Adolescence @tigerjeannie - Tumblr Blog

Final Posting

The instructions for this posting are to briefly summarise my experience of the project, any reflections, whether I have found it to be of value.

To be completely honest, and in the hope that this will bear NO reflection on any mark given, I have found this project to be a distraction from learning what is in the text, and it has helped de-motivate me quite a bit from the paper. I resented it being a mandatory component of the paper and at a whopping 40% of the grade, and I am in an age-group which doesn't use too much social media, or want to be a part of it.

I feel that the fact that this is a large part of the paper and it is mandatory should have been stated in the paper definitions/requirements which appear on-line via Massey when one is deciding which papers to enrol in. Had this been the case, I think it likely I would not have enrolled in the paper. I chose to give it a go and see, but by the time I decided it was something that I wasn't comfortable with, for several reasons, it was too late to choose another paper to enrol in, and so I have stuck with it.

I wonder whether the mandatoriness of keeping this blog is a short-sighted perception that most of the students are either still adolescents, or very young adults. It does not seem to take into account the needs/computer skills of older students in relation to social media, and I felt the responses to legitimate concerns about security etc were not adequately addressed, which for me is an ethics issue.

I am also not too convinced by the peer assessment component of what is worth up to 40% of my grade. This is a very subjective way of assessing someone, and I don't think it has a place for this amount of the paper. I believe quite a few would be nervous about this system.

So, if you're reading this, and you're my peer assessor (as I will be for someone else), I hope you can set aside how YOU have done yours, and go over mine with fresh eyes, as if you haven't had to do your own. I know this will be a challenge for me, and I don't too much enjoy being put in that position when so much may be at stake for a fellow student.

"Highlight anything you think looks stupid."

having a fun moment recreating 16 year old me....

We have all heard the famous saying ‘strong essences come in small bottles’ or ‘great things come in small packages.’ Well, today I have ten small packages that I want to ‘deliver’ to you:

The exceptional teens featured in this blog appear in the bottom half. All are excelling at something.

Teenagers say their parents often don't realize how overwhelmed they feel about school. Psychologists say parents can help children manage their expectations and live a more balanced life, even if it means not racking up as high a GPA as their friends.

As a parent, it can be hard to know what's going on with your teen at school because the main answer to any query as to how things are going is often "yep, fine" (Teenage boys). It can be like pulling teeth getting any information that is worthwhile! This article confirms the angst that a lot of teens are experiencing about school and the school system.

Peers Influence Teens to Take Risks By Activating Reward Circuitry

We have learned via Santrock (2014) that the influence of peers can increase risk-taking behaviour. This article tells us a bit about some research related to this topic.

PEERS

I attended an all-girl high school as a teenager. I was popular and had a lot of friends. Outside of school I had different friends, mainly through my music interest. I have alwasy been a leader rather than a follower, and my parents had instilled a strong "Be true to yourself" principle in me, which I follow to this day. I was never one to go along with peers just because everyone was doing something. And I don't recall being made to suffer for resisting some risky behaviour such as drinking or smoking pot. Rather, I recall being respected for having the strength of my personal convictions. Maybe that was because I was liked by most of the people my age that I knew.

I wasn't allowed a boyfriend till I was 16, and I had one soon after! We remained attached for 2 years, during which time we spent as much time as we could together and talking on the phone when we weren't together. I felt my emotions intensely as a teenager, and I recall a lot of jealousy if he spent time talking to other girls or such. He was in the First 15 and I proudly cheered every weekend from the sideline. I enjoyed being a "couple". I left school at the end of 6th Form (year 12) and he chose to continue for 7th form (Year 13). I went straight into fulltime work in a Govt department, which exposed me to many other people, and gradually this took a toll on our relationship because I began to have different interests and values than he. I ended the relationship to go out with someone else who was older, and he told me years later I broke his heart.

I am aware that peer pressure is still a huge issue for many teens, and even young adults, as I see the impact of it on university students around me. Some who congregate in the same groups forge such bonds that they will exclude others with bad behaviour, and they don't even realise they're being rude or disrespectful.

Teen Pregnancy Support, Real Life Stories, Chat, Blog, Talk with others. Pregnancy Symptoms and date calculator. Unplanned Pregnancy Information and support, Abortion Information and Support.

The research all supports that peers are more important to teens than parents or anyone else. this is a support blog for teens, by teens.

Teenagers need their parents for love, support and guidance – although it might not always seem like it. Here’s how to strengthen bonds with your teen.

Support page for parents raising teens. This made me recall that my sons told me when I decided to end my relationship with their Dad that I was ending all the family traditions. I didn't want it to be that way, and had hoped for an amicable separation for their sake, but it has not worked out that way, and so my teen sons are still coping with how to deal with the fact that Dad doesn't want anything to do with Mum, and this makes family events impossible for now.

