Adolescence and middle childhood are times for exploration and the pleasure of freedom and gaining adulthood. Conflict also arises when teenagers work endlessly to discover themselves and come to terms with impending maturity and separation from their own family. Family stability plays a crucial role in shaping the future of a child. Peers in adolescence have both positive and negative impacts depending on individual interests. During this stage, teenagers face social pressures that consist of peer pressure, drugs use and abuse, courting and sexuality, and change in family relationships. The development changes during middle adulthood and adolescence influence an individual's future development in various ways controlled by the family set-up.
Functional and dysfunctional family dynamics influence the future development of a child. Children who grow up inside a dysfunctional family set-up experience trauma and various disturbances from the actions that the parents, for instance, undertake and attitudes they show. Parents in dysfunctional families can exhibit conditional love, unpredictability, abuse or addiction (Haung, 2018). Such actions lead a child to develop undesirable traits. Some children tend to escape and engage in alcohol and drug abuse. Others tend to repeat the violations they suffered towards their own children or partners. On the other hand, functional family dynamics guarantee a robust family structure in which a child will continually feel cherished and appreciated. Stability; physical, and emotional safety continuously results in a healthful family because there are no undesirable features present.
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The development changes that occur during middle childhood and adolescence have both positive and negative impacts on peer relations. Peer pressure has a positive effect when it encourages teenagers to develop social skills essential for maturity. Good parenting, guidance and counselling, and good friends improve a positive outcome in peer relationships. Most of the time, peers act as positive role models that deal with frustrations and understand other’s issues before communicating with their families (Berger, 2018). Positive friendship developments are essential, and acceptance into a peer group regularly rises during middle childhood . The potential to have friends who are close and intimate becomes increasingly more essential during early adolescence. Unfortunately, negative behaviors generally tend to occupy groups of teens, either because of real peer pressure or the notion of pressure from friends. A bad company of peer groups cause adolescents to engage in undesirable behaviors such as abuse of drugs.
Apart from peer pressure, teenagers during a young age tend to have other social influence compared to the middle-childhood period. Many pressures that teenagers face in adolescence are substance use and abuse, courting and sexuality, and adjustments of family relationship. Teenagers use drugs in an attempt to maintain popularity within the peer group, relax, or relieve the pressure of young life (Berger, 2018). Peer pressure promotes persistent use, and within this age, the adolescent believes the drugs assist them to loosen up and relieve tension and other social issues. Courting and sexuality are also typical during this stage. During the teenage years, sexual desires are at their strongest. Adjustments in conduct arise, contrasting the middle-childhood dislike of the opposite sex. When the adolescent begins courting, balanced emotional assistance at home and with friends is important (Berger, 2018). Peers assist in the stability of emotions while they enjoy the positive and negative consequences of teenage romance. However, most romantic relationships during adolescence cause the teenager to experience rejection, disappointment, despair, and anger. The parents, guardians, and counsellor play a role in mitigating these effects through a balanced and supportive family and social surrounding. Adolescent teenagers also frequently argue with parents about daily choices and other activities, ethics, and ideals. Family activities regularly change, and teenagers tend to spend more time with peers other than their own family. The pressures of complying with family activities can cause rebellious conduct when not appropriately treated by the parents.
The middle-childhood and adolescence changes develop moral values. Adolescence is a period in which teenagers choose to live their lives according to a set of guidelines or standards that govern their choices about right and wrong in society. The teenager’s cognitive, emotional, and social development continue to mature, their knowledge of morality expands, and their conduct turns into one more closely aligned with the society’s values and ideals. The development of moral value is the evolution of these guiding standards and is demonstrated by the capability to use these guidelines in daily life. During the early adolescent duration, peers have much more influence. Peer pressure can exert a powerful effect because friends play a significant unique role in teenagers' lives.
Moreover, the new potential to think independently allows teenagers to understand that guidelines are created by other people. During adolescence, most teenagers are much less rebellious as they have started to set up their identity, their belief system, and their region in the world (Ryan, 2016). Some adolescents who have reached the highest levels of moral development may also experience obsession on their moral code; as such, they may elect to take part in activities that demonstrate their ethical convictions.
In conclusion, the middle childhood and adolescence changes determine the future development of a person. A family set up plays a crucial role in shaping the events of a child. The adolescence period is challenging, and it requires a lot of attention from parents. Positive peer pressure encourages adolescents to develop strong values and positive attitudes and respect for others. However, negative peer groups provoke adolescents towards activities such as drugs use and abuse. Additionally, other negative behaviors such as drugs abuse and sexuality influence the adolescence stage. During these stages, teenager’s cognitive, emotional, and social development continue to mature, their knowledge of morality expands, and their conduct turns into one more closely aligned with the society’s values and ideals.
References
Berger, K. S. (2018). The developing person through the life span (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Haung, C. (2018, February 15). 8 Common Characteristics of a Dysfunctional Family. Retrieved from https://psych2go.net/8-common-characteristics-dysfunctional-family/
Ryan, A. M. (2016). The peer group as a context for the development of young adolescent motivation and achievement. Child development , 72 (4), 1135-1150.
