Changes in Adolescence and Their Impact on Education

This essay discusses the physical, social, and emotional changes that individuals experience during adolescence and how these changes can impact their education. It explores the challenges faced by adolescents and emphasizes the importance of guidance and support from parents and teachers.

Running head: ADOLESCENT
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ADOLESECENT 2
Changes that individuals experience during adolescence and how they may impact on their
education.
Introduction
Adolescence refers to the period when an individual is transmitting from childhood to
adulthood according to Bailey, Duncan, Odgers & Yu, (2017). The stage occurs during the age
of ten to fourteen years. However, during this period the person undergoes some changes in his
or her body. The changes comprise of physical, emotional and social changes. Consequently,
these changes have an impact on the person in terms the daily life, family and education. When
these changes start occurring, the family members to the person may experience some difficulties
to control the individual. However, constant talks and advice mainly assist the person to make
sound decisions in life.
Physical changes during adolescence
Berk, (2017) says that physical changes refer to the changes that other people can see
occurring to the adolescent. These changes differ in girls and boys and mostly go according to
the age of the person. The physical changes that occur at the age of between ten to eleven are
different from those that happens when one has reached twelve to fourteen years. When it comes
to girls, at the age of ten to eleven years, one of the physical changes that happen to the
individual is that the breast starts growing. The breasts grow as they become tender. However, it
is essential to note that the speed of growth is different on different girls. The second visible sign
is that the individual grows taller than before, the face becomes mature in reference to Chandra-
Mouli, Svanemyr, Amin, Fogstad, Say, Girard, & Temmerman, (2015). Apart from the above
changes other early physical change in girls is that pubic hair begins to grow on the private parts

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like external genitals when the girl reaches later ages like twelve to fourteen years, other private
parts like the arms. The last vital change is the beginning of the menstrual period; it is
characterized by pain or bad odor. However, when the pain has persisted, it is essential to seek
medication.
When it comes to boys, Carr, (2015) argues that the physical changes include the growth
of external genital including testes, penis, and scrotum. There is also an increase in height which
accompanied by a widening of the chest and increase of voice. The other changes include the
growth of hair in private parts such as armpits and on the genitals.
Social changes
The social changes that change that occur on teens during adolescence include; the teens
start looking for identity whereby they search for fellow puberty who they can share their
changes within any circumstance — these people they can get them in the school peer group or
among the among the family members. The second change is that the adolescents tend to look
for new experiences. However, such situations are risky because the teenage may engage in risky
behavior. Apart from the above social changes, Davidow, Insel & Somerville, (2018) says that
another change is that the friends of the teenager are the most people who influence his or her
behaviors such situations may be difficult because the parents may not be able to control the
individual. However, engaging with the opposite sex at this particular time. The primary
challenge is that dating at this early age may make the teenage to get pregnant or infected with
sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis. The last social change from research is that the
mode of communication starts changing according to Fuhrmann, Knoll & Blakemore, (2015).
The teenage tend to like social media and cell phones to ensure that he or she is connected to
friends and can see the latest trends in the world. However, the adolescent may start developing a

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pressure of getting whatever he or she sees on social media. When the parent cannot provide the
luxury materials, the child may seek other risky ways of getting the materials which are not good
in reference to Hanson, Hariri & Williamson, (2015).
Emotional changes during adolescence
Emotions deals with the feelings of the individual. Newman & Newman, (2017) says that
when a child is approaching adolescent, various emotional changes take place on the individual.
The first main change that happens to the feelings of the person is that the teenage become
sensitive to everyone’s emotion. At this stage, the skill of processing other individual’s emotion
is high; however, to some extent, the teenage may misinterpret another person’s feelings
according Noller & Callan, (2015). The second change is that the adolescent becomes more self-
conscious than they were in the previous age. The individual become worried the way they look
and even compare themselves with their friends. Lastly, the emotion of the teenage is
unpredictable; the teenage may show different feelings at different times.
Impact of the changes to the education of the adolescent.
For one to succeed in education, there is a need for full participation which involves
cooperation between the student, teachers and the parent. However, the changes that come with
adolescence pose some challenges in the education of the adolescent according Nusslock, &
Miller, (2016). However, a point may reach such that the teenagers lose full focus on academics
because of lack of guidance. Some of the teenagers fear to tell their parents about the changes
hence lack of advice to fully participate in class. The following are some of the significant
impacts of adolescence changes in academics: -
a. Lack of full participation in class work.

