Periods of Development Fact Sheet:

Adolescence
Introduction:
Children grow rapidly from conception through early adulthood their brains bodies and
skill sets are on hyper drive to learn new tasks. This can be a confusing to know if your
child is reaching the developmental milestones typically expected of children their age.
Thus the fact sheet will guide you through the your childs physical, cognitive, and
language development!

Physical Development:
Morin states, The difference in growth between boys and girls is very
noticeable at this age. Boys are just hitting the age at which they start
to grow rapidly, while girls are starting to slow down. By the end of high
school, girls are likely to have grown as tall as theyre going to be. Boys often are still
growing and gaining muscle strength(pp.5, n.d.).

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Language Development:
Language development is a life long process. Teens vocabulary and language
development is still being sharpened in both verbal communication and written forms of
communication. As students towards the end of high school study vigorously for college
prep course and their vocabularies grow.

Cognitive Development:
Teens are able to make educated choices at this time; they are able to weigh the
consequence and rewards of their actions. Although they do know always address this
properly, they do have this capability. Teens are also able to prepare for their futures
thinking about the life they wish to have after high school (college, career path, living
environments).

A Sign Of Atypical Development In This Stage Of Development:

This is a challenging time for in a teens life it is full of unexpected challenges and
pressures. This can affect all areas of development so be sure to watch your teens mood,
behavior and school performance. If your teen has a significant decrease in enjoyment of
activities they once enjoyed this maybe a cause for concern, which needs to be
monitored, as depression rates are high during this stage of life. Teen help states, Most
teens with depression will suffer from more than one episode. 20 to 40 percent will have
more than one episode within two years and 70 percent will have more than one episode
before adulthood. Episodes of teen depression generally last about 8 months (pp.3,
2016).

How Families Can Help Influence Learning In This Stage:

During this stage of development teens need you to guide them to make wise choices that
will affect their futures. Teach them their career and college choices and options. Be
honest with them about their choices and share with them your past successes and failures
in order for them to learn from them and build trust (CDC, ).

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (January 3, 2017). Teenagers (15-17 years of

age). Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.ht

ml

Morin, A., (n.d.). Developmental Milestones for Typical High-schoolers. Retrieved from

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/signs-

symptoms/developmental-milestones/developmental-milestones-for-typical-high-

schoolers

Teen Help (2016). Teen Depression Statistics & Facts. Retrieved from

https://www.teenhelp.com/teen-depression/teen-depression-statistics/