ADOLESCENTS ARE A GENERATION UNDER PRESSURE

Ranjana Bhatia
Principal
Amity Institute of Education
Saket, New Delhi

Abstract:

Much has been said about the phase of adolescence. This most beautiful period in the life of an individual faces maximum wrath in the hands of an adult - be it the parent or the teacher. The best part is that the adults forget that even they went through this phase. If the adults understand the causes of this behaviour pattern, the transition from the childhood to the adulthood would be very smooth. Needless to say that the teachers and the parents play pivotal role in helping the child passes through this transitory phase.

“Psychologically, adolescence is the age when the individual becomes integrated into the society of adults, the age when the child no longer feels that he is below the level of his elders but equal, at least in rights… This integration into adult society has many affective aspects, more or less linked with puberty… It also includes very profound intellectual changes… These intellectual transformations, typical of the adolescent’s thinking, enable him not only to achieve his integration into the social relationship of adults, which is, in fact, the most general characteristic of this period of development”
…. Jean Piaget

A PEEP INTO THE PAST

About fifty years ago, teenagers were a repressed minority in the world of dominant adult values. Joint family system prevailed in our society and the master of the house called all the shots. The individual saw either the childhood or the adulthood. The phase of adolescence came and went unnoticed because the transition from the childhood to adulthood was straight and forward.
This transition went unnoticed mainly because of early marriage of the child, which pushed him into adulthood at a very young age. The onset of puberty and the related upheavals were there, as these biological changes have to come to every individual but due to the societal circumstances they never surfaced. The biological needs of this adolescence were fulfilled at an early age.

Even if these upheavals surfaced, the family atmosphere was such that they never really caused any turbulence. The mind of the adolescent was never free and over exposed to entertain any dilemma or confusion. This resulted in minimizing the negativity associated with this transition.

THE PRESENT SCENARIO

Unlike in the past, today an 18 years old child is regarded as an adult whereas an 11 years old child is termed to be entering into pre-adolescent phase. The gap between the childhood and adulthood is as long as 7-8 years. Joint family system is practically missing and the families are becoming more and more nuclear and shifting from smaller cities to metros.

The prolonged phase between childhood and adulthood, which we call the phase of adolescence, has resulted in a generation gap. This youth takes pride in being different from adult culture which according to them is narrow as well as orthodox. The youth tries to protest against this adult culture which talks of values. This gap between the adolescent and the adult with the pressures and exposures provided by the society is the root cause of the problem faced by the adolescent.

THE CAUSES OF TURBULENCE

Turbulence in the life of adolescent and societal reaction in this regard happens because:

Ø During adolescence, these young people undergo revolutionary changes.
Ø They suddenly begin to catch up with adults in physical size & strength.
Ø There is rapid development of reproductive organs signaling sexual maturity.
Ø They develop a sense of self-awareness, feeling of inadequacy and insecurity.
Ø Physical attractiveness, Vitality, Fun, Love become obvious.
Ø They ooze with enthusiasm.
Ø Their joy is irrepressible and sadness, inconsolable.
Ø They are gregarious as well as lonely.
Ø Self-centeredness is prominent in them.
Ø Their curiosity and boredom is insatiable.
Ø They have both - confidence & self-doubt.
Ø They use status symbols to establish themselves.
Ø Maintaining peer group identity is a must for them.

ADOLESCENCE - A PERIOD OF TRANSITION

What we need to understand is an established fact that adolescence is a period of transition. Adolescents behave in a peculiar manner because:

Ø Their status is vague and there is confusion about the roles they are expected to play.
Ø If they behave like children they are told to act their age.
Ø If they behave like adults they are accused for being one.
Ø They like to look at life through rose tinted glasses, which the adults do not like.
Ø They have unrealistic aspirations as they feel that they are adults.
Ø They feel angry, hurt and disappointed if let down by adults.
Ø They face heightened emotional tension due to hormonal changes.

HOW TO HANDLE ADOLESCENTS

Needless to say that this most important phase in the life of a child is the most misunderstood and mishandled period. This phase needs utmost care and we need to understand that:

Ø This is a passing phase. Help them pass through this phase with minimum upheaval.
Ø Exercise lot of patience while dealing with them.
Ø We may agree or disagree but we must respect their opinion.
Ø Communication can play a very important role here.
Ø We must try to make friends with them.
Ø Winning over their confidence is essential.
Ø Infatuation at this age is normal. This should be accepted.
Ø Guide them like a watchful gardener.
Ø Be firm and polite when their demands have to be rejected.
Ø Give them required love and attention.
Ø Show concern for their anxieties.

AS ADOLESCENCE CHANGE SOCIALLY, WHAT HAPPENS TO PARENTAL POWER

Ø Conflict is more likely to occur between mothers and adolescents because they have been more closely involved with their children during pre-adolescent age.
Ø During adolescence, sons appear to develop more power over their mothers - they back answer.
Ø Sons also can become physically stronger and more aggressive with both parents, which decreases parental power.
Ø Evidence shows that despite the stereo type, a vast majority of adolescents need love and appreciate their parents despite minor conflicts.

NEED OF GOOD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A TEACHER & ADOLESCENT

Ø Teachers have to sets standards and rules to keep their student out of trouble.
Ø Teachers should protect their student during traumatic experiences but avoid over guidance in coping with normal problems.
Ø The difficulty in helping an adolescent is in finding a balance between permitting adolescents to explore and maintain their independence, while still protecting them and setting limits.

We need to understand that the adolescent development is accompanied by:

Ø An increase in autonomy.
Ø An increase in emotional distance from adults.
Ø Increase in peer friendship and its importance.

They actively seek their teachers and parents approval but do not like to sound childish and discuss trivial matters. Because of this they open up more with their friends discussing issues like dating, personal experiences and common interest.
Loyalty is highly valued aspect of friendship for them. They like friends to stick up for one another. They have an urge to share their inner most thoughts and feelings with the friends.

Intimate friendship provides them emotional support, information and advice. They tend to seek out relationships that are relatively set free, safe and comfortable.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLERS

A study was conducted by taking some hypothetical exemplars. The views of 50 teachers working in reputed schools of Delhi and dealing with adolescent were taken on these situations. The situations have been listed as case nos. and the reaction of the teacher and probable solutions suggested by them is also given below.

Case No.1
You are the class teachers of class XI. Early in the morning after the assembly, when you go to the class, you are informed discretely by some students that one of their classmates who boarded the bus in the morning from her bus stop is missing from the class. How will you handle this situation?

Solutions suggested by the teacher
The teacher gives an action plan for meeting this unusual situation. She rightly proposes the following steps as – “sort it out at teachers level, inquire from his/her friends, try to find out in the school premises with the help of his/her group, students or friends, consult the bus driver or conductor. If failed, consult the Principal, Vice-principal and if no clue is obtained, finally inform the parents.

She is right in suggesting that the matter should be sorted out at various levels. After ascertaining the specific reason, the child should be dealt with tactfully and psychologically by organizing sessions with the counsellor for the students as well as the parents. This will help in finding out the reasons for the problems stated above.

Case No.2

You are the organizer of a farewell party. The boys and the girls of class XI and XII want the party to be organized till late in the evening and want the dancing also to be allowed till late in the evening. Your answer would obviously be a big NO. The students are not going to like it and would probably call you Orthodox, Hitler etc. How do you think this situation can be handled?

The consequences of over staying and allowing late evening dancing parties will be objected at all levels – by the school authorities and by the parents. Our system does not permit close proximity of youngsters especially late in the evening. In order to avoid direct confrontation with the students, it is advisable to go in for group counselling where such issues may be discussed and debated in a frank and open manner highlighting the probable consequences of doing thinks which are not permitted by our society at large.

Student’s opinion should be obtained and their opinion should be screened to arrive at a consensus. The teacher may indirectly bring in those issues, which can become causes of problems and with the help of the students should avoid controversial situations including over staying after a certain period of time for parties etc.

Case No.3

Class X result has been declared and science stream has suddenly gained popularity. The boys and girls with very poor percentage also want to opt for science stream. The easy way out is to talk of cut off percentage etc. or allow them to leave the school and join some other school. Do you think there is any other way, which can be adopted to handle the situation?

The teacher has rightly suggested that for opting a stream that all the students should be subjected to career counselling sessions. On such occasions, the strengths and weakness, the attractions and distractions and other positive and negative aspects associated with the various streams may be brought out in a convincing way. Students should be given an opportunity to see the connection of these streams i.e. arts, science and commerce etc. with the world of work and self-employment process.

The examples of renowned personalities who have excelled in their career as well as life should be narrated as motivators. In these examples the names of those students who have passed out can also be mentioned to counsel the confused/adamant students to get some directions in choosing a particular stream.

Case No.4

There is a strict dress code in your school. The girls are not allowed to wear short skirts and the boys are not allowed to wear jeans and sports shoes etc. Every morning you check the dress, you open the hamming of the skirt of the girls to make it long and within one hour the length of the skirt is back to square one. No amount of shouting and reprimanding is helping. How will you handle this situation?

The dress code is a technique, which help students to cultivate a sense of self- discipline. For implementing it, the teacher should avoid harsh treatment. Infact, student should be persuaded to understand why dress code is prescribed and how it is helpful to them and to the school system where they study. It should develop in them a sense of belonging, which is very important factor for motivation.

Here again individual and group counselling will help the students to go in for self-appreciation of such codes prescribed through their school system. It has been rightly suggested by the teacher that at no cost we should humiliate a child and damage his or her self esteem.

Case No.5

The boys and the girls of class XI and XII during their activity period and lab period are not attending the class but are found sitting in the canteen. You can stop this practice by constant policing but it does not get corrected. How will you handle it?

There are two ways to enlist student’s participation in the class. One is the control method where students attendance become a regulatory factor, the other is the appeal to their psychological tendencies which implies a space for activities which will be interesting, meaningful and useful instrument for understanding themselves and their environment.

The activity and the laboratory period must be analyzed in terms of the relevance and utility. In the lab the student should be provided the challenging situation. It should be an exercise where the students would get an opportunity to reconstruct their experience and explore more and more about less and less in order to enrich their knowledge.

Case No.6

There is fall in attendance particularly in the class XII after the Dussehra break. You know that most of the course is complete by that time and the school is generally preparing for prelims etc. You feel that the students should be compelled to attend the school regularly. At the same time, you also feel that if they are allowed to stay at home they will be able to study more. What do you think should be done in a situation like this?

The fall in attendance after Dussehra break in particular is the result of dwindling motivation and lack of serious teaching. In this case, the teacher suggests that children should be motivated to attend classes by giving them assignment on topics which will be captivating and capturing their interest. Besides, as the teacher rightly says, the course topics should be revised seriously in the class.

Efforts should be made for activity based teaching which will stimulate interest and raise the activity and participation level of students in a spontaneous manner. The adolescent period is a very critical period full of extra energy and drive for getting involved in various tasks of their choice. There should be less of imposition and more of ownership thrust in the plan, activities and programmes of students of class XII level.

Case No.7

During Diwali time, there is bursting of crackers in the toilets and in the classrooms. By being strict, this nuisance only increases, but the only alternative is to either allow the nuisance to go on or curb it with a firm hand. You also know that you cannot catch the culprit easily. What do you think should be done?

Children at this age get a kind of thrill by creating nuisance and resorting to mischief. The best way to deal with such a situation is a dialogue. The teachers have rightly suggested that a strong communication between the adolescent and the teacher would help in handling the problem. The moment authority is exercised on them, the rebellion in them takes a monstrous shape and they want to do what they have been told not to do. They like to break all the rules.

Case No.8

Some boys and girls of the school were caught at cinema theatre in school uniform during school hours advertising the lenient approach adopted by school authorities regarding discipline. Expelling such students from the school roll for a short period or forever is one way of dealing with the situation but you know as well as we do that this can ruin the life of a child. How do you think such situation should be handled?

In order to understand the situation fully, it will be helpful to probe into the adolescent psychology. Adolescence is full of creative energy, which requires an outlet and sublimation. Their involvement in watching the movie at cinema hall is an instance of the expression of this impulse, which is present in them.
The teacher is of the opinion that excursions under the guidance of the teachers may effectively meet the needs of the students. Organizing the excursions and outdoor sessions under the guidance of the teacher can satisfy their impulse of outings.

Case No.9

A brilliant boy of your school of a senior secondary class is suddenly showing deterioration in performance. You as a concerned teacher would be naturally alarmed. You would like to find why this is happening. What will you do?

Deterioration in performance, which may appear to be sudden, may not be actuality so sudden as it might appear. However, such cases may be attributed to the lack of motivation and lack of interest. A better course for analyzing the etiology in this regard is to hold discussions with the peer groups and parents. The teacher rightly suggests “talking with parents” and also counselling is the right way of checking such a situation.

The reasons of deterioration in performance can become apparent in counselling sessions. There may not be just one reason for this down slide. A number of co-relates of it may be operating which have to be identified and dealt with carefully by personalized programmes and instructions.

Case No.10

It has been brought to your notice that some boys and girls have indulged in smoking and drinking within the school campus and even outside. Your immediate reaction would be that of anger and anguish. But you know that this is not going to help. What is the best way to handle such a situation?

Here again a very strict discipline at home and in school will not work. It has been rightly pointed out by the teachers that at this age they want to show off and most of the time they indulge in drinking and smoking to impress their peer as well as be a part of their peer group. The teachers and the parents have to act like watchful gardeners and tactfully ensure that their ward is not falling a pray to a wrong company.

Case No.11

You have a student in class XI who has not been performing well in the class academically though he is otherwise quite sharp. He has become a bully in the class & his rowdy behaviour causing concern to all. What is the best way to help such a child?

The bully behaviour is a compensated mechanism on the part of the student. The reason for change towards picking disrupted behaviour should be probed a little more carefully and the teacher rightly suggested the casual factor for bulling and roubism on the part of the student should be investigated. The students should be given a specific responsibility and a session in counselling will greatly help him in understanding and his situation. Such disrupted behaviour is largely due to lack of self-understanding and lack of self-appreciation for which his situations do not permit a congenial atmosphere. This can be taken care more effectively by the teachers say that counsel the child, make him understand.

Thus to conclude, the teachers have reacted to the various hypothetical case exemplars in a rather realistic manner. They have rightly suggested that adolescent psychology should be probed in terms of their creative impulses, pre-occupations, interest and attraction. What the adolescent needs is an opportunity and an expression, which will be helpful in intense display of their impulse for which a rationalized forum has to be provided.

In brief, they have to be enabled to become responsibly responsive so that their personality will blossom optimally with a sense of security, adventure and experimentation as a natural gift to them from the seniors with whom they are associated. All this requires using counselling sessions both at personal & group levels for which the general principle should be self-involvement, self-regulation, self-guidance rather than imposition from above or outside.
Conclusion:

The best way, therefore, to deal with adolescents is to wear the crown of authority in your hearts and not on your heads. This will help the adolescent to pass through the turbulent phase without many ripples. We need to understand that this is a passing phase and they have to be helped to pass through this phase with minimum upheaval and lot of patience.

References:

q Charles E. Skinner, 2001 – Educational Psychology, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall of India.

q Clifford T. Morgan & Richard A. King, 1993 – Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Tata Mcgraw-Hill.

q Elizabeth B. Hurlock, 1981 - Developmental psychology - A life-span approach, 5th Edition, Tata Mcgraw-Hill.
Case No.1
You are the class teachers of class XI. Early in the morning after the assembly, when you go to the class, you are informed discretely by some students that one of their classmates who boarded the bus in the morning from her bus stop is missing from the class. How will you handle this situation?



















Case No.2

You are the organizer of a farewell party. The boys and the girls of class XI and XII want the party to be organized till late in the evening and want the dancing also to be allowed till late in the evening. Your answer would obviously be a big NO. The students are not going to like it and would probably call you Orthodox, Hitler etc. How do you think this situation can be handled?

Case No.3

Class X result has been declared and science stream has suddenly gained popularity. The boys and girls with very poor percentage also want to opt for science stream. The easy way out is to talk of cut off percentage etc. or allow them to leave the school and join some other school. Do you think there is any other way, which can be adopted to handle the situation?



















Case No.4

There is a strict dress code in your school. The girls are not allowed to wear short skirts and the boys are not allowed to wear jeans and sports shoes etc. Every morning you check the dress, you open the hamming of the skirt of the girls to make it long and within one hour the length of the skirt is back to square one. No amount of shouting and reprimanding is helping. How will you handle this situation?

Case No.5

The boys and the girls of class XI and XII during their activity period and lab period are not attending the class but are found sitting in the canteen. You can stop this practice by constant policing but it does not get corrected. How will you handle it?



















Case No.6

There is fall in attendance particularly in the class XII after the Dussehra break. You know that most of the course is complete by that time and the school is generally preparing for prelims etc. You feel that the students should be compelled to attend the school regularly. At the same time, you also feel that if they are allowed to stay at home they will be able to study more. What do you think should be done in a situation like this?


Case No.7

During Diwali time, there is bursting of crackers in the toilets and in the classrooms. By being strict, this nuisance only increases, but the only alternative is to either allow the nuisance to go on or curb it with a firm hand. You also know that you cannot catch the culprit easily. What do you think should be done?



















Case No.8

Some boys and girls of the school were caught at cinema theatre in school uniform during school hours advertising the lenient approach adopted by school authorities regarding discipline. Expelling such students from the school roll for a short period or forever is one way of dealing with the situation but you know as well as we do that this can ruin the life of a child. How do you think such situation should be handled?

Case No.9

A brilliant boy of your school of a senior secondary class is suddenly showing deterioration in performance. You as a concerned teacher would be naturally alarmed. You would like to find why this is happening. What will you do?



















Case No.10

It has been brought to your notice that some boys and girls have indulged in smoking and drinking within the school campus and even outside. Your immediate reaction would be that of anger and anguish. But you know that this is not going to help. What is the best way to handle such a situation?



Case No.11

You have a student in class XI who has not been performing well in the class academically though he is otherwise quite sharp. He has become a bully in the class & his rowdy behaviour causing concern to all. What is the best way to help such a child?
Published in Journal of India Education , NCERT , Aug 2004.