The author and television personality criticised the 'third-world' mental health system available to teenagers, adding that children these days grow up in a 'risk-averse culture'.

Found this interesting piece on how the expectations of some parents can impact on teens.

Families and Teenagers

I grew up in a busy household with both parents and 4 siblings. As a teenager, I had a sister only 11 mths younger and a brother only 18 mths after her, so by the time I was 16, my parents had 3 teenagers in the house, and two pubertal adolescents following behind those. I remember those years as being busy, with Mum and Dad often having friends over on the weekends for barbeques in summer or dinner in winter. Dad would always get the guitar out and we would all end up singing. When that wasn't happening, we were practising the songs we were going to sing that week at the country music club, doing homework, often having our own friends over. It was a house where everyone was welcome and the door was always open. We were encouraged to care about people, respect our elders, be helpful. As the eldest, I had a certain sense of innate responsibility and was considered bossy by my siblings. I was relied upon to help look after my younger siblings and had three jobs - a paper round, a part-time job in the local corner dairy, and a regular baby-sitting job for a couple who were family friends. I knew, probably from parental role-modeling, as well as being told, that if I wanted to get ahead in life, I had to work hard. I was also encouraged to have my dreams.

The teenage life of my sons has been very different. They have had to deal with their parents divorcing at the ages of 15 and 18, and the challenges which have resulted from that as one party has not been amicable. Prior to the parental separation, my sons grew up with a sense of entitlement, which I am still at a bit of a loss to understand the source of. They did have two different parental styles to deal with, despite one trying to conform to the other, and they were taught good values as children. However because one parent wanted them to enjoy their childhood as long as possible, and for that parent, that meant them being given little responsibility and rarely saying No to material requests, they did not learn to be as self-sufficient or independent as some of their friends whose parenting was different. One son was outgoing and spent a lot of his time away from the home and with his friends, playing music (guitar) and was into sports, so had sport practice during the week and games on the weekend. The other was very into computer games and spent most of his time playing those either by himself or with his mates, either on-line or in person. For both of them, the idea of getting a job while Mum and Dad could get them stuff was laughable, and I was at a loss to change their way of thinking. As the Mum, I found it a bit difficult to "get off the bridge" as Celia Lashley would say, and allow their father to do the bulk of the parenting, because I didn't agree with his style. I can see in hindsight how this would have caused extra tension for the boys at a time when they were trying to find their way as young men. They are now 18 and 20, and I'm pleased to say, mannerly and balanced young men, but they've had a tough few years to cope with.

Teen.com

What do today's teens think of "classic" teen comedy from the 80's/90's. This was such a popular show and it seems just about everybody can still sing the theme song. In this blog by teens, we have a short focus on some of the show's morals, with today's teens thoughts on them.

Came across this slideshow set which summarises what's in our textbook. People may find it helpful.

Helping Children Stand Up for Principles

MORALITY issues.

As a parent of two adolescents, and a student of psychology, I find this particular site helpful on both levels. In this article, parents receive helpful guidance as to how to help our teens make the choices that are right on a moral level. I think I've done the best I can to empower my sons to do the right thing.

As a person raised in a Catholic (Scots) household, and the eldest child of 5, as a teenager I remember feeling the weight of responsibility to have "good" morals, and these were mostly church-based values. I did strive hard not to disappoint my hard-working parents, tho I recall doing some things that they would not have considered right or good. I seem to recall the most difficult part of that was trying to balance the strength of emotion over the rationality of morality.

I only have two so far: Wicked Games by The Weeknd Gorilla by Bruno Mars Any suggestions? ...It's...uh...for a school project.

I live a lot of my life around music, although, being of an older generation, I'm not listening to today's sound-tracks too much, unless they're easy-listening, or nice R n B. I'm not a hip hopper or raver anymore, lol. I was interested to see what songs may be out there that teens are listening to which make them think of sex, or having sex, or have been written by a young celeb popster. I admit to being alarmed simply by the TITLE of some of these songs on this link! I watch some of today's music vids and all I seem to see is the body as an object - increasingly, males as well as females. Don't quite know what to think. Makes my head go in all sorts of directions...

Nine secondary schools will pilot ACC's new sexual and dating violence prevention programme.

Breakfast show Social worker guest discusses a new ACC programme being rolled out in our High Schools in relation to the issue of unwanted sexual advances. Other info re this important work can be found here:http://www.acc.co.nz/preventing-injuries/at-school/mates-dates/index.htm

I was looking for something interesting to post about Sexuality and Adolescents and came across this interview in Grapevine on line. It covers almost all the topics of this paper, including sexuality in adolescents, and makes for a good read. Nigel Latta at his best. Informative and fun. I admire the ability to put complicated human factors into plain common-sense!

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