Lara.

This tumblr has been created for the purpose of a university project on adolescence.

[larasheridan-ad]

Tumblr Reflection

To be honest with you, I was very quite reluctant when I started this journey. I wasn't quite sure what I was in for and I had never really used tumblr before so wasn't sure how it worked.

But, with the help of Cat and a few friends I slowly got the hang of it and actually started to really enjoy this project. I can safely say it has been the most fun I have had in a paper at university to date. I have learnt so much about my fellow classmates just by reading their blogs and interacting with their thoughts.

I personally think this assignment is really quite a powerful assignment. I take my hat off to Cat for coming up with such a unique but professional way that we as students can express ourselves and our inner emotions in relation to the course. I think I speak for everyone when I say that doing something a little more different than just the basic essays, reports etc actually makes the students more interested and makes them relate to the paper to a whole another level.

So with that I want to thank everyone in this paper for sharing their journey's through tumblr and making this project something that has really made me think a lot about our adolescence currently and also my adolescent years.

Thank you everyone and all the best with your future studies :)

[youthourfuture]

This picture is very powerful in terms of the united front against bullying. The words written in black are the stark reality of high school and particularly females. That is not to say that bullying among boys does not happen, but words designed to hurt are often bandied about among females. 

Santrock states that bullying is defined as “verbal or physical behaviour intended to disturb someone less powerful” (p. 362). That’s why pictures like this are so important - young people taking back their own power and refusing to allow someone else to define who they are. 

Bullying has extensive effects throughout ones lifetime and I speak from experience. I was bullied every single day on my school bus by several boys from a neighboring school. I felt powerless and took their verbal abuse as I did not know what else to do. I could not tell anyone about it because that was considered to be “narking.” It has taken me years to understand that I was not the one with the problem - they were. 

Santrock (2010) notes that victims of bullying can suffer from a lack of perspective, depression, and further health problems. 

With the rise of social media, bullying has shifted somewhat and the daily news is full of reports about occurrences of bullying over the internet. 

In recent years, there has been a push towards reducing bullying from various community sectors and there has been a bigger focus on this within schools as well. Groups organise days to promote awareness and education, such as www.pinkshirtday.org.nz, in the hope that this will reduce the hurt and pain caused by bullying in schools everywhere. 

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

[googlingme-blog]

Sexuality is a significant element of adolescence. Whilst one’s physical sex characteristics are growing, cognitive function is expanding, and new psychosocial emotions  are occurring; outside peers, culture, media are all strong influences. Alike to each person’s character, their drive for sexuality is unique. The image above depicts the range of reasons for one’s sexual behavior. “Because I love you”, “too commune with god”, or “to make a baby” are all extremely distinct motives from the list. The decision to engage in activity is highly dependent on the prompting factors such as: Physical (stress relief, pleasure), Goal-based (improved social status), Emotional (commitment), Insecurity (boosting self esteem). It is the way these actions occur, which can effect how others perceive and treat the individual - affecting further life development. Have a quick think to yourself when reading though the list; which boxes would you most likely tick? and compare them to the boxes you would judge negatively. 

[reflectingoverahotchocolate-dea]

Loneliness can often go unseen. Teens are good at hiding what is really going on inside. Is she really reading in her room because she wants to? Yes sometimes she is. Sometimes she needs to be alone, we all do. Looking deeper into things happening in a teens life can unfold the reality of loneliness. as this youtube clip explains. The girl in this clip wanted to be liked, she didn’t want to be lonely. It lead to anger and acting out in situations that were beyond her control. How many teens do we know that are acting out because of deeper emotions that are beyond their control? Do we ever stop to ask or do we just presume they are just being adolescents.

[larasheridan-ad]

Loneliness is one of the worst feelings a teen can go through. When they feel like they can no longer talk to anyone/do not have anyone to go to. Teens quite often get suicidal because of these emotions/feelings or develop severe mental disorders such as depression. 

