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Normal Development Rate |
Jennifer's Development Rate |
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11 to 12 Years Old Change and growth happen dramatically Start learning about sex education and substance-abuse. Want to fit in with other children but may show signs of not feeling confident in how to relate to peers. Use jargon and inappropriate language they learn from others. May show signs of stress due to large amounts of change May be very picky on they type of clothes they where
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11 to 12 Years Old I was learning so much in a little time period, even on month made a difference. I started to learn about sex education by watching a deer have a baby in fourth grade. I started my period in 5th grade before we actually started talking about it. I wanted to fit in with the everyone. I remember washing my face twice a day to try to get my face to look like everyone else's instead of my acne covered face. I grew into the stage where all I wanted was Nike socks because they were what everyone else was wearing. |
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12 to 13 Years Old May developed low self-esteem. May be very Concerned about their appearance and physical development. Search for true "self." Not concerned about behavior. Tend to be messy and have poor hygiene. Concentrating on establishing one or two very close friends ("best friends") Very concerned about fitting in at school. Tries to keep up with all current "pop culture" trends in order to fit in. May compare home life to friends life. "But Susie's Mom lets her." May try to run away from home
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12 to 13 Years Old I had a very low self-esteem, but I hid it by participating in everything. I went from wearing not only wearing Nike to wanting Nike shirts too. I was soul searching. I was trying to figure out who exactly who I was. I had horrible personal hygiene. My mother had to remind me to brush my teeth, wash my face, and to shower. I wanted to fit in. I tried everything; however, I never did quite fit in. I was always using the phrase, "But mom, everyone else gets to drive to Brookings. Why can't I?" Which she would usually respond with, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?" I don't know how many times I threatened or tried to run away to my best friend's house. They always ended up where my mother would come pick me up with the car. |
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13 to 14 Years Old Forms a strong opinion of what's right and wrong. Develop rigid beliefs and see things only in black-and-white terms. Wanting to assert their independence. They have started to see themselves as an individual and a member of a peer group, as opposed to "just one of the family." Shifts between wanting to be responsible for herself and asking to be "babied." Desires to a member of a peer group. Increased possibility to participate in risky behaviors such as smoking, alcohol, or drugs. Assumes that everyone is watching them at all times. Goes out on "dates" with groups. May start to be more rebellious.
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13 to 14 Years Old By the time I was 13 and 14 I was in the 7th and 8th grade. I had a good sense of right and wrong. I could the basic concepts down, but I still couldn't see the from the other person's point of view. I want to be myself and this caused several quarrels with my parents. I wanted to be an individual and not just a member of the family. I still wanted to part of a group, but I started to find other people who weren't in a group yet and formed our own group. My mother didn't have to worry too much about risky behavior because I was allergic to smoke and to busy and too smart to do drugs. I had a very low self-esteem and believed everyone was judging me all the time. I really didn't go out very much. I spent more time on the computer. I was very rebellious. I would not do what I was told to do. It caused several fights between my parents and myself. |
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14 to 15 Years Old Becomes less egocentric in views Greater ability to compromise and stay composed when disagreeing with someone. More tolerant and even-tempered. Starts developing own sense of values. View of the world will settle first on the friends that they have around them. May branch out and make new friends due to the lack of common interests between middle school friends. Friendships will be more lasting and intimate than the ones before: There will be fewer boundaries between her and her friends. Spend more time in mixed-sex groups, though their close group of friends tend to be of the same sex. Girls tend to be ready to date when they are around 14. May be dealing with emotions that they have never felt before. Still uncertain on themselves, but less self-conscious then the past two years. Physical appearance still very important to them. Beginning of the great rebellion in most teenagers as they try to prove themselves as individuals. Peer pressure to have sex intensifies. |
14 to 15 Years Old I was concerned about my sisters. I was responsible for getting them out of bed in the morning and getting them to the bus on time. My mom says I didn't develop a sense of compromise until later on in my teen years. She says I was a little rebel. I started to develop my own sense of what I thought was important. I started to make new friends from all the new activities I was in such as journalism camp. I developed a small group of close friends who we would spend the whole day together. These are the few people from high school I still stay in contact with. I didn't start dating until I was 20. I did spent time with mixed-sex groups because my class sometimes would go out together and eat at Perkins. I started to "like" a couple of my guy friends in a new way; however, they all liked someone else. I was still unsure who I was, but I was trying to be me the best I could be. By this point I really wasn't too concerned about my looks. I did still want the newest trends; however, I would just throw on whatever was clean in my closet. I was growing more and more rebellious. I was trying to prove to myself that I was an individual and not some puppet on a string. |
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15 to 16 Years Old More socially and physically adventurous, wanting to travel on their own, and take up risky activities such as rock climbing or surfing. Able to get a driver's license (or a permit) once they turn16. New great dangers appear as they try out their improved freedom. (As long as their parents give them the keys) Want to talk about "issues": One topic of special fascination is the paranormal: reincarnation, out-of-body experiences, life after death. Also want to talk about things that they see as affecting teenagers, such as abortion, war and the environment, in addition to more worldly concerns such as capital punishment, police violence, or anything involving a miscarriage of justice. The chances that he/she has had sex is increasingly likely: By age 16, half of all boys in this country have had sex; the figure for girls is lower, with just over 25 percent doing so by their 16th birthday. Often think they're heroes at the center of a dramatic story. Lack of belief in their own mortality unfortunately coincides with a period of high experimentation: They are still trying on different self-images and constantly testing the boundaries around them. What can they get away with? How hard can they push? These are the type of answers they want to find out.
