The ladders of teens

Adolescence is not a sudden spurt of growth the new traits and tendencies which appear suddenly. No individual sleeps at night as a child to get up as an adolescent in the morning. Growth comes in continuity. The period of adolescence is considered as crucial and significant period of an individual’s life. Psychologically, adolescence is the age when the individual becomes integrated into the society of the adults. It is the stage when the child no longer feels that he is below the level of his elders but rather an equal with them, at least in rights. This integration into the adult society has many aspects, more or less linked with puberty. It also includes profound intellectual changes. These intellectual transformations, typical of an adolescent’s thinking, enable him to achieve his integration into the social relationships of the adults. This is the most general characteristic of this period of development. Early Adolescence 9-13, Mid Adolescence 14-15 and  Late Adolescence 16-19.  It emerges from later childhood stage and merges into adulthood. It is difficult to assign definite years to it because they differ from country to country and culture to culture. Chronologically, age ranges are from 12/13 years to 18/19 years in India. In case of girls it begins about 1 year earlier than the boys.