Adolescence is an important and difficult stage in a person’s life, a time of choices that largely determines the entire subsequent life. It can be compared to a crossroads. In ancient times, this stage was considered the same qualitative change in state as birth, marriage, death. What are the main changes in themselves that a modern teenager feels?

Adolescence is marked by rapid development and restructuring of the child’s social activity. Powerful shifts occur in all areas of the child’s life, it is no coincidence that this age is called “transitional” from childhood to maturity.

Adolescence is considered a stage of personality development, the process of transition from a dependent, guarded childhood, when the child lives by special rules established for him by adults to an independent life.

At this time, stable forms of behavior, character traits and ways of emotional response are formed, which in the future largely determine the life of an adult, his physical and mental health. That is why the role of the family environment in providing conditions that do not hinder, but, on the contrary, promote the healthy development of the teenager’s personality is so great.

Observation of children in various situations reveals the dependence of the manifestation of the type of temperament on the motives and needs that motivate them to act: when performing significant, interesting work, the child can be very active and becomes slow when included in an uninteresting activity.

At the age of 13-14, the system of values and interests changes. What was valuable is devalued, new idols appear, the nature of relationships with adults and parents is often of a protest nature. At this age, teenagers are drawn to everything unusual, often get carried away by informal movements. A modern teenager has a pronounced desire for individualization, for the assertion of his “I”.

Externally, the age crisis is manifested in rudeness, secrecy, deliberate behavior, the desire to act contrary to the demands and desires of adults; in ignoring comments, leaving the usual sphere of communication. The difficulty is that a teenager does not know how to analyze the reasons for what is happening to him.

A teenager often has an unreasonable feeling of anxiety, his self-esteem fluctuates, he is very vulnerable, conflicted, and can fall into depression. He must be very smart, very beautiful, very brave, very capable, etc. in his own eyes.

At the same time, the restructuring of the teenager’s attitude to himself affects not only his emotional state, but also the development of his creative abilities and satisfaction with life in general. At this time, studying fades into the background.

The most important issue of adolescence is puberty. At this time, psychosexual attitudes and orientations are formed. A teenager experiences his first love, he has erotic fantasies and experiences. He changes so much that this period is called a “hormonal storm or endocrine storm”. Tact and patience of adults are necessary, their recognition of the personal life of a son or daughter as an independently existing sphere. Then trust arises (or remains), a desire to talk about difficulties, share joy, get advice from loved ones, and not from friends from the street.

Rapid, uneven growth begins, as a result of which the teenager becomes disproportionate, awkward. The child’s body undergoes a deep restructuring, and at a very fast pace. Rapid physical development is accompanied by a number of contradictory moments. Often there is a rejection of their body and appearance, then they exhaust themselves with diets, exercise, simply suffer and withdraw into themselves. Such phenomena should not cause particular concern for parents, but it is necessary to know them and take them into account when organizing the life of a teenager.

Since a teenager strives for extreme positions in assessment, he is inclined to overestimate or underestimate his qualities and properties. Teenagers are critical of the negative traits of their character, worrying about those traits that interfere with their friendship and relationships with other people.