[googlingme-blog]

All of the programs above aroused my little adolescent mind not to many years ago!! Excitement in friendships and sexuality with boyfriends – the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY. I was fascinated with the peer relationships of the characters.

Friends was the first show I remember lightly analysing. Watching the dynamics of the 6 manned clique. They all had rather different personalities, yet it seemed the supportive loving friendships they gave each other held them together.

The OC was second. This show for me was another level of emotional intensity. I’d say I was about 14/15yrs watching this and I was hooked. It was different from friends as they characters were younger, and most known each other since young. Risk-taking (alcohol, drugs, sex, and crime) was often involved. To me the show highlighted the response to peers actions, whether they were pressured to join in the risk, or stray away from the friendship as a consequence.

Gossip girl was another show I enjoyed whilst a teen, ~16yrs old. It gave me a view on the heights popularity can soar too. Also it revealed to me that control and deviance does occur in peer relationships. The emerging connections between boys and girls are presented, facing problems such as cultural refusal, and parental judgement. Yet shone light onto the reality of breakups and cheating, leading to a depressive end of a once positive peer relationship.

I would not say these programs distinctly developed my social skills with peers. I would however, say they portrayed ideas (such as expressiveness of feelings, and cheating vs keeping loyal), which I could assess as acceptable or not for my own future approach to peer relationships.

[larasheridan-ad]

I agree with everything said above. Television programs are so revealing to our younger generation that we do not actually always recognise they effect they have. Putting myself in the position of my parents, I really don't think I would want my children watching half the online/dvd series that I did as an adolescent. It opened me up to things I did not need to know at that age and corrupted my innocence. 

[larasheridan-ad]

Micheal Jackson once got told by a boy that he was racist because he was trying to cover his black skin. Micheal told the boy "You know what, I'm am so far from. I have a skin condition that causes the progression of my skin to change from black to white. Now you tell me, why aren't you asking all those people who are tanning on the beach why they aren't happy with their original skin colour" This is so powerful and Micheal really had a massive impact on the world today. Within some of his songs he sang about some of the worlds biggest problems. He was and forever will be a legend

[larasheridan-ad]

To This Day Project - Shane Koyczan

Shane Koyczan "To This Day" http://www.tothisdayproject.com Help this message have a far reaching and long lasting effect in confronting bullying. Please sha...

Honestly this is so powerful and speaks entirely for itself. I can't preach this enough. To tackle bullying we need to attack the core element of what is causing such pain. Adolescence are particularly vulnerable. 

[larasheridan-ad]

Most adolescence have a image in which society perceives them to be. In this case after high school ends, they are to go to university to graduate by the age of 25, where they should then be in a full time job with a long term partner thinking of starting a family of their own. What adolescence don't see is that fact that their thinking is so limited to what they have yet to see. This is not the way it should be. Think abstractly. Society should be publishing magazines with articles in them stating the fact that everyone should do what makes them happy and only what makes them happy. Travel, explore the world. Find yourself before you loose yourself to a small insignificant desk job.

[larasheridan-ad]

Every single time I see this image it not only sickens me but also saddens me..

This relates so much to the saying "think before you speak". Especially at adolescent age group, majority of girls are very self-conscious about their size and how puberty is affecting them. Every little comment made can not only affect them emotionally but also physically.

Bulimia and anorexia are two major issues in the adolescent age group which are mental diseases usually begun by rude remarks which are not fair. 

[krugernicole]

This is a very powerful message and just yet again states that Moral development is such an important part of the development of a teen. It influences their decision making reasoning skills.

[larasheridan-ad]

Seeing this and reading the message with it really got me thinking... quite often we are obedient to keep others happy.. but really, shouldn't we be showing morality?

