ADOLESCENCE For no other mammals, primates included; experience the equivalent period of growth, and at no other time in our lives do our physical and social attributes change quite so dramatically. Indeed the uniqueness of our adolescent dash for maturity makes for some challenging puzzles…. B. Bogin “Why must I be a teenager at all?” 1993

Read all the views about adolescents and adults Read all the views about adolescents and adults. Comment on ONE by writing a view that supports or opposes these ideas. Adolescents operate in a world of their own. Adolescents today have it too easy; they’re all lazy. Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely , if ever, do they forgive them. Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. The older I get, the better I was.

ADOLESENT GROWTH SPURT Presents major physical changes. Distinctive changes in * BODY SIZE * BODY PROPORTIONS * PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS * SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS

But these physical changes do not take place in total isolation from other changes such as the SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL and INTELLECTUAL CHANGES.

Pre-natal and first six months of life GROWTH SPURTS RAPID GROWTH PHASE Pre-natal and first six months of life Adolescence SLOW GROWTH PHASE Childhood Adulthood

Secondary sex characteristics HORMONAL CHANGES Common Changes Reproductive organs Height and weight Secondary sex characteristics

Stimulates the release GLANDS start growth process Stimulates the release Pituitary Gland of hormones to and development Regulates growth Thyroid Gland (weight/height) Parathyroid Gland development Bone and teeth Production of sex Adrenal Glands GONADS hormones and progesterone produce oestrogen Female – OVARIES produce testosterone Male – TESTES and androgens

Female Stages of Puberty: 5 Stages Stage 1: Pre-adolescent PUBIC HAIR Vellus hair only and hair is similar to development over anterior abdominal wall (ie. no pubic hair). Stage 2 There is sparse growth of long, slightly pigmented, downy hair or only slightly curled hair, appearing along labia. Stage 3 Hair is darker, coarser, more curled, and spreads to the pubic junction. Stage 4 Adult-type hair; area covered is less than that in most adults; there is no spread to the medial surface of thighs. Stage 5: Adult Adult-type hair with increased spread to medial surface of thighs; distribution is as an inverse triangle.

Male Stages of Puberty: 5 Stages Stage 1: Pre-adolescent GENITAL STAGE Testes, scrotum, and penis are about the same size and proportion as those in early childhood. PUBIC HAIR STAGE Vellus over the pubes is no further developed than that over the abdominal wall, i.e., no pubic hair. Stage 2 Scrotum and testes have enlarged, and there is a change in the texture of scrotal skin and some reddening of scrotal skin. There is sparse growth of long, slightly pigmented, downy hair, straight or only slightly curled, appearing chiefly at base of penis. Stage 3 Growth of the penis has occurred, at first mainly in length but with some increase in breadth. There has been further growth of the testes and the scrotum. Hair is considerably darker, coarser, and more curled and spreads sparsely over junction of pubes. Stage 4 The penis is further enlarged in length and breadth, with development of glans. The testes and the scrotum are further enlarged. There is also further darkening of scrotal skin. Hair is now adult in type, but the area covered by it is smaller than that in most adults. There is no spread to the medial surface of the thighs. Stage 5: Adult Genitalia are adult in size and shape. No further enlargement takes place after stage 5 is reached. Hair is adult in quantity and type, distributed as an inverse triangle. There is spread to the medial surface of the thighs but not up the linea alba or elsewhere above the base of the inverse triangle.