The stages of adolescent development starting from the age of 10

Children and adolescents are different phases of development. Once in the phase of children, they will enter a transitional phase known as adolescence. In this transitional period, there will be a lot of changes both physically and emotionally. Here's what parents need to know.

The stages of adolescent development

It has been explained a little above that adolescence is an intermediate phase from children who will grow into adults. Please note that the teenage age range is 10 to 18 years.

Quoted from the Cleveland Clinic, in the development of adolescence, there will be several changes that will be experienced by children. These changes are experienced by both male and female adolescents.

Apart from the changes described above, development during adolescence is also divided into three stages. The stages of development are early, middle, and also late.

All three have their own characteristics that you also need to know as a basis for how to educate teenagers.

Early (age 10 to 13 years)

The early stages of adolescent development are characterized by relatively fast growth.

In this phase there will be changes in certain body areas for both boys and girls, called puberty.

It is normal for girls to experience physical changes faster than boys at the onset of puberty.

In this phase, the role of parents is very important to provide information about puberty so that children do not feel anxious when physical changes occur.

At this time, there are things that parents need to understand, such as:

Children will tend to be selfish and always feel right whatever they think. Therefore, you must provide reasons or arguments every time you give advice.
Children tend to want to do things on their own without the need for parental assistance. It can be said that children have started to understand privacy.

Middle (ages 14 to 17 years)

In this phase, your teen's development becomes increasingly visible, such as changing voices that have turned heavy in boys, developing acne, and increasing height.

Meanwhile for adolescent girls the physical changes that appear are generally very mature, coupled with increasingly regular menstrual periods.

At this time, there are things that parents need to understand, such as:

Teenagers have started to be attracted to romantic relationships with the opposite sex. You will need to review the sexual education material that was provided.
There will be more arguments with parents because children want to learn to be independent and even begin to show juvenile delinquency.
In this phase, teenagers will also prefer to spend time with peers.
Tend to be impulsive or act without thinking.

Late (18 years and over)

In this phase, adolescent growth and development can be said to have reached its maximum limit.

If in the previous phase the child tended to be impulsive, here the attitude has not disappeared, it's just that it is generally more restrained.

Plus he also began to think about the law of cause and effect from the attitude he took. So, children tend to be wiser in making decisions.

In addition, another thing that can be seen in the development of adolescents in this phase is that children are more focused on their goals or what they want to do in the future.

If in the previous phase the child seemed to want to do everything on his own regardless of the opinion of the parents, at this older age the opposite is true.

In that sense, children tend to ask your opinion about the steps to be taken. Especially for things related to his ideals.

General adolescent growth

Entering adolescence or when the child turns 10 to 18 years of age, the child's growth is at its peak.

This growth includes height and weight, maturity of the reproductive organs, to the sexual organs.

As a guide, here is an illustration of the average growth rate of adolescents in height and weight, namely:

Young girls

The ideal height of a teenager: 127 cm to 173 cm

Ideal body weight for adolescents: 25 kg to 80 kg

Teenage boy

Ideal height: 128 cm to 187 cm

Ideal body weight: 24 kg to 90 kg

To find out the ideal weight range for your child, consider your body mass index (BMI).

Body mass index is a measure that determines whether a child's ideal body weight is ideal or not.

You can calculate the child's BMI using the formula below:

Please note, the normal body weight according to BMI is in the range of 18.5-25. If the results of the BMI calculation are around 25.1 to 27, the child is overweight.

If the number is above the range it is categorized as obese.

Factors affecting adolescent growth

There are several factors that influence adolescent growth and development, namely:

1. Hormonal factors

Hormones that are not balanced can affect the weight and height of a child, both as a toddler or as a teenager.

Hormonal imbalances, such as low thyroid or growth hormone levels, lead to slower development of adolescents.

2. Poor nutrition

Stunting is influenced by poor nutrition as a child. This makes the child underweight (underweight) which then affects the growth in height.

3. Genetic factors

If your child is shorter or taller than his peers, it may be genetic. If you or another family has a height that is below average, it could be that it is decreasing in children.

Usually, when the child's height is shorter or taller than their peers, the doctor will ask about the track record in the family.

In addition, the doctor will also ask questions about the growth and development of children when they are young. The reason is, children's activities also help their growth and development.

4. Break time

Short sleep duration or lack of sleep can cause the body to fail to produce growth hormone optimally during sleep.

This can cause height growth during sleep not working optimally. That is the importance of adequate rest time for your child.

Various changes that appear in adolescence

Unwittingly by parents, change in adolescents is not only a matter of physical but also emotional social maturity.

