CHAPTER OUTLINE

Puberty

Unseen Beginnings

Sexual Maturation

Age and Puberty

Growing Bigger and Stronger

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: Stress and Puberty

Too Early, Too Late

Body Rhythms

Nutrition

Diet Deficiencies

Body Image

Eating Disorders

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Brain Development

Thinking About Oneself

Formal Operational Thought

Two Modes of Thinking

Teaching and Learning

Definitions and Facts

School Transitions

OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: Misconceptions about Bullying

Succeeding in High School

Praising Adolescent Cognition

WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

• What makes a particular child reach puberty early or late?
• Why do adolescents starve themselves?
• How can teenagers be both logical and impulsive?
• Why does bullying increase in middle school?

Several years ago, a couple approached me for help with their only child, a daughter who was 16 years old. When I met with the girl and asked why she was refusing to go to school (or even leave the family’s apartment), she began pinching her arms and said, “I’m fat. Can’t you see how fat I am?”

I was surprised; she was probably a size 2 at the most.

“Look at the dark circles under my eyes,” she added. There were no dark circles.

Underneath the girl’s rebellion were some serious family issues. The family had immigrated to Canada when the girl was in Grade 9. After arriving, the teen befriended someone online. The parents became concerned about the online connection, so the following year they sent her back to their home country, China, to a remote place with limited or no Internet access. However, having been away from China for one year resulted in it being too difficult for her to catch up academically with her peers. A year later, the teen came back to Canada. Unfortunately, she lost interest in school and her grades suffered.

There were other problems too. The teen confided in her mom that she liked a boy. Fearful of what might transpire, the mother secretly asked her daughter’s friends for the boy’s phone number. She then called him and asked what his intentions were and if he liked her daughter. The daughter found out about this through her friends, to her horror and embarrassment. She confronted her mother, who then denied this incident.

The moving back and forth between Canada and China, along with feeling betrayed by her mother, were the real causes of this girl’s rebellion. I met with her and her parents many times, and the mother apologized and asked for forgiveness. During one of our conversations, I mentioned the importance of school and that perhaps the teen would consider coming to my university. Seven years later she contacted me, stating that she had applied to an undergraduate program at my university. She studied hard and received an entrance scholarship. When we talk about the past today, she laughs and says she can’t believe how immature she was at 16. She also states that her relationship with her parents is much better, and she is happy.

The reality that children grow into men and women is no shock to any adult. However, teenagers are often surprised, and sometimes even shocked, at the physical changes that occur during puberty. As at all stages of development, parents continue to play an important role in their youth’s development.