Week 6 Blog

Teens searching for identity

I was really interested in