Adolescent Physical Development

The development during young adolescence is one of the most confusing, emotional and awkward stages in one 's life. Adolescence is the period of development that begins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood; the typical age range is from 12 to 18 years, and this stage of development has some predictable physical milestones.” (Boundless.com, 2016). Whether we want to remember those years or not, we’ve all been there and because of our personal experiences and knowledge of the transformation, we need to be respectful and cautious of the feelings of future students experiencing the same changes. Although all developmental areas: physical, intellectual, emotional, social and character, are important, physical may be, if not the most, one of the more drastic areas. During this time, young adolescents are experiencing an emend amount of mental and physical changes that they cannot explain nor control. According to S.D. Powell’s article “Physical Development Issues in Middle School”, the number one issue regarding a young adolescent’s physical development is that they are not aware of the changes they are or will be undergoing, but need to be aware of …show more content…
“growth spurts usually occur for boys between the ages of 12 and 15, but for some boys, rapid physical growth may be delayed well into high school”, as said in Sara David Powell’s book, “Introduction to Middle Level Education”. The growth spurt for boys tends to occur later than for girls and living in a stereotypical world where the boys are bigger than girls, this can cause negative feelings in the young boys. These feelings towards the later development than girls and from the young boys themselves can include shyness, insecurity, confusion and isolation. A teacher needs to understand that when the boys isolate themselves from the girls that it is okay and just a defense mechanism to