[larasheridan-ad]

The above image is a picture of me and a friend at a New Years party when I was about 15 years of age. Typical sort of teen dress with braces and makeup. I was never the type of adolescent who was embarrassed by my braces, I still smiled and embraced the fact I had them. Looking back at it now I probably would have never done that, however I think it shows that I was confident as I knew my teeth were changing and I knew I was going to come out with a better smile. Yeah, they may not have been the most attractive image but they were apart of me and who I was for a good 2 and a half years. It is important for adolescence to realise that we are all unique in our own ways and we need to embrace who we are even if that does mean showing off something that's not so attractive but is going to help develop our image as a human being.

[larasheridan-ad]

PUBERTY

right, now that I have your attention.. does puberty really scare you?

It can be quite traumatising for a young adolescent to go through when they really do not know what is happening to their body. 

Your emotions run wild and having no idea what's going on can be scary.

Some parents also do not give their children the 'puberty' talk which means that all these changes come as surprise the adolescent.

It is important to warn the younger generation of what they're about to be in for to ensure they are expecting it. 

[saudi25me]

[larasheridan-ad]

Mixed emotions?

We see these a lot at the adolescence age group. Many fights with peers, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, siblings end in tears and the change of emotion on a regular basis.

Sometimes when an adolescent's emotions are running wild you just have to let them be for a while until they calm down and find their purpose again... it only takes a little while but they usually always come around.

[crazy-nba]

[larasheridan-ad]

SPORTS.

Sports are a huge influence on an adolescent development.

Quite often you will hear teacher's tell parents at the parent-teacher interviews that they believe their child is only at school to eat lunch and play sport.

For many of the male population at this age that is quite rightly the case. This is especially the case for those who struggle academically but are forced by their parents to stay at school.

Yes, some make it far and get paid to be professional sports stars... however for many that is not the case and whilst being active and playing sport is great, there needs to be a balance with general life and studies.

For some, finding this balance is really difficult and can cause stress in many family households... for others, being academic and sporty is a huge bonus. 

You just have to learn to find the balance...

[m-adolescentdev-deactivated2014]

Even though I am the middle child in my family I act like the oldest and my older sister acts like the middle child. Even though my older sister is three years older than me everyone always thinks im older because of the way I act

[nate552]

This post allows us to see a perspective view of what the an individuals development upbringing me include depending on the size of the family. As a middle child they category designed for me fits me in some areas and misses some key points, however i believe this can be used as an interesting learning resource in the future

[larasheridan-ad]

Well after reading this and reflecting on my own situation... I am one of two, the last born. I do not see all the traits mentioned in my older brother, nor do I see the one's mentioned for last born in me.

I am re-posting this to state that we need to have an open-mind when thinking about ages, stages and traits. Just because one is the last born does not mean they are a attention seeker, and an only child diligent?

I get that these are an overall judgement but I also think they criticise a bit too much and sometimes people take them quite literally. Each individual is different and just because they were born at a different stage in their family, does not always mean that they have set traits.

As individuals but especially as adolescence we tend to be quick to judge, without looking at the bigger picture and realising that not everyone is the same.

[larasheridan-ad]

This image is really touching in many ways..

It is really difficult to hear of stories of young adolescent women having to  go behind their parents backs and getting an abortion all because they had a bit of fun and didn't use any kind of protection, not realising what the consequences would be.

Is it disheartening to see young females going through this process without seeking the comfort of their own families. Yes they may be scared, worried and do not want to confront their parents.. but 9 times out of 10 I think after their parents get over the initial shock of what is being told.. they may come around and be the best support network the young people need. 

Take a child's hand and realise there are other options, because taking their life is the cruelest of them all. 

[larasheridan-ad]

“Adolescence is like having only enough light to see the step directly in front of you.” by - Sarah Addison Allen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon

I saw this quote online which made me think...

many adolescents don't do things that they think will be better for their future, but rather spend their time just doing what is right in front of them. 

If adolescents saw many steps ahead of them, their maturity levels may be higher and they may have a better understanding of where they are heading with their lives... but we can't expect too much!