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The physical signs that come with adolescence make the teenager feel embarrassed hence cannot
stand in front of the classmate to contribute in class work. For instance, the girls feel shy of the
grown breasts while the boys shy about their voice. Such changes make the teenagers not to ask
questions in areas they are not getting well. In some circumstances, the teacher may want to hear
views from the student, but no one is free to contribute because of shyness according to
Stapinski, Araya, Heron, Montgomery, & Stallard, (2015).
b. Poor performance
Poor performance comes due to the emotional influence that the teenager develops at this stage.
They become sensitive to what other people are talking about concerning the individual. For
instance, there can be a situation whereby the teacher can comment about the behavior of the
student. However, it may not go well with the teenager. After the comment, the adolescent will
take to hate the subject together with the teacher. The outcome of hating the issue is failing at the
end of the term examination.
c. Embarrassment
There several changes in the body of the teenager that leave him or she feel embarrassed while
with fellow students. The discomfort affects the education of the child. An example of the
change includes pimples in both boys and girls, an unexpected monthly period in girls and widen
chest in boys. Some of these changes happen unexpectedly such that the teenagers feel
embarrassed to express various views in different subjects. For instance, Simmons, (2017) says
that when the teacher is teaching science, and he or she tries to talk about the real things that
happen in the body of the child, the individual feel match embarrassed in class, and this effect
lowers performance both on fieldwork and academics.

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Conclusion
Puberty is a stage that everyone undergoes in life. However, the stage is characterized by
emotional, social and physical changes in the body of the individual. These changes affect the
way the adolescent relate and communicate with other people. Apart from that effect of the
changes is evident in education. Parents need to advise their children the way they should carry
themselves during this stage to avoid poor performance in academics. The adolescents should
know that these changes are regular and they should not feel shy to share what they experience
with their parents or teachers.

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References
Bailey, D., Duncan, G. J., Odgers, C. L., & Yu, W. (2017). Persistence and fadeout in the
impacts of child and adolescent interventions. Journal of Research on Educational
Effectiveness, 10(1), 7-39.
Berk, L. (2017). Development through the lifespan. Pearson Education India.
Carr, A. (2015). The handbook of child and adolescent clinical psychology: A contextual
approach. Routledge.
Chandra-Mouli, V., Svanemyr, J., Amin, A., Fogstad, H., Say, L., Girard, F., & Temmerman, M.
(2015). Twenty years after International Conference on Population and Development:
where are we with adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights?. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 56(1), S1-S6.
Davidow, J. Y., Insel, C., & Somerville, L. H. (2018). Adolescent development of value-guided
goal pursuit. Trends in cognitive sciences.
Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., & Blakemore, S. J. (2015). Adolescence as a sensitive period of brain
development. Trends in cognitive sciences, 19(10), 558-566.

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Hanson, J. L., Hariri, A. R., & Williamson, D. E. (2015). Blunted ventral striatum development
in adolescence reflects emotional neglect and predicts depressive symptoms. Biological
psychiatry, 78(9), 598-605.
Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2017). Development through life: A psychosocial approach.
Cengage Learning.
Noller, P., & Callan, V. (2015). The adolescent in the family. Routledge.
Nusslock, R., & Miller, G. E. (2016). Early-life adversity and physical and emotional health
across the lifespan: a neuroimmune network hypothesis. Biological psychiatry, 80(1), 23-
32.
Simmons, R. G. (2017). Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school
context. Routledge.
Stapinski, L. A., Araya, R., Heron, J., Montgomery, A. A., & Stallard, P. (2015). Peer
victimization during adolescence: concurrent and prospective impact on symptoms of
depression and anxiety. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 28(1), 105-120.