Physical and Cognitive Changes in Adolescence

Unit6Disc1Lifespan

Physical and Cognitive Changes in Adolescence

Describe the physical and cognitive changes that are important in understanding adolescent development. Address differences due to gender, sexual orientation, or culture that are discussed in the scholarly literature.

Syed, 16, Pakistan (Scholarly literature 1 of 6)

From victims to activists: Children and the effects of climate change in Pakistan

Adolescents in Pakistan – where we account for 40.5 million out of a population of over 176 million people – are keenly aware that we are inheriting a planet suffering from climate change. Like other developing countries that will be hit hardest by the effects of global warming, Pakistan has contributed minimally to global emissions but still has to deal with the dreadful impacts of storm surges, natural disasters and heavy rains. Rising sea levels and dramatic changes in weather patterns have already caused flooding and drought, limiting food harvests and access to fresh water and affecting industrial production. We need to take all remedial measures to avoid becoming ‘environmental refugees’.

Climate change, in Pakistan and worldwide, is especially hard on children, who are more vulnerable than adults to disease, malnutrition and exploitation. Rising temperatures and extreme climate events contribute to the spread of diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. These are some of the main causes of death for Pakistani children under 5 years old. With drought, agriculture – 24 per cent of our gross domestic product – suffers as the crop yield is reduced and supplies are depleted.

Recent events have provided dramatic evidence of the catastrophic impact on Pakistan of changing weather patterns. Unprecedented heavy rains gave way in July 2010 to devastating floods. The initial death toll was approximately 1,600 people, but many more are unaccounted for. An estimated 20 million men, women and children have been affected by the floods, and huge numbers are stranded, waiting for help. Most escaped from their homes with nothing but what they were wearing. Compounding the health risks resulting from the flooding and the lack of food, water and shelter, the country is beleaguered by the economic catastrophe resulting from the destruction of its agricultural backbone. Millions of hectares of crops have been soaked or washed away, and livestock have been destroyed.

This drowning nation now faces a further disaster: The floods are threatening to decimate Pakistan’s youth. One of the biggest threats is the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea. As in most natural catastrophes, children are also at a high risk of separation from their families and exposure to the dangers of child labour, abuse and exploitation. More than 5,500 schools have been ruined or wiped out. We cannot stand by and watch this generation disappear. As global citizens, we must help them survive this shattering event and emerge as role models of courage, endurance and determination.

It is time to take action – not only to deal with this immediate tragedy, but also to address the issue of global warming. As adolescents, we face a common opponent: greenhouse gases. In order to prevail, we must come together to help others, employ alternative energy sources and create laws to protect our planet and its people.

Syed Aown Shahzad is a youth activist and a native of Lahore, Pakistan. He was part of the youth delegations at the 2009 Summit on Climate Change and the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and he continues to spread awareness about global issues such as climate change and children’s rights in Pakistan and beyond.

Saeda, 16, Jordan/ United States (Scholarly literature 2 of 6)

Unrealistic media images: A danger to adolescent girls

Female beauty today is defined by ‘flawless’ facial features and ’perfect‘ thin bodies. These images are promoted through various media outlets and are particularly common in advertising. In response, teenage girls across the globe measure their bodies against these unattainable ideals and often end up feeling inadequate.

Having spent part of my childhood in Jordan and part in the United States, I know that body image is a major concern for adolescent girls in diverse cultural settings. Though they are sometimes reluctant to talk about it, a number of my classmates suffer from low self-esteem, go on diets and criticize their weight or facial features. Some girls in Jordan want to undergo plastic surgery to resemble a celebrity, while the number of teenage cosmetic surgeries is on the rise in the United States. What’s more, from Colombia to Japan to Oman to Slovenia to South Africa, adolescents adopt unhealthy eating habits, including skipping meals and dieting excessively, to achieve the ‘look’ promoted in movies and magazines.

