Adolescence is the stage of life referred as a transition stage from childhood into adulthood. It is the period between puberty and mellowness to adulthood. This stage of life is very important as it determines the kind of life in the later years. It is a critical stage that is faced by a lot of pressures such that if these pressures are not controlled they can end up ruining someone’s life (Coleman & Hendry, 1999).
Early adolescence start at the age of 10 to 14 while the late adolescence is from 15 to 21years in boys but girls are said to attain early maturity at the age of 19 years. This discussion analyzes of the pressure often faced in adolescence which include: peer pressure, substance abuse, dating, sexuality, and changes within family relationship among others.
To start with, peer pressure is believed to be the most pressure experienced during adolescence. It is the influence of the individual character by the mass as they try to search for their identity. By this, individuals believe in finding love, joy, and completeness of life. Peer groups do influence each other more on negative aspects rather than positive aspects. When they help one another to study and revise in their academic work then a positive influence is created.
However, in the search of their identity they find themselves engaged on negative deeds. A boy at the age of 14 years may be influenced in substance use and abuse like alcohol, marijuana, or smoking for him to be accepted in a certain group and keep the friendship. These drugs are however harmful to the health in that they do cause mental disorders and cancers among other diseases at the same time they can lead to poor performance and school dropout.
Dating is said to be very high during the adolescence. This may not be actual dating as in most cases little seriousness is put in place nor does it lead to marriage. The quality of romantic relationship when dating has some long-term effects in shaping of the personal values in regards to sexuality and the self-esteem. At the age of 10 to 14 adolescents are very anxious with love which becomes more of social life at the age of 15-19.
This is influenced as the peers try to search for the identity on their sexuality and when searching for the emotional support. There are however risks which are involved when dating due to the unhealthy relationship. Abuse is an effect which comes along when dating. Many are abused verbally, physically and more so emotionally. When they engage themselves in sexual activities, they are always at the risk of contracting STDs and the occurrences of early pregnancies which in most cases leads to abortion (Coleman & Hendry, 1999).
At this stage there are changes in the family relationships where the adolescents desire to have full control of their lives thus trying all means to wane the influence from the adults in their family setup. Parents or any adult in the family are on the other hand interested in controlling the lives of the adolescents as they fear on the dangers associated with this stage. This brings more conflict between the parents and the adolescence when the parents become more restrictive.
This can be avoided if parents practice indirect control by either engaging a relative or a friend who is close to their daughters or sons, incase of any conflict. It is dangerous to overlook or under look the pressures faced in adolescence since it is a stage that is passed through by all. Therefore, there is a need to support effective counseling at this stage while allowing an open discussion between the adults and the adolescence (Adams & Michael, 2005).
References
Adams, G., & Michael B. (2005). Blackwell handbook of adolescence. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Coleman, J.,& Hendry, L. (1999). The nature of adolescence. London: Routledge.