MODULE 26 - SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL

LEARNERS

At the end of the module, students should be able to describe the socio-
emotional changes in adolescents; how self-image develops among teens, and discuss
causes and solutions to socio-emotional problems of teenagers such as gender and
identity, autonomy and attachment, peer group, friendships, dating, juvenile
delinquency, depression and suicide.

During adolescence, the family, the community, the school, and the media all
influence how a teen develops their social cognition. Furthermore, he displays emotions
that need to be managed for both academic achievement and emotional well-being. In
the classroom, a teacher's role is to support students in making moral decisions and to
create a positive learning atmosphere. This lesson will cover the social behavior
patterns of adolescents as they interact with their school, community, and larger social
environment.

Human Emotions
Human emotions, according to the majority, are sentiments that might manifest
as various conscious or unconscious moods. A child who is internally hungry would go
to their environment or food for solace. The physiological changes in body temperature,
hormone levels, heart rate, and brain activity; a state of readiness for action, sometimes
called "fight or flight"; a powerful or significant event; and the emotion's dependence on
how the stimulus is evaluated or interpreted are some of the distinctive emotional
patterns. Biologists believe that the part of the body that controls emotional reactions is
the autonomic nervous system, which is connected to most of the body's muscles and
glands. The parasympathetic branch of the nervous system reduces physiological
activity, while the sympathetic branch stimulates or arouses. Together, these elements
can arouse or decelerate in response to life's challenges.

Positive and Negative Emotions

An individual can use their emotions as a source of inspiration, a focus, and a
way to either run away from or address a situation head-on. Happiness and other
pleasant feelings motivate the individual to continue acting in that way. Conversely,
negative emotions might cause people to avoid situations or objects they view as
unpleasant or dangerous. Charles Darwin postulated that fear, wrath, disgust, sadness,
joy/happiness, and intrigue are the six main emotions. Other scientists added love,
pride, thankfulness, hope, compassion, envy, and worry to the list.

Social emotions
Social emotions including pride, shame, humiliation, regret, and jealousy can be
seen already in the toddler years (15–24 months). Though they were not appropriate for
these years, letting the emotions run wild could lead to issues. Emotions also impact
young toddlers since they are emotionally invested in the objects they are focusing on.
Emotions also have the ability to arrange memory in a way that makes it more likely for
students to recall specific emotionally charged occurrences. Children can eventually
develop emotional competence, which is the ability to control one's own emotions while
also comprehending those of others.
Girls are more likely to be anxious and twice as likely to experience depression,
even though they are better at controlling their emotions than men. Adolescent girls are
more likely than boys to engage in both positive and negative interactions with peers
and family. Stress, which is usually caused by interactions with parents, friends, and
love partners in addition to the weight of homework, is especially felt by teenagers.
Teens are therefore seen as having poor emotion control, being irritable, and being
gloomy. Research that emphasize other typical adolescent emotions including boredom,
tiredness, and drowsiness—as well as social pain like awkwardness and loneliness—
are against classifying teenagers. Research usually indicates that adolescents are more
susceptible to feelings of embarrassment that stem from social criticism. Despite the
fact that the majority of teenagers are not moody, some of them exhibit persistent
anxiety, depression, or upset. This is an important lesson for high school instructors to
remember: instead of brushing off emotional negativity as a passing phase, you should
regularly care for the needs of kids who are melancholy or irritable.

Even though they are better at managing their emotions, girls are twice as likely
as men to feel depression and are more likely to be nervous. Compared to boys,
adolescent girls are more likely to interact positively and negatively with their friends,
family, and other adults. Teenagers are particularly prone to stress brought on by
interactions with parents, friends, and romantic partners, in addition to the burden of
homework. As a result, teens are perceived as being unreasonable, agitated, and
emotionally unstable. Studies that highlight other common adolescent emotions,
including fatigue, drowsiness, and boredom, as well as social pain like social
awkwardness and loneliness, are opposed to categorizing teenagers. Studies typically
show that teenagers are more vulnerable to social criticism-induced humiliation.

The adolescent and social media

In the present-day profusion of media, the adolescent has easy access to the
culture of various media and social media, inclusive of computers, cell phones, video
games, music iPods, FM radio, and cable television. Almost all households have
television sets, and about three-quarters of adolescents' homes have access to the
Internet. The total media exposure of the whole populace has greatly increased, even
as adolescents have the highest rates of use of video games, texting, social networking
through Facebook, and portable gadgets for music, mobile communication, and virtual
reality games.
Findings indicate that electronic communication negatively affects adolescents'
social development. As face-to-face communication is replaced, social skills are
impaired, sometimes leading to unsafe interaction with those who use social media to
exploit others financially or sexually.
Girls are particularly vulnerable to online socializing, while boys socializing in
Internet cafes lowers their academic work and achievement. Socially insecure teens
become victims rather than beneficiaries of the modern gadget innovations of the digital
age.
Implication to adolescent care education and parenting
 The overall implication is that emotional skills influence the adolescent learner's
success in class work. Learners who are able to regulate their emotions tend to be
happier, better liked, and better able to pay attention and learn. Interventions by the
teacher and the school can reduce the learner's emotional distress while raising test
scores and grades.
The teacher plays a very important role in promoting positive changes for
adolescents. As the teen is susceptible to peer pressure, the negative influence of
social media, drug use and addiction, and early romantic sexual adventurism, the
teacher and the school can conduct interventions to assist the youth with a focus on
risky and inappropriate behavior while promoting positive development among
adolescents.