Analyzing the Impact of Adolescent Changes on Educational Outcomes

This essay examines the multifaceted impact of social, emotional, and physical changes experienced during adolescence on a person's education. It delves into how social changes, such as identity seeking, independence, communication methods, peer influence, and romantic relationships, can both positively and negatively affect academic focus and performance. Emotional changes, including heightened sensitivity, self-consciousness, and hormonal fluctuations, are explored in terms of their influence on concentration and emotional stability, which are crucial for learning. The essay also addresses physical changes, such as puberty-related discomfort and body image concerns, and how these can create distractions and affect a student's self-esteem and engagement in school activities. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of understanding these interconnected factors to support teenagers' overall development and academic success, highlighting the need for parents and educators to manage these changes in a way that fosters positive outcomes.

Running Head: Essay 0

Essay
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Outline
Introduction
In the introduction section, meaning of the term adolescence and basics related to the same is
discussed. In this section of the essay, the mention of the various types of changes is done, that a
person has experienced during his/her adolescence. Further, the other contents, which are
expected to be discussed throughout the essay, will also be mentioned.
Changes during Adolescence and impact on education
In this section, social, emotional, and physical changes that a person experienced during
adolescence will be discussed. This part of the essay will let the reader know about the manner in
which they first influence the personality of a teenager. Later on, this section is expected to
discover the impacts of these changes on education. All the three changes and their impacts on
education will be defined and discuss separately under different paragraphs. In addition to this,
the factors behind such changes and interconnectivity of all the changes will also be addressed.
This is a significant part of the essay, as the same will answer the asked question.
Conclusion
In this section, the whole discussion
of the essay will be summaries in one
or two sentences. Further, the
importance of various changes during
adolescence will also be stated.
Essay
Student’s Name
12/28/2018

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Introduction
Various scholars have provided different definitions of the term “Adolescence.” However, in
general sense adolescence can be understood as a stage of physical and mental development of a
person where an individual turns out to an adult from a child1. In other words, this can be stated
that adolescence is a development stage between childhood and adulthood. During the
adolescence, a person faces and experiences many of the changes such as social, emotional, and
physical changes in him/her. These changes vary from person to person and can lead to the
positives as well as negative results. Education is an important aspect that gets affected by such
changes in certain ways. In the presented essay focus will be made on the aforementioned
changes and the manner in which the same affect the education of people. The objective of this
essay is to develop an understating on the relationship between Adolescence and education.
Changes during Adolescence and impact on education
As mentioned in the introduction section, mainly three types of changes a person experiences
during his/her adolescence. Every teen experiences these changes in a different manner and this
is the reason that they become different personalities. These changes are discussed in detail in the
following section:-
1. Social Changes:- These are the changes that regulate the social behavior of a teen.
According to Author Ann Hagell (Changing Adolescence: Social Trends and Mental Health,
2012) these changes show that how a teen is learning to be an adult and behave differently
1 Merriam-webster.com, ‘Adolescence’ < https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adolescence> accessed 30
December 2018

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with family, friends, and society2. This is to mention that most of the teen started
searching for their identity during the adolescence3. The family or social expectations can
motivate this search. Another social change, which can be seen during the adolescence, is
seeking independence. As soon as a teen becomes developed, he or she expects a level of
impendency from the family. They feel responsible and therefore demand privacy and
independence.
In conjunction with this, the manner of communication also gets changed by the time. As
per Healthyfamilies BC (Healthyfamiliesbc.ca, 30 November 2014), People starts using
various modes of communications such as cell phones, e-mails, and other social media
during the adolescence 4. During adolescence, a person gets influenced by his/her friend.
This is the most important social change that a person faces. The behavior and habits of a
person get influenced by the social surroundings. Further, children explore a sexual
identity during adolescence and enter into love relationships5. All these social changes
during adolescence influence the education of a person. For instance, the love
relationships of a person affect education in an adverse manner. . According to the news
published on the web page of BBC (BBC.co.uk, 2018), going on romantic dates affect the
level of education in people6. However, this is to mention that the situation is not the
same as always. A person who is not more social and lives in isolation during
adolescence becomes intelligent and more focused on education. Further, as people use
2 Ann Hagell, ‘Changing Adolescence: Social Trends and Mental Health’ (Policy Press 2012) 1
3 Linda Wilmshurst, ‘Clinical and Educational Child Psychology: An Ecological-Transactional Approach to
Understanding Child Problems and Interventions’ (John Wiley & Sons 2012)
4 Healthyfamiliesbc.ca, ‘Social and Emotional Changes in Adolescence’ <
https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/social-and-emotional-changes-adolescence-teens> accessed 30
December 2018
5 Angela Oswalt, ‘Mental/Emotional/Social Changes Through Puberty’ <
https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/mental-emotional-social-changes-through-puberty/> accessed 30 December
2018
6 BBC.co.uk, ‘Puberty and its impact at home and in school’ <
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/impact_of_physical_growth/> accessed 30 December 2018

