MaryAnne Stargel

ED 504-06

Adolescent Development (Principle 2)

21 July 2003

Positive Development for Middlers

  Whether they are called Middlers, Preteens, Tweens, Early Adolescents, or by any other term, children between the ages of 10 and 14 are going through radical changes physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually, and morally. This period of time is very imperative for every child as they take grand steps in the formation of their personality, habits, and lifestyle patterns that will guide them through the rest of their life. The middle school teachers and staff have great influence on children during this period of growth and change. It is important that the middle school years be a safe, productive, challenging, and supportive experience.

  In every book that one reads about adolescent development, it delves into the maturity process of boys and girls and how most girls mature almost two years ahead of most boys. Also mentioned on page 18 in Teaching at the Middle Level, kids today are biologically maturing about two years earlier than their grandparents’ generation. This adds more pressure to the already stressful times of middle school. As the middlers are in the midst of awkward and uneven growing spurts, they are being bombarded with images of anorexic models and impossible to achieve physiques of movie, TV, and sports stars. These images are seen as “the way” one should look and brings about insecurities that can lead to dangerous, even deadly, eating habits. This time is also known as a clumsy stage where coordination is once again being challenged and has to once again, as in early childhood, be learned and mastered. Along with all of these outward physical changes come the drastic ups and downs in energy levels. One minute the middler is active and running full speed ahead and the next he or she is crashed on the couch with only a blank look on his or her face. These rapid changes are a result of hormones and chemical reactions in the body as well as the brain and are completely normal. It is suggested to chart these rapid changes in order to find patterns in relation to times and activities which allows everyone to work around the patterns and make the most of the high energy times.

  Right along side of the physical changes go the emotional changes. Hormones have triggered both the physical and emotional changes. These hormones can cause wild mood swings along with the ever-present emergence of the “teen attitude”. On the positive side, these hormones are triggering the middler to explore personality traits that may or may not fit his or her temperament. This is also a time that kids desire approval from those that they respect. This may be in the form of parents, teachers, mentors, family friends, and of course, peers. They try to find where they connect or fit in. A positive aspect of this is that they look for people who have similar interests and who will take the time to show them that they are special.

  Intellectually, they are intensely curious and find new things that interest them all the time. One minute they are completely into astronomy and the next minute astronomy has taken a back seat to poetry. This goes back to the short attention span that dominates this period of growth. They are exposed to more and more new information and given more freedom to devote time to subjects that interest them. Most students, at some point in this stage of development reach what is often called a learning plateau. This is where the student who, in the past, has breezed right through everything now begins to have difficulty grasping concepts and ideas. They may find school difficult and become frustrated as more difficult ideas are being presented at an even faster rate than ever before. The best way for middlers to learn is to start out with something concrete, or prior knowledge, and begin to build the scaffolding and schema from that base. They feel more comfortable trying something new when they understand where they are starting. Hands-on teaching is the best approach for this stage. With the short attention span, they need to be involved in the learning. Group and individual assignments along with student involved assessment have been seen as a positive addition to their development because it allows them the room to try new ways of communication, socialization, and gives them the needed opportunities to express their expanding personalities and talents in a safe and structured environment. This way the middlers are able to not only understand, but they can also start applying and exploring with their new knowledge and talents and what those mean to them. This is a time when students start to ask, “What’s in it for me?” and “Why do I have to learn this?” They also begin to tell how and why they know what they know and with that, it is important to apply as much of what they are learning to their lives or pull in some link to their future. This way the knowledge is not lost and or discounted. Prior to this stage of life, children had no real concept of future. Of course they could look forward to a special event in the near future, but their own future was still so far away. That is, until they reached the middler stage. Now their thoughts begin to turn to what they want to be when they grow up. They begin searching for areas and subject and activities that interest them and how those interests affect them personally.

  Socially, everything in a middler’s world is being turned upside down. At just the time that they are going through the rapid and uneven growth spurts and are starting to explore their own personality, they are thrust into the world of peer pressure and fitting in with the crowd. They are beginning to take notice of social issues and may even begin to question adult reasoning and standards. Middlers seem to overact and overreact when it comes to many areas in their lives. They can exaggerate any little item or incident and make it the disaster of the century. When it fact, it barely even registered on the social radar. This is especially seen in the social realm where middlers become very self-conscious and is supported by the “social fads” which seem to come and go faster than most adults can keep up. Arguments are a norm for this stage and are a sign of the growing independent thoughts and reasoning of the middler. They may take the opposite side of an issue just to test out boundaries and the acceptance by the other party. During this time, middlers need a stable home environment that is supportive and understanding of the changes that are happening. On the positive side of all this social growth is the middler’s ability to see how they are involved in society. Of course, at the early stage this thought process is mainly based on how society will benefit them personally, but if guided in the right direction the middler can develop into a socially concerned student that sees his or her ability to make a positive contribution and / or difference.

