CHAPTER 6 The Adolescent in Society

1. CHAPTER 6The Adolescent in Society Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence

2. Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Objectives: • Explain how adolescence developed as a distinct stage of the life cycle in the United States. • Identify the five general characteristics of adolescence.

3. Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society How Adolescence Developed as a Stage of the Life Cycle • Through Education – children stay in school longer; extended period of dependence • Through Work – laws restricted child labor, also increasing length of dependence • Through Courts – juvenile-justice system legally distinguished between youth and adults

4. Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Five General Characteristics of Adolescence • Biological Growth and Development – various biological changes such as changes in body proportions and acne • Undefined Status – adolescent expectations are often vague • Increased Decision Making – must make some of their own decisions

5. Section 1: Adolescence in Our Society Five General Characteristics of Adolescence (continued) • Increased Pressure – adolescents are faced with pressure from many sources • The Search for Self – deciding what is really important

6. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Objectives: • Summarize how dating developed as a form of social interaction. • Describe the functions that dating fulfills.

7. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Development of Dating • Industrial Revolution – people moved from the farms to the cities where young adults could gain more economic freedom and their own home. As a result, parental control over young adults and courtship decreased. • Public Education – by the 1900s most secondary school students attended coeducational public schools which increased interaction between boys and girls

8. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Development of Dating (continued) • Automobile – young adults had more freedom of movement away from parents • Telephone – young adults could more easily talk to members of the opposite sex • Equality of Women – more women entered the workforce and took on more active community roles which increased the interaction between single adult men and women

9. Section 2: Teenagers and Dating Functions of Dating • Serves as a form of entertainment • Is a means of socialization that teaches people about the opposite sex • Fills psychological needs such as companionship • Helps individuals attain status as people are judged in part by whom they date • Aids in spouse selection

10. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Objectives: • Identify some of the social problems facing contemporary teenagers. • Trace the causes and consequences of these problems.

11. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Social Problems of Contemporary Teenagers • Teenage Sexual Behavior • Teenage Drug Use • Teenage Suicide

12. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Causes and Consequences of Contemporary Problems – Sexual Behavior • Cause – loosening of norms concerning sexuality; low-income, one-parent families • Consequence – teenage pregnancy; exposure to or acquiring STDs such as syphilis or AIDS

13. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Causes and Consequences of Contemporary Problems – Drug Use • Cause – dropping out of school; having friends who use drugs; social and academic adjustment problems; hostile and rejecting family setting • Consequence – increase in the use of some drugs among teens; increase in drug-related violence

14. Section 3: Challenges of Adolescence Causes and Consequences of Contemporary Problems – Suicide • Cause – alcohol or drug use; triggering events such as a family crisis or other trials of adolescence; being female; social isolation, living in an underpopulated area, bad family environment; cluster effect from publicized suicides • Consequence – death; possible cluster effects leading to other teenage suicides; rise in U.S. teenage suicide rate; teen suicide rate now exceeds that for adults