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15 to 16 Years Old I participated in too many after school activities to actually get involved with risky activities. I wanted to drive more and more. I wanted to travel back and forth at any time of the night. I wanted to talk about issues that pertained to me and my school. I also got involved with politics during year. I went to Pierre as an All-State Journalist and enjoyed what I observed out there. To this day I am still virgin, however, several of my classmates had decided to experiment with sexual behavior. I believed I was staring in my own dramatic play. Every problem was a big deal. If I didn't get an "A" on the test, my life would end. Due to one of my friends committing suicide when I was in the 9th grade, I knew that I wasn't immortal. I knew that at any moment I could die and tried to live my life to the fullest.
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16 to 17 Years Old Friendships are still just as important, but their group of friends may shift a little. Instead of same sex friends, they may have close friends of the opposite sex who are included in their group. Relationship problems may develop when friends believe he/she is spending to much time with his/her significant other. Teenagers have to figure out how to balance friendship and personal relationships. While some teenagers will devote themselves to one boyfriend or girlfriend, others will go out on dates with less serious intentions. It can simply be a social structure - a way to go to a movie or be escorted to a dance or party - without having any of the heft of a steady romance. More stable about their life changes. Life is still a busy, but it is less dramatic as earlier years. The need for personal space intensifies. Able to see parts of the other side of an argument and my start trying to give advice when it is not needed.
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16 to 17 Years Old I had a small group of about four to five friends who spent the whole day together. I had one really close friend and we did everything thing together. Even on snow days, she would drive to my house to hang out. I personally didn't have relationship problems, but I was the person who other people would come to for advice. I had never had a relationship, but they still came to me for advice. I never went out with anyone besides my best friends or the whole group. For my junior prom, I took a friend as my escort so he could go to prom with the rest of his friends. My life was sort of coming together. I could see the end of school and I was focusing on getting good grades so I could go to college. I also had my friends to help support. I have had my own room since at least the second grade. I needed a space I could call my own and shut the door and be by myself. For the first time, I was able to see my parents point of view. I found out just how hard they worked to make ends meet. |
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17 to 18 Years Old Most teenagers will prefer to spend time with a boyfriend or girlfriend than with a group of peers. Dating patterns can still range from dating all the time to not dating at all. Teens may be in and out of the house so often that parents may feel that they are treating their home as a hotel. Should be able to do their laundry. Statistics teens this age have to face every day: probably half of all of your friends are having sex, and half are not. Teenagers begin to face up to adulthood: That can mean anything from acting condescending toward their parents as they gain confidence in their own adult-like abilities to seeking full financial dependence from you. However, that is becoming decreasingly the case: It appears to be a trend for adolescents to remain financially dependent upon their parents well into their 20s. Teenager will probably become more tolerant of their parents opinions and may even start to return to their values. May still be trying to figure out what they want to do with their life and trying to "Find themselves." This process usually occurs between the ages of 18 and 24. Teens this age may suffer from Depression and anxiety as they are faced with the difficult decisions of what to do with their life. |
17 to 18 Years Old When I was 17 and 18, I enjoyed spending time participating in after school activities or at home on the computer. I rarely had time to go out with all my activities and homework. I didn't have a special someone in high school. I have a few crushes, but they all liked someone else. I didn't get a boyfriend until I was 20 years old. During my senior year, I was in and out of my house and even school so much that both were like quick stopping points before moving onto the next thing. I have been doing my laundry since about 5th grade. I was to busy to be effected by peer pressure about sex, drugs, and alcohol.
I was ready to graduate from high school. I was ready to go to college. I had decided to follow in both of my parents footsteps and become an educator. I started to value my parents opinion. I would listen to them, I just won't always use their advice.
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