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Running Head: Adolescent Paper

Adolescent Paper
Karlie Muxlow
SW 3510

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Adolescent Paper

Abstract
Throughout my paper I will discuss certain aspects of my adolescence that have been
important in the process of becoming the person I am today. The topics I will touch on are
significant life events during this time, sexuality, drugs, peer pressure, body image, issues of
diversity and family dynamics. I will also be discussing three theories we have discussed in
lecture and how they explain certain behaviors I displayed during this time period.

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Significant Life Events during Adolescence

Adolescence is seen as a period of time in a childs life marked by puberty and is usually full of
changes in someones life. As a girl I experienced quite a change in my life during this time. My
parents divorced when I was six and after that I never was really close with my dad. At the age of
thirteen things got so bad between us that I stopped talking to him until I was almost seventeen.
It was very hard not having my dad around growing up because I felt as though he didnt love or
care about me. He was remarried and as a young girl I just wanted to feel loved by him. I used to
be his princess but after he was remarried it was as if he had a new family and I was old and he
forgot about me. I have always struggled with the distant relationship with my dad but at this
period in my life I was revolting against him. I didnt want anything to do with him because he
was only around when he felt like it or when it looked good on his part. I started acting very
flirty towards guys and tried to get any attention I could from them. I just wanted to feel that
connection that I never had with my dad. This significant life even I experienced still affects me
today in a very substantial way. I have a very hard time trusting men, I fear they will abandon me
like my dad did when he left my mom. I have a son now and I will try as hard as I can to raise
him to be a gentleman I hope that if his dad and I cannot make things work that he will stay in
his sons life so my baby doesnt have to go through what I did.
Sexuality
Although I had my first boyfriend in the first grade, I dont remember having actual
feelings for guys until sixth grade. It was then that I started realizing how cute other boys were,
especially older ones. I got my period in sixth grade and starting getting body features that were

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very new to me. The older boys liked that and it made me feel good that they were looking at me.
I have always been straight; there has never been a time where I thought I liked a girl. I am
comfortable enough with my sexuality to say if I think a girl is pretty or has a nice face or body
but I have never been sexually attracted nor had feelings for a female.
Drugs
I am not proud of the fact that I tried using drugs when I was younger, but because of
those choices I am where I am today and I would not change that for anything. I remember this
day like it was yesterday, down to the clothes I was wearing. I honestly thought I was going to
die at fourteen and there was nothing I could do but pray that I would wake up the next morning
alive. It was the day eighth grade got out and all my friends and I were at the beach. I had been
drinking alcohol since I was twelve so that was nothing new. My friends older sister got us some
cheap vodka and let us drink at the beach with her and her friends. Im not sure if it was the heat
or the water or what but I had a very bad headache so my friends sister gave me what I thought
was Advil. As the day progressed we ended up going back a boys house that we were hanging
out with. His dad was out of town so it was just my friends and I. By this time I was pretty drunk
and just wanted the older people to think I was cool. They pulled out a bong and started smoking
weed. I had never smoked before but they kept trying to get me to smoke so I finally gave in.
After I took a few hits the room started to spin and I felt sick to my stomach. I ended up puking
the whole night and honestly thought I was going to die. My friend almost called my mom
because I wouldnt stop. When I woke up the next day my whole body was sore and I remember
being thirsty and hungry but also wanted to puke again. I ended up finding out the two pills I
took for my headache were actually a very high dose of Adderall. I had mixed alcohol, pills, and
marijuana all in the same six hour time frame. I told myself I would never do drugs again. But as

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I got older I put that bad experience in the back of my mind a couple more times. When I was
seventeen I was at a friends house and everyone took Adderall. I hadnt been drinking or
anything so I decided to take one so nobody would make fun of me. I had only taken it once
before so my body wasnt used to it like my friends. It was a pretty high dosage and I ended up
staying up for over 48 hours straight. My body was tired but I just could not sleep. The same
night I took it, everyone else had fallen asleep and I sat on the computer playing games for over
eight hours. My eyes were so red the next day. Since then I have never taken any kind of pill that
I shouldnt be taking. I finally learned my lesson on that one. The last incident I have
experienced with drugs was the summer after I graduated high school. I met so many new people
through a girl I worked with and spent almost every night with them. All of her friends smoked
weed all the time so a lot used to being around the smell but never smoked it. One night they
were smoking in the car on the way to someones house and because it was such a confined area
I felt the high even though I didnt smoke. I felt outside my body and it scared me so much. I
kept remember the first experience when I was fourteen. I dont remember everything accepted
crying and I took a long shower and felt better after. Since then I have not touched drugs and if I
am somewhere where people are doing drugs I leave. I finally learned my lesson.
Peer Pressure
Like I said before, the experiences I have had with drugs were partly from my own
decisions but also the people I was hanging around. I wanted to fit in and be cool so I did what
I knew was wrong so people would like me. Now that I am older I realize how stupid that was
and that I could have gotten seriously hurt because of my careless decisions. The people I called
my friends were not even friends at all, they didnt really care about me or when I said no they
would be ok with it and still want to hang around me. The biggest stupid decision I made because

