I found chapter 8 Adolescence interesting. It has definitely opened my eyes to the road
I will watch my son travel on as he is entering his adolescence years. I was
particularly interested in the section on Cognitive Development (pg. 191) since
this section talked about how “the young adolescent’s ability to think may go
unnoticed”. Most of the time society is quick
to dismiss the thoughts of an adolescent but, according to Piaget members of
society from age 11 and up are in the formal operational stage (pg. 191). In
this stage an adolescent has the ability to “think abstractly, reason
logically, exhibit hypothetical thinking and combine groups of concrete
operation. I have learned to listen to and accept the opinions of preteens and
teenagers.
The Identity in Adolescence (pg. 194) section hit home! As
the parent of a child who learns differently I have morphed into a distant
helicopter. Over the past 4 years I have painfully learned that I HAVE to always
be the advocate for my son until he is fully capable of being his own advocate.
After reading this chapter I have realize the importance of stepping back and
letting my son form his own identity. In order to avoid an identity crisis (Erickson
pg. 194) he needs to be comfortable in his own skin, even if this means letting
him wear the red shirt verses the blue (he really doesn’t realize how cute he
looks in blue or how is really brings out his eyes!).
The section of Social Development (pg. 195) emphasized the
role of family (pg. 195) importance of having a strong family bond with your
adolescent can reduce a significant amount of stress. The role of peers (pg.
195) talked about how peers can be what the adolescent strives to be and the
importance of developing a healthy sense of self through peers.
Glad you were able to connect with the material. It is always an interesting and complicated process that involves the identity of an adolescence. The one complaint I have with Erickson is that he assumes not having a clear identity is a negative outcome. Many would argue that identity is a constant evolution and limiting it to a stage is difficult.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on identity, it truly is very important that you let your son make his decisions and form his own identity. I have a friend that was never allowed to make any decisions for herself. Anytime we did something, she had to ask her parents and they would decide for her. But once she was older and out of the house, she finally was allowed to make her own decisions. She made some poor decisions, because she had never been given the opportunity to make decisions in a safe environment.
ReplyDeleteI just had a conversation the other day with a lady I work with on her parenting strategies. Her two kids are in 4th and 5th grade so they are not quite at the adolescent stage yet. But she was telling me that her kids get dressed on their own, wake up on their own, make their lunch on their own, and many other things. Many people were shocked by this including myself. This got me to thinking that when her children are adolescents however, they will already be comfortable choosing and doing the things that they want to do and become the person they want to become. There is no doubt in my mind as well that a strong bond within your family can reduce stress. When I think about what really stresses me out, I always think of my brother and sister because those two know how to push my buttons better than anyone else.
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