Case Study of a Child Age 12

Cynthia Gubler
EDU 220-1002
Physical
Characteristics
• More aware of their bodies
• Boys go through some rapid growth at this age which leads to a larger
appetite and less energy
• Girls develop secondary sex characteristics
• Self-Conscious when learning new skills.
• Increased possibility of acting on sexual desires
University of Washington (1993)
• Body hair begins to grow in both boys and girls

• Voice begins to change for boys

• Growth spurt starts to peak for both genders

• Start of puberty:

• The average girl begins menstruation at age 12

• Boys will begin to have regular nocturnal emissions starting at age 12

Medline (2017)
 • Children at this age experience rapid and uneven
growth. On average, they will grow 2-4 inches and gain
8-10 pounds per year.
• In boys, their hand and feet start to grow more quickly
than other parts of their bodies so they can appear
awkward and gangly.
• Puberty can begin as soon as 9 and as late as 13.
• Pubertal development is evident:
o In boys the testes and scrotum begin to grow, and
lightly pigmented pubic hair appears
o In girls begin to develop breasts and also start to grow
pubic hair.

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

Physical Development
According to Snowman
My 12-Year-Old’s
Physical Characteristics

I observed a 12-year-old boy named Damien that is on a soccer

team that I coach. He is significantly shorter than his peers and is
also quite heavier. Despite being shorter than his peers, he
appears to be going through puberty more quickly than some of
the other boys. In the short time that I have observed him, he has
started to get taller which, is resulting in him not looking as heavy.
His voice has also begun to change so at times he experiences
his voice cracking when he tries to yell.
 • Parents should be honest and open about their
children’s physical changes
• Ensure that both boys and girls receive adequate
sexual education and understand puberty.
• Don’t chastise boys over seemingly being lazy
and eating too much food.
• Support and encourage your child to develop new
skills and understand that their lack of confidence
is normal.

University of Washington (1993)

Recommendations for
Physical Developments
Emotional
Characteristics
• Twelve year-olds are commonly angry and don’t like being told what to do
• They are often dramatic and moody and exaggerate their feelings
• They experience a lot of fear, worry, and crying at this age.
University of Washington (1993)
 • Self-conscious and self-centered
• Aware of emotional changes taking place- because of
this they assume everyone else is just as interested in,
constantly evaluating their appearance, feelings, and
behavior.
• Adolescent egocentrism- assume that adults don’t and
can’t understand their thoughts and feelings- believes
they’re experiencing things no one else has ever
experienced before.
• Stereotype that adolescence is a time of storm and stress
and they have mainly negative emotions; more recent
studies show that they experience these swings between
negative AND positive emotions.
• Even though they experiment with risky behavior- they
most likely won’t develop a significant difficulty

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

Emotional Development
According to Snowman
My 12-Year-Olds
Emotional Characteristics
At first I didn’t notice that Damien had many of these emotional characteristics.
Upon further observation I just realized that he internalizes many of his
emotions in order to be popular with his teammates. He experienced a lot of
anger and frustration when he was having difficulty with a particular skill. I also
noticed that he is constantly worried about what his peers thought of him. When
practicing a new skill, I would see him looking at his peers to see how they
reacted to how he performed it. He displays a significant amount of adolescent
egocentrism. After repeatedly failing at a new skill, I explained to him that when
I was his age I also had trouble with that skill. At first Damien couldn’t seem to
understand that an adult could have experienced the same difficulties but when
I explained that I had been his same age, he understood it better.
 • Parents should allow their children to help
make decisions.
• They should also help their children to set
rules and to have a say in their
responsibilities.
• Parents should understand that moodiness
and exaggerated positions are normal for
their children at this age and should do their
best not to overreact to it.
• Most importantly, parents should be
supportive of their children and try to be
sympathetic to what they’re going through.
University of Washington (1993)

Recommendations for
Emotional Development
Cognitive/Intellectual
Characteristics
• At age twelve, the speed and efficiency of their thought process begins to
increase.
• They are able to regulate their emotions better
• They begin to understand their own thinking processes
• Their skills with planning and problem solving also begin to increase
• They start to improve their spatial working memory
Child Development Institute (2015)
 • Piaget
o Formal operational- can generalize from a
particular instance to a general form.
Can mentally manipulate relationships and
variables
o Adolescent egocentrism- inability to
differentiate between the world as they
think it should be and as it actually is.
• Vygotsky
o Gain from the knowledge and conceptual
tools handed down to them by more
intellectually advanced people.
o The way that they think is a result of both
their social and cultural forces.
Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