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of peer pressure though was the day I lost my virginity. I was a freshman and a super cute senior
boy kept talking to me. We ended up hanging out and he told me that everyone does it and it just
means that we really care about each other. I didnt want to but didnt want him to go tell all of
his friends that I was a loser. I went to a small school so everyone would have found out so I just
went along with it. After that he never talked to me again. The whole school found out anyway
and I was called horrible names. I commend those who didnt give in to peer pressure in school
because I wish I wouldnt have.
Body Image
There are tremendous amounts of pressure placed on young girls to look a certain way. If
you are to heavy or not enough curves, your hair is too short, you have braces or glasses or dont
look a certain way then somehow you are inferior to those who look pretty. I always wanted to
be super skinny like the girls I saw in magazines because that was perfection. My senior year
of high school I was in a very abusive relationship with a guy and he made me feel even worse
about myself. Every time I would eat he would tell me to stop because I was fat. I was not fat I
didnt even weigh 125 pounds. I didnt eat much and after we broke up I stopped eating basically
all together. I found out he had cheated on me with multiple people so I told myself I would look
the best I could so he knew what he lost, even though he treated me like crap. I got down to 112
pounds and was very skinny. I look back on pictures and see how gross I looked and now know I
had a problem. I will always struggle with body image issues but I will never let myself get back
to that.

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Family Dynamics
Growing up in a single parent home is not an ideal situation but my mom made the best
of it. My sister ended up moving in with my dad so it was just my mom and I for most of my life.
She worked long hours so I was alone after school until bed. She had to work mandatory
overtime a lot so I would be home until very late at night. I started hanging out with people I
probably shouldnt have and all the things I have been talking about started taking place in my
life. I liked being at friends houses a lot especially ones who had a close family because I never
had that. I also would get very close to the family of a boyfriend if I had one and when we broke
up it would make it that much harder. I always wanted my family to be together but that would
never happen. I ended up having a child of my own at nineteen, by accident and I hope to give
him the family I never had. Even if his dad and I dont stay together I want to have a family so he
will know what that feels like unlike me.
Issues of Diversity
I grew up in a very small town where there was virtually no diversity. Everyone lived
cookie cutter lives and if you didnt you acted like you did. There were two biracial students at
my high school and two Korean students and the rest were white. I didnt experience diversity
until I got a job in the next town which was way more diverse. The place I worked at was in a
pretty bad neighborhood so I got to experience people from multiple racial backgrounds,
socioeconomic statues, and education levels. At first I didnt know how to take all the diversity
but after a while I got used to it and realized everyone deserves the same equal treatment no
matter their background. When I got to community college I became even more aware of

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diversity and issues of racism and have tried to be more conscious of myself because of it. I am
excited for my journey at Wayne State because of how diverse it is here.
Theories Used
As a teenager dealing with the tremendous amount of pressure to look a certain way and
going to extreme measures to do so, I struggled a lot with my self-image and self-identity. Erik
Erikson developed a lifespan model of development that includes eight stages through a persons
life. These stages build upon one another and to successfully complete each stage you have to
overcome a crisis (Saul McLeod). Eriksons fifth stage: Identity versus role confusion which is
from age twelve to eighteen can be used to explain my behavior regarding my body image during
that time. During this stage the body image of adolescents changes and during these changes
Erikson proposed that they may feel uncomfortable about their body for a while until they can
adapt or grow into those changes(Saul McLeod). That makes the way I acted or felt make a little
more sense because all the changes that were occurring in my life were happening so fast and I
hadnt adapted to them yet.
The second theory I chose was Watsons and Skinners theory of Behaviorism. This
theory explains that someones behavior is explained by external stimuli and not internal mental
states (Richard Culatta). The theory of Behaviorism can be used to explain why I continued to
experiment sexually as a teenager. Although at first I was a scared, timid child, after a while of
getting attention of guys I became a flirt and would try to flirt with everyone. The way I acted
was positively reinforced by the boys reactions so I learned to continue the behavior.
The third theory I chose is Banduras social learning theory. He believed that observation
of certain behavior can lead to learning (Human Behavior in the Social Environment pg. 101).

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From what I understand of this theory, my behaviors involving drugs and peer pressure can be
explained from the social learning theory. My friends choices to experiment with alcohol and
drugs combined with the pressure from them on me to try it ended up shaping my behavior and
learning to do so. I eventually stood up for myself and chose to stay away from that atmosphere
but during high school I was influenced by their behaviors.

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Reference Page
Ashford, J., & LeCroy, C. (2013). Human behavior in the social environment: A
multidimensional perspective (5th ed.). Australia: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Culatta, R. (2011, January 1). Behaviorist Learning Theory. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
McLeod, S. (2008, January 1). Erik Erikson | Psychosocial Stages | Simply Psychology.
Retrieved November 3, 2014.