Therefore, the adolescent phase is a phase where the role of parents is very important so that children stay on the right track.

In this phase, parents are tasked with directing and monitoring children so they don't fall into things that mislead them.

Here are some of the changes that occur during the developmental phase of adolescents:

1. Physical changes

The change that is very visible and is a sign that the child is entering the adolescent phase is puberty. Puberty occurs due to an increase in hormones in the body.

When you reach a certain age, the brain will release special hormones as a sign of the onset of puberty.

It is in this phase that parents begin to realize that your baby is not a child anymore.

These changes can happen very quickly because the hormonal changes in this phase are very high.

There are three phases of physical changes that occur during adolescent development, for both men and women, such as:

Growth spurt or a growth spurt. This is a sign or the beginning of your child processing into adulthood.
Primary sex characteristics. The reproductive organs begin to work to produce sperm in men and eggs in women.
Secondary sex characteristics. Sexual organs that begin to mature and are indicated by changes in the body.

Adolescent boys' physical changes

By the age of 9 years, usually adolescent boys' testes and scrotum develop. Therefore, usually the size of the penis begins to lengthen

Usually this growth will stop at the age of 17 or 18 years so that the size and shape tends to be ripe.

As the penis grows, the boy's voice will change as well. This is in line with the onset of puberty, when you experience wet dreams.

Wet dreams usually begin in the development of children aged 13 to 17 years.

Not only that, but also hair growth on the genitals, armpits, legs, chest, and face. This can start when you are 12 years old.

In addition, the growth of such a boy's height starts from the age of 13.5 years and slows down around the age of 18 years.

Physical changes in adolescent girls

Breast growth in adolescents, especially girls, will start to grow at the age of 8. However, this of course adjusts to the hormone levels of each child.

Usually, the breasts will fully grow in the development of a child between 12 and 18 years of age.

Then, in the development of a 9 year old child, hair in the pubic area, armpits, and legs begins to appear.

About two years after the growth of teenage breasts and fine hair, menarche or the first menstruation will appear.

The time range for the arrival of menstruation is around the age of 9 to 16 years.

Growth or physical changes in girls will peak at the age of 11.5 years to 16 years.

3. Adolescent cognitive development

Cognitive development is the child's ability to think and reason about something.

Of course, there are differences when compared to the phase of infants, toddlers, and children, namely the development of thinking in adolescence.

Cognitive development in adolescence can be said to be more complex, including:

Doing abstract thinking. Usually, teenagers think about what the possibilities could be from things that have not been or will be done.
Already understand why he views A or wants A.
Starting to be able to consider various points of view. At this time also teenagers will compare to argue about things that are not in accordance with their wishes.

It should also be noted that cognitive development in adolescence refers to changes in the brain.

This is what helps your child to think and learn so that he is also able to make certain decisions.

Adolescent brains do not differ much in size and weight from those of adults, but they are not yet fully developed.

At this age, the myelin present from birth has a more complex sequence.

Myelin or fatty substances in the brain are responsible for regulating basic functions, such as breathing, eating and controlling heart rate.

The final series of myelin is located in the frontal lobe, precisely behind the forehead. Myelin functions to make decisions, control impulses, and empathy.

However, this function is not as steady as adults. Therefore, many adolescents often experience confusion or unstable emotions.

In this phase, the role of parents is needed in guiding their teenagers in making decisions so they can avoid bad choices.

4. Adolescent emotional and social development

Changes in hormones and cognitive development are also related to the emotional and social side that will be experienced by adolescents.

You could say, this phase is a search for identity that will accompany the learning process towards adulthood.

Generally, when a child turns 12 years of age, the mood swings seem to get worse.

But on the other hand, children begin to have leadership attitudes that will be honed when they are in school and their play environment.

As for some of the emotional developments that generally appear in adolescence, namely:

Shows strong and unexpected feelings and emotions. Your child will continue to learn how to control and express a variety of emotions.
Be aware of the physical changes that are taking place. Therefore they also think about how other people respond to their physicality.
Starting to feel inferior due to various things.
Process in making decisions as well as learning what the consequences of each action are.

Meanwhile, in terms of social development, here are some things that generally emerge:

Looking for an identity that matches his beliefs. This can also be influenced by other things such as gender, cultural background, peer groups, liking for something, and so on.
Trying to be responsible for what he did.
Looking for new experiences and being curious about things that are risky. It could be said that the action is still impulsive.
His attitude was still influenced by his closest friends.
Getting attracted to the opposite sex.

One thing parents need to remember is that each child's growth and development is different.

However, if you feel the development and growth of your teenager is not appropriate for his age, please consult a doctor.