelings with your parents so that they can understand you better.
Live up to your responsibilities at home and in school so that your parents will be more inclined to grant you the kind of independence you want and need.
Bolster your criticisms of family, school and government with suggestions for practical improvements.
Be as courteous and considerate to your own parents as you would be to the parents of your friends…

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Own Adolescent Years Assignment

Own Adolescent Years Assignment