Mass media affect both the way we think about ourselves and the choices we make. Glorifications of a thin ideal are everywhere: on television and film screens, on the Internet, in magazines and even on the street. They are impossible to avoid. Viewing these glamourized images, which do not represent real girls or women, can have lasting negative effects on vulnerable youth. The influence of ads showing misleading female forms can make girls susceptible to anorexia and bulimia, two grave and sometimes deadly eating disorders. In addition, adolescents with low self-esteem often suffer from depression; when untreated, this can lead to suicide.

To counterbalance this effect, we must show girls that beauty isn’t something to be bought or sold; it doesn’t come from buying diet pills, make-up or expensive clothes. We need to foster healthy, realistic self-images. Adults and adolescents must work together to highlight the existing beauty in girls as well as to celebrate virtues that go beyond body image – such as honesty, intelligence, integrity and generosity. I encourage more candid dialogue on this crucial issue and aspire to help girls feel beautiful in their own skin.

Saeda Almatari would like to study journalism, is interested in football and wants to make a difference by improving people’s lives.

Paolo, 17, Costa Rica (Scholarly literature 3 of 6)

Keeping the flame alive: Indigenous adolescents’ right to education and health services

When I look at the prospects my Térraba people face, my heart sinks for our dying land and drying river. While I do not know much of the world, I know what is right and wrong, and I know this harsh reality is not their fault. The flame of resistance passed on from my great-grandfather to my grandfather, to my father and to me, symbolizes our desire to keep our community alive. My hope is that our indigenous culture and language will endure.

The problem is, my brothers are afraid to live as Térraba Indians. Outside pressures, like teasing, discrimination and disregard for our basic rights have nearly brought our centuries-old struggle for survival to its breaking point. In addition, the country’s eight indigenous communities,* including mine, have not been given adequate schools or proper health centres, nor has the integrity of our land been respected.

We want our lifestyle to be protected and our territory not to be invaded by industrial companies that destroy the harmony we have preserved – harmony paid for with the bloodshed our people have suffered. This, however, does not mean we want to be excluded from the world. We just ask for respect for our basic human rights – the respect that every human being deserves in this world. We ask to be seen and listened to.

Thanks to my beloved Térraba school, I am proud to be one of the first and few of my indigenous group to attain higher education and attend university in my country. The education system in Costa Rica is insufficient, and it is worse still for indigenous communities. Inequality is pervasive in the classroom, and the system seeks to preserve neither our identity nor our existence as Indians. I see the Government’s lack of investment in indigenous culture reflected in teachers giving lessons using outdated materials or teaching under a tree. I think the Government does not see the assets education can bring to our country, nor the benefit of investing in education for indigenous youth.

In order to provide quality education, our teachers must be provided with proper classrooms and new textbooks. If only the children in my village could access the world through a computer as do children elsewhere. I feel sad that they have been denied their right to education and to achieve their full potential.

Skin tone matters in Costa Rica. If equity existed here, girls in my village would have the same opportunities as the girls from other regions of the country – like better access to technology and secondary school. They would be equipped to promote and protect our culture.

I hope for a time when people will be truly interested in listening to and providing for indigenous people, a time when I would not be one of the few indigenous youth to write an essay such as this one, hoping that it be read and understood. With real equity we would have permanent health centres in indigenous territories, and our secondary education would include lessons in our own culture and language as part of the core curriculum. In spite of being pushed to forget our language and to be ashamed of our way of life, we hold on to our dreams and our will to be indigenous Térraba.

Paolo Najera was recently forced to leave school because of the effects of the economic crisis on his community and family. Paolo’s aim is to work in development in order to improve life for indigenous communities, such as his own, in Costa Rica.

*Costa Rica has eight officially recognized indigenous peoples – the Bribris, Cabécares, Brunkas, Ngobe or Guaymi, Huetares, Chorotegas, Malekus and Teribes or Térrabas – about half of whom live in 24…