Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 1, Session 2: Stages of Adolescence | Page 17 of 95II. Information (30 minutes)
Materials:
Handout 1: Development during Adolescence
A. I Am an Adolescent
Participants learn about stages of adolescent development and identify changes they may be experiencing.
- Explain the connection between the changes one might expect during adolescence and the assets one
might have that would make those changes easier. Say:
a.“Adolescence, as we discussed, is a time of transition from childhood to adulthood. Between the age
of about 10 until age 21 we all experience changes that are 1. physical – meaning in our bodies; 2.
mental – meaning to our way of thinking and our minds; 3. emotional – meaning the way we feel and
our moods, and; 4. social – meaning how we are with other people, including our families and others in
the community.”b. “We each go through changes in our own time at our own rate. Some of us experience certain
changes more intensely than others might, but along the way everyone has troubles and challenges to
deal with since so many changes happen to ourselves and in our lives. In this activity, we are going to
look at some situations and talk about assets that would be helpful.”- Distribute Handout 1: Development during Adolescence and say:
“This chart describes some of the changes people experience during adolescence. The left side shows
those four areas of a person’s life that will change (physical, mental, emotional, and social). To the right
of each area, there is a range of possible changes. These are continuums; changes occur gradually over
time.a. “You can see the changes a person experiences as he or she develops and grow olders. Some
changes happen early in adolescence, some later, and each of us experiences them at slightly
different times.b. “In fact, one person might experience physical changes very early but experience mental changes
very late. And for another person it could be just the opposite. One change might happen quickly
and then another change might not happen for a while longer and that change might take a long
time to fully develop. Some changes might occur together.c. “There isn’t a set way that changes happen and it is different for every person.”