Introduction (150)

Body (150, 3)
Conclusion (150)

Understanding the life span and how one develops psychologycally, physically, and cognitively
is important. In this assignement, the subject used for observation is a 17 year old male called
Adrian. These observations were recorded between 11th of June until 11th of July in the year
2019. Adrian is currently living with his parents and two sisters who are in college within the
town. Adrian is in the 12th grade and he will be turning eighteen in two weeks time. With his
well built body physic, he appears to be a well rounded young and energetic man who excels in
school and loves playing basketball. During his free time, he works out to improve his basketball
skills. Besides that, he spends alot of time going to skill camps to begin teh recruitment phase for
college basketball. These observations took place at his residence on a Saturday afternoon.
Notably, ages between 12 to 19 are considered as the age of adolescence. At this ages, alot of
chages that take place within to both male and female teenagers. One of the main changes that
occurs is physical and this is evident from their growth in weight and height. It is not unusual for
the girsl to gain about 15 pounds a year and boys 20 pounds a year during teh peak of their
growth spurts. Moreover, boys who mature early eough are found to be more confident and
independednt. Early maturation for girsl can have a negative effect on them. On teh other hand,
late maturation for boys can lead frustration while for the girls have more confidence. For
Adrian, he had a tremendous change in his physical appearance around the age of 13. Her father
showed me some of pictures in which Adrian was, for lack of better description, a butter ball.
Adrian began to exprience physcal growth as he began to grow taller and taller. He was round
and stout. During this period, his baby fat also began to dissapear. Adrian stated that during this
time, he was more interested in working out and getting to a better shape. He also said that
during this period, he experienced bad headaches which affected concentration in school work.
In teh last five years, Adrian has developed physically and he is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs
250 pounds.
Many people view teh physical development of adolescence as a struggle. During this stage,
many teenagers struggles with teh sense of identity. One may feel strange or awkward about him
or herself. While many may not be sure about themselves, they tend to focus on self and
alternating between poor self esteem and high expectations. They will feel the peer pressure of
fiting to fit in certain social groups as a result of their clothing style and self interests. According
to Adrians mother, Adrian was well grounded by good friends who would guided him in teh
right way. During Friday nights between 7 to 11 pm, Adrian and his friends usually wind up at
one of their residence and have a good time. Moreover, Adrian has a girlfriend who he goes out
with on Saturday nights. These twoo teenagers also goes to the same school and shares several
classes together. From all these events, i got an impression from talking to Adrian and his mother
that Adrian is pretty much a normal teenager.
Recent studies ave revealved that most parents often have difficulties understanding their teens
during the adolescent stage. As a result of these changes, nothing makes thenm happy. Most of
the times, they are moody and show independence by speaking up for themsleves. Besides, they
may not always be in agreement with their parents and will express themselves explicitly. Most
of tehm think that their parents are not perfect. Therefore, such behavior can or causes friction
between parent child relationship. However, this was not that case with Adrian. Adrians mother
admitted that he has been independent and obident. Sicne he started driving, he has alot of
freedom than ever before. Nvertheless, she aslo stated that she and Adrians father trust teir son
and so far so good, he has not done anything not to trust him.
Adrian is in the fifth stage of development which is identity verses role confusion. It occurs
between 12 to 18 years. During this stage, most adolescents whift to teh concept of what is done
to them to what they need to do. The teenager experiences a great deal of growth in his or her
identity. According Erikson, life gets more comlicated since teens struggle not only with identity
but also moral issues and social interactions. In speding time with Adrian, I was very much
impressed by how he knew well who he is and where he is heading to with his future. Despite the
fact that he has not yet decided on his future career goals, he is just focussed with his studied and
getting a degree in Law so that he can join his fathers law firm or may be become a basketball
coach.
In conlcusion, I found out that Adrian is typical teenager male who is enjoying his life. He has a
caring, loving , and supportive family who have encouraged him to continue playing basketball
while expecting him to do well in school. Besdieds, it was evident from the observations that this
family enjoys being togther. Therefore, Adrian appears to be on teh right track to develop into a
young, industrious and engertic adult with many possibilities in his future.