CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

Child and Adolescent Development

Question #1: What is meant by “puberty” and what are some noticeable changes that occur?

Puberty can be defined as the different physical changes that occur in the body of a child, changing to become an adult. This can also mean that it is the transformation of the body of child, from a child to a human being. Puberty is different from boys and girls where in girls it starts at the age of ten years old while in boys it starts at the age of twelve years old. In girls, it ends at the age of seventeen and as for the boys, it ends at the age of eighteen. At the start of puberty, the brain sends some hormones to the testicle in boys for the production of sperms and testosterones, which result in the different body changes. In girls, the hormones are sent to the ovaries where the eggs have been staying since they were born. The ovaries are made active, ready to reproduce while the body takes the necessary changes. It is important to note that puberty differs from one person to another in the time that it is going to start and when it is going to end.

In boys, the body experiences several changes. One of the changes is that the boys’ penis and testicles grow to the size of an adult. Another change is the growing of the pubic hair in the private parts of the boys. When the boy is a child, there is usually no pubic hair but when puberty begins, the boy starts to grow pubic hair in the private parts. Additionally, the body hair starts to grow together with the facial hair, that is, the beard. The body changes to form a masculine shape together with the body odor. Lastly, the boys start to break their voice where they change and they have a horse voice or base voice.

In girls, the breast begins to grow where at first they develop a firm tender lump then it continues to swell in both sides. The ovaries and the uterus change to increase in size as the vagina becomes thicker and changes its color to pink. Menstruation starts but it is after two years from the time puberty begun. The body also begins to change its shape where the hips start to broaden, as the buttocks, thighs, breasts and the uppers arms grow. Additionally, the body odor starts to change.

Question #2: Describe some health risks that are typical during adolescence.

            Adolescent can be described as that age that is between childhood and adulthood. It is between the ages of eleven to nineteen. At this point, a lot of emotions and physical body changes tend to take place in the body of an adolescent. It is because of this changes that the adolescent are at risk of getting diseases. One of the health risks that the adolescent is prone to is mental illness. This is because of the different emotional changes that are going through in the body of the adolescent. The adolescent might have problems to interact socially with others but they can be prevented if the parent is able to talk with the adolescent regularly.

Another health risk that can affect the adolescent is the diseases, which are involved in the substance abuse. At this age, the adolescent starts to get different addictions including drug related addictions. Despite the numerous efforts that the government is making to curb this problem, the adolescent are prone to drugs like alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. This can affect the adolescent by getting the different diseases that are related to those drugs. Therefore, the parents and guardians are advised to teach the adolescent the effects of the different drugs and how to cope with the addictions.

Lastly, the adolescent are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. At this age, the adolescent has strong sexual urges, which are new to him or her. When the adolescent gets this urges, he or she might be tempted to try them. In the course of trying them, the adolescent is at a health risk of being infected with the sexually transmitted diseases. Additionally, they are at a risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. It is for this reason that the parents are advised to teach them about the different sexual urges that they might get and how they can control them. In addition, they should explain to the adolescent about the different diseases they can contract through sexual intercourse.

Question #3: What is meant by “high stakes learning?”

            Stakes is a word, which has been developed from the vocabulary of porker where stake means the different winnings a person, makes when he or she is playing porker. In high stakes learning, it means the high level of learning in which the different students are expected to learn so that they can produce commendable results. This means that the teachers or the government educators have to increase the quality of education so that they can achieve that high quality of education that is expected in the different students. Therefore, high stake learning can be described as that high quality of education that the teachers are expected to provide the students with, in order for the students to achieve high standards.

In high stakes learning, it does not concentrate too much on the exams that are given to the students since the different students have several means in which they can copy the exams. In high stakes learning, the exams are a bit different in the sense that the students are expected to answer in accordance to what they have learned at the end of the learning. This means that the students ought to have learned much more so that they can be able to attain those high qualities that are expected from high stakes learning. It is important to note that high stakes learning only concentrates on what is important in improving the student’s quality.

Additionally, in high stakes learning, as the word stakes suggests, there are the results. In high stakes learning, the students are expected to learn so that they can attain good results. In this case, the student either passes or fails and each has an option that has its own repercussions. The standards in high stake learning are usually high so that the students can become competent. For example, those students who are learning medicine are expected to become doctors. This means that they will be trusted with the lives of people. To ensure that they are of high quality or they are competent, the different lecturers are to ensure that they are providing the students with high quality education. In the end of the education, the students are expected to answer the different questions based on what they have learned. The result of the exams determines whether the student is competent enough to become a doctor or not. Therefore, this could be described as high stakes learning.

Question #4: What might a person go through when establishing her or his “gender identity”?

            Gender identity can be described as ones perception of the gender that he or she is associated with. In gender identity, people go through several things so that they can be able to identify themselves which gender they belong to. It is usually a stage in life where the different people have to pass so that they can be able to identify themselves in which gender they belong. One of the things that they go through is that they observe what the society and the different cultures perceive of the different genders. In this case, they observe what habits and roles the different genders play in the society and in their culture. This is where now they start to get a relationship of how the culture or the society expects them to be in accordance to their gender.

Another thing that this people go through is the self-identification of his or her own gender. In this case, a person goes through so many things in relation to how he or she behaves. This is where he or she behaves in accordance with what he or she has learned from the society. Additionally, the person starts to familiarize with the mode of dressing that is used by the gender in which he or she has identifies himself or herself with. However, as the person is trying to identify with a gender, he or she might start identifying with the gender of the opposite sex. In this case, the person goes through many changes so that he can try to define him or herself. He or she finds him or herself identifying with the things that the opposite gender loves and do. After going through the identification, the person then knows where he or she belongs and it becomes permanent.