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more social media, the same distracts teenagers and reduces their concentration level.
They spend more time on social media, cell phones, and other social activities and do not
take their career seriously. In conjunction with this, as mentioned above, people seek
independence and more often choose to live apart from the family members. Living
alone, they find their independence and most of the times get to engage in unsocial
activities. People get influenced by Friends and many of the times fall in bad companies.
They became an addict of drugs and other bad habits and therefore do not focus on the
studies. These social changes influence the overall personality and behavior of a
person that further influence study and education during the adolescence.
2. Emotional Changes: - During adolescence, a person experiences many of the emotional
changes. Sometimes, the he or she becomes sad and sometimes they face happiness.
Physical and social aspects influence all these emotions. They become more conscious of
their physical appearance. Teenagers think a lot about how they look. They compare
themselves with others and in such a manner feel emotionally sad when they find them
more attractive. Harmonal changes are common during the period of adolescence7. This is
the reason that people during their adolescence feel extra emotional. Sometimes they feel
alone and isolated. A little adverse or harsh behavior of others can hurt them in a
significant manner. In addition to this, adolescent people become self-conscious.
Nevertheless, situations are not the same always. Similar to negative emotions, the
amount and frequency of positive emotions are also higher during adolescence. People
become happy for little reasons. When a teenager finds some appreciation or
compliments, they become happy and positive.
7 Adolescent Brain, ‘The impact of physical changes on adolescents’ (wp.nyu.edu, 4 October 2016)
<https://wp.nyu.edu/urbanyouthnyu/2016/10/04/the-impact-of-physical-changes-on-adolescents/> accessed 30
December 2018

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Similar to the social changes, emotional changes also influence the education of people.
When a person feels sad, the same cannot concentrate on the studies. Some people are
there who have more negative emotions such as sadness, tension, anxiety, anger, guilt
and so on. These emotions affect the personality of a person. Emotional stability is a
much-required thing for concentration and a good memory8. Excessive of any kind of
emotion, lead an issue of distraction. However, people who feel positive emotions are
brighter in studies in comparison to those who experience negative emotions.
3. Physical changes:- When a person comes in the stage of adolescence, the same
experience many of the physical changes in the body in addition to social and emotional
changes. The most significant change that adolescent female experience is monthly
periods. They feel restless and tired. In addition to this, many of the times they feel
embarrassed while dealing with opposite genders. If to talk about males, voice change is
the major physical change during adolescence. Height and weight are other aspects of
change in which people feel during their adolescence. Irrespective of the gender, every
person during their adolescence feels changes in these two factors. Physical development
of every child is different. It depends on genetic and nutritional factors and therefore
height, weight, the voice of every person is not similar. These physical changes are
outward ones, which further decide the physical appearance of people and influence their
emotions and thought. Apart from the outward physical changes, some internal physical
changes such as increment in sexual desires, change in thinking and learning capabilities
are also there9. These internal physical changes are more often related to emotional
changes again.
8 Robert Sylwester, ‘How Emotions Affect Learning’ <
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct94/vol52/num02/How-Emotions-Affect-Learning.aspx>
9 opentextbooks.org.hk, ‘Puberty and its effects on students’ <http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/6162>
accessed 30 December 2018

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Similar to social and emotional changes in a people during adolescence, physical changes
also affect the education of them. During the periods, girls suffer from pain and feel
frustrated. They often avoid going to schools during their periods, which affect their
education in an adverse manner10. Cause of periods, girls do not feel comfortable
studying with their male friends and feel hesitate and embarrassed. All these things
become a hurdle in their education and influence the same in a very negative manner. On
the different side, males who do not get heavy voice similar to their friends start feeling
embarrassed about them. They feel hesitated in asking queries in the classrooms. Further,
boys often join a gym or participate in other physical games to prove themselves
muscular and spend most of the time over there. This too affects their studies. Children
who do not get to gain proper and enough height and weight often avoid to join the
schools and coaching as they feel fear of unsocial and personal comments by other
classmates. Sexual needs and desires of teenagers also reduces their concentration from
the studies and affect their education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this is to mention that all the above-discussed changes are significant and
influence the education of teenagers during adolescence. In order to study the behavior and
overall development of a child, the study of all these factors are necessary as they given behavior
and social appearances of a child. Parents of children are required to manage these changes in a
manner that can lead the positive results.
10 Lauren Rearick, ‘New Study Challenges The Idea That Your Period Affects Your Brain’ (Huffingtonpost.in, 20
July 2017) < https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/period-cognitive-functioning-
research_us_596cbd21e4b03389bb18e573> accessed 30 December 2018

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Bibliography
Books/Journals
Hagell A, ‘Changing Adolescence: Social Trends and Mental Health’ (Policy Press 2012)
Wilmshurst L, ‘Clinical and Educational Child Psychology: An Ecological-Transactional
Approach to Understanding Child Problems and Interventions’ (John Wiley & Sons 2012)
Other Resources
Angela Oswalt, ‘Mental/Emotional/Social Changes Through Puberty’ <
https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/mental-emotional-social-changes-through-puberty/>
accessed 30 December 2018
BBC.co.uk, ‘Puberty and its impact at home and in school’ <
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/impact_of_physical_growth/> accessed 30 December
2018
Healthyfamiliesbc.ca, ‘Social and Emotional Changes in Adolescence’ <
https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/social-and-emotional-changes-adolescence-
teens> accessed 30 December 2018
Lauren Rearick, ‘New Study Challenges The Idea That Your Period Affects Your Brain’
(Huffingtonpost.in, 20 July 2017) < https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/period-cognitive-
functioning-research_us_596cbd21e4b03389bb18e573> accessed 30 December 2018
Merriam-webster.com, ‘Adolescence’ <
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adolescence> accessed 30 December 2018

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opentextbooks.org.hk, ‘Puberty and its effects on students’
<http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/6162> accessed 30 December 2018
Robert Sylwester, ‘How Emotions Affect Learning’ <
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct94/vol52/num02/How-Emotions-
Affect-Learning.aspx>