Life Span Development II: School age and Adolescence 3 (2+1)
Lesson 13 : Meaning of Adolescence
Meaning of Adolescence
The term Adolescence comes from the Latin verb “adolescere”, means to grow into maturity. It is a transitional period- a time of physical, social and emotional metamorphosis.
Adolescence is the span of years between childhood and adulthood. It begins at about the age of 12 and ends at either late teens or early twenties. It is a period from 11 years to 19 years. It is a time of great change.
The period of adolescence covers a wide range of ages. A 13 year old and 17 year old are both adolescents but they experience very different worlds. Till the early 20th century it was a very brief period where it was common for people to marry and have children by age of 15 or 16. But today, the adolescence is a much longer period of time, because most of the adolescents reach physical maturity earlier and delay adult responsibility a longer period than they did in the past. It is the time when the individual is neither man nor child. They are in-between stage.
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