Cognitive/Intellectual
According to Piaget and Vygotsky
My 12 Year-Olds
Cognitive/Intellectual Characteristics
Through observing Damien, I can easily determine that he has a high
intellectual and cognitive ability. His problem solving skills are exceptional and
it helps to give him a huge advantage when playing soccer. When presented
with a new game, he is usually the first to figure out a strategy and to utilize it to
win the game. He is also very aware of the world around him and is the first to
suggest picking up trash around the field or helping other teams put a net on
the goal. This is also where his high level of adolescent egocentrism gives him
difficulty because he has a hard time understanding why others aren’t so willing
to help or why people would leave litter to begin with.
 • Parents should not be defensive when a
child displays adolescent egocentrism. This
is normal and does not necessarily mean
that they’re defying or questioning your
authority.
• Be sympathetic to their feelings of
criticism, but try to help them look at their
work with an unbiased eye and evaluate it
more objectively.
• Support their interests in activism and
helping out their community

University of Washington (1993)

Recommendations for
Cognitive/Intellectual Development
Psychosocial/Social
Characteristics

• Considers joining clubs and being a part of organized,

competitive teams to be extremely important
• They have a strong desire for independence
• They can be obnoxious towards adults and extremely critical of
them
University of Washington (1993)
 • Identity vs Role Confusion
o Goal is development of the roles and
skills that will prepare adolescents to take
a meaningful place in society.
o Danger is role confusion- having no clear
conception of appropriate types of
behavior that others will react to
favorably.
o Identity develops if adolescents succeed
(reflected by reactions of others) in
integrating roles in different situations to
the point of experiencing continuity in
their perception of self.
Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

Psychosocial/Social
According to Erikson
My 12 Year-Olds
Psychosocial/Social Characteristics

Damien only displays about half of these characteristics. He is not very critical
of adults and seems to treat every adult that he encounters with respect.
Damien loves to be a part of teams and clubs and plays basketball in addition
to soccer. He is also a member of two club in his school so he has a rather full
schedule. He also has a strong desire to be independent. When practicing a
new skill, Damien is one of the first ones to want to attempt the skill on his own
without any assistance from me or the assistant coach.
Recommendations for
Psychosocial/Social Development
• Respond to them in a similar and • Be tolerant and understanding of
predictive manner your child, even when they are
being critical of you.
• Show them warmth and sensitivity
even when they challenge you. • Allow them to be independent
while still setting limits.
• Use appropriate discipline when
necessary. • Allow them to join teams and clubs
Center for Disease Control and University of Washington (1993)
Prevention (2017)
 • Twelve year-olds have a strong desire to
fit in with their peers; they will typically
adapt to the moral characteristics of this
group of their peers.

University of Washington (1993)

Moral/Character
Characteristics
Moral/Character Development
According to Kohlberg
• Conventional morality- adolescents tend to conform to the rules of society
because they are the convention.
• Rules have different viewpoints and are thus flexible.
• Takes into consideration the offenders intentions
• See rules as mutual agreements among equals.
Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)
 Damien has a very strong desire to fit in with his
teammates and has been guilty of picking up
some of their bad moral behaviors. There is one
girl on the team that hardly ever shows up but
when she does, she continuously makes jokes
and goofs on when she feels uncomfortable
performing a task. Many of her teammates will
join her when we are working on a skill that they
don’t particularly enjoy and Damien will feel
pressured to join in since he doesn’t want to feel
left out.

My 12 Year-Olds
Moral Characteristics
Recommendations for
Moral/Character Development
• Help children to examine morals and behaviors of the group without
judgment.
• Recognize and allow children’s need to belong to peer groups that are
outside their family.
• Teach children that there are consequences for their own actions
University of Washington (1993)
References
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Child development. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/facts.html

• Child Development Institute (2015). The ages and stages of child development. Retrieved
from https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/#.WR3Id_QrLrc

• Medline (2017). Adolescent Development. Retrieved from

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002003.htm

• Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage

Learning.

• University of Washington. (1993). Child development: Using the child development

guide. Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd
06.htm