  Everywhere I look, I see the debate of teaching morals in school. I like the term that Teaching at the Middle Level’ s authors chose to use, “Character Education”. This term does seem to deescalate the major arguments that appear to stem from the whole separation of church and state debate that some claim restricts teachers from instilling “religious beliefs” into the children and that any morals that would be taught would come with religious attachments. The issues that middlers face today far outweigh the issues faced by middlers in past generations. There is so much more pressure brought about by this era of technology. Even the amount of immorality on tv, in music, and in other forms of media is causing confusion for the population in general, and especially in middlers who are cementing the character that they will be for the rest of their lives. One of the most difficult issues out there is how teachers and other adults are telling kids that violence does not solve problems and yet it is so prevalent in the media. You can’t miss the images or mention of murder, rape, premarital sex, fighting and etc. in the media. No wonder kids come to school thinking that fighting will solve their problems or that a mean and tough, bully like, attitude will make their life easier. Character Development is a needed aspect of a middler’s development. Middlers need some guidance and help in formulating what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. Middlers begin asking big and often very difficult, if not impossible, to answer questions. They are testing out and comparing their reasoning with that of adults. Middlers begin to create their own moral standings that may or may not be similar to those of the parents. Students at this stage begin to contemplate and reflect upon their ideas and moral standings. The middler is always claiming that things are not fair. This can be anything from how much juice one person gets in their cup to a grade on a test. This is the evidence that the thought process about morals is very idealistic at this stage. Anyone who breaks these idealistic morals is no longer worthy of being respected and has little chance of regaining the lost respect. The middler needs to learn and understand that in order to be a productive member of society and to truly succeed in life one has to have some basic characteristics that are seen by society as good, appropriate, and rewarding. This is especially important for the youth of today because what is normally portrayed on TV is not what society expects for appropriate behavior.

  Parents, teachers, and other adults need to do their best to create a positive and supportive environment in both the social and educational fronts. The middler is beginning to explore and yet there is still the need to know that the adults in their lives are there to support and encourage them as they progress. This means that when they do something wrong, there are consequences and that there is love and logic behind those consequences. This allows the middler to have the structure that one needs to fall back upon as the growth continues. These “rules and consequences” are needed in order for the middler to develop their own sense of right and wrong and to formulate their personal morals. It is a teacher’s role to be supportive as the middler develops interests and begins to develop personality traits during this trial and error time. This does not mean that anything goes, it just means that adults need to exhibit understanding while providing a structured and caring atmosphere. I have found, and was supported by the authors in Teaching at the Middle Level , that many times middlers just want to tell someone how they are feeling or what they are thinking. They don’t necessarily want advice or even your thoughts on the matter, they just want to know that you are there and will listen if they ever really need to go to someone. It is also good for all adults involved in a middler’s life to understand that they are starting to develop a more defined personality and they may begin to exercise their individualism by withdrawing from some forms of interaction. This can be everything from not wanting to go to the store with the parents or not wanting to always take part in family game night. This is only one of many steps that the middler has taken and will take as he or she becomes ready to be on their own. Just like in the physical development area, not all kids progress at the same pace and while one 11 year old does not want to be seen with his mom, it may not be until 13 for another boy. In this developmental stage, It is an adult’s role to exhibit understanding and be supportive even when the last thing you want to do is let them go because you worry about possible mistakes. This is the stage at which an adult thinks they are possibly starting to lose their influence on the middler. It is not true, according to the authors of The Roller Coaster Years: Raising Your Child Through the Maddening Yet Magical Middle School Years . Their research shows that middlers are for the first time truly listening to what you are saying. The middler is also watching what you are doing to see if are doing what you are telling them to do. Yes, they are greatly influenced by peers, but they are still very much influenced by their families and other adults in their lives. The middler wants the parents and adults to respect their newly emerging independence while still being there to guide them, support them, give structure to their lives, and to listen to them.

  If the middler has a positive, caring, and supportive environment in which all these changes occur, they can and most likely, will come through this period of time as well adjusted and capable individuals. If this is achieved, the next stages of development will seem less stressful to both the middler and to the adults in the middler’s life. I see my role as a teacher of middlers, as one of support. I can provide needed structure, guidance, and the listening ear that the middler is searching for. It may sum up easily enough, but from the past 5 years of working with middlers, I can tell you that one day can be a great high where a ton of learning and growth happens, and the very next day is a difficult struggle to even get the kids to remember that they are in school to learn. Understanding what the “normal” patterns in middler development consist of will help me better prepare for the challenges of teaching these ever changing students. I love working with middlers because of their every increasing self-awareness and their need to express, in a safe environment, their ever-evolving personalities, talents, and interests.

Tracey Feight

Adolescent Development Issues

Research paper

  Adolescent’s face many more challenges growing up in today’s society than ever before. Not only are they faced with individual changes that affect their physical, cognitive and emotional development, but they are also torn with decisions that may or may not allow them to be accepted socially. An adolescent’s continuous cycle of change not only affects them personally, but every aspect of their life is touched by the changes they are enduring.

  The teen years can be a challenging journey for many youngsters. Many changes occur to the young teen’s body as they progress through adolescence. Fenwick & Smith (1996) note that in the beginning stages of adolescent development, ages eleven to fourteen, hormonal changes can bring about moodiness, anger or aggression in certain individuals (p.29). These feelings can be projected towards family, friends, other loved ones and themselves. Some individuals develop a negative self image and see themselves distorted lenses. Gianetti & Sangarese (1997) state that “ whether the reflection they see resembles Dumbo, the fat lady of circus fame, or a teenage werewolf, middlers are not happy about the way

they look ( p.17). This may explain why a youngster may demonstrate undesirable behaviors and push others away. They may realize after the fact that they truly never intended to isolate themselves. It may be difficult for the teen cognitively to develop a plan to restore a sense of normalcy to their life.

  The adolescent years between eleven and eighteen can be a joy to observe as you watch your child or those you teach develop cognitively. During these years the progression of seeing things as “black or white and having difficulty taking another’s perspective” progresses to beginning to accept another’s point of view or opinion. The adolescent is also able to think more logically and independently to make decisions by the time they reach sixteen (Fenwick& Smith, 1996, p. 29). The ability to take in information and form ideas independently can make for great dinner time conversations as well as classroom discussions. On the other hand as a parent or teacher one should beware, interesting or embarrassing topics of conversation may surface and catch you off guard. You may also find that you are chatting with a teen who does not know all the facts on a specific issue; however they are certain they do. This may be a time to just let them state “their” facts and opinions to avoid potential argument.

In the classroom setting teachers’ must take into consideration the diverse levels of students’ cognitive ability levels. What makes sense to one student this year may not click and make sense to other students until next year. Robin Goldstein & Janet Gallant (1994) state that “classroom rules and teaching methods often bore children and discourage learning” (p.190). As an educator one must remember that students do not develop at the same rate, learn at the same rate nor do they learn under the same conditions. Some students complain about having to do work they already know how to do. It is also felt that there is not enough flexibility, spontaneity or creativity within the subject they are learning. ( Goldstein & Gallant, 1994, p. 190). School’s today can no longer deliver a one size fit all method of instruction. It is important to vary instruction as well as daily interactions with students based on their individual cognitive and emotional needs.

Just what are the emotional needs of today’s adolescence? I imagine all the “warm fuzzies” ( hugs, kisses, pats on the back, high fives, etc.), words of encouragement and wisdom that our great-grandparents of yesteryear hopefully received. Everyone needs encouragement and a sign from time to time to indicate things are progressing smoothly and their efforts are appreciated. As parents and educators we can provide much of the emotional support that adolescents need to feel accepted.

The emotional rollercoaster that many teens ride can be partly attributed to a need for belonging and acceptance from their peers. It has become apparent that some teens and their families are facing a national crisis. Maxym and York (2000) explain that teens today are spending approximately 122 billion dollars yearly on clothing, shoes and other fashion items to fit in with certain peer groups. Teens are experimenting with drugs that are more potent and varied than a year ago. The younger crowd of teens often experiment with inhalants which are usually common household cleaners, to fit in. Millions of teens have also been labeled with various disorders and are given drugs to help them deal with issues such as depression, anxiety, attention issues etc. It is suspected that these drugs are often taken in combination with street drugs ( p.12).

If today’s adolescents are searching for social acceptance we must instill in our own children and students moral values and the desire to develop their own individual character. This is crucial for optimal healthy development that will follow them into adulthood. Once adolescence is left behind the adult world can be an easier journey if an individual has a strong sense of self, what they believe in, and established personal mores.

The adolescent years can seem like the most difficult years of an individuals’ life. The knowledge gained, emotional coping strategies and true friendships that are developed during these years can help make the transition to adulthood a bit smoother and perhaps not so frightening.

References

Fenwick, E., & Smith, T. ( 1996 ). Adolescence: The Survival Guide for Parents and Teenagers. (Murdock, C.) New York, New York : DK Publishing, Inc.

Giannetti, C., & Sangarese, M. ( 1997). The Roller Coaster Years. New York, New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Goledstein, R., & Gallant, J. ( 1994). Stop Treating Me Like A Kid. New York, New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.

Maxym, C. & York, L. ( 2000). Teens in Turmoil.

New York, New York: Viking Penguin, Penguin Putnam Inc.