Adolescence and Education

According to Gollnick and Chinn, "adolescence...is a long transitional period during which the individual is 'suspended' between childhood and adulthood" (pg. 350). The approximate age given for this group is between 13 and 18. This is the time when the students want to be treated as adults, however, are not mentally and emotionally equipped with the tools necessary to be adults. This is the beginning of the age known to educators as the dreaded middle school.

I work in a very culturally diverse setting in inner city Cleveland, where 96% of my students come from low income families. My school is a K-8 building. What my staff and I find is that adolescence appears to begin earlier in this setting. We have 9 and 10 year old students struggling with the typical adolescence issues such as becoming increasingly influenced by peers more so than parents, substance abuse and other "at risk" behaviors. In this way I feel that the cultural component of poverty influences this age groups to "grow up" faster than the middle and upper class peers.

From this stems the need for my teachers in as early as grade 3 to recognize at risk behaviors and be aware that the students may be reflecting the typical adolescence developmental patterns at an earlier age. I am very fortunate that my staff members are open to change and are willing to make changes to their teaching styles to reflect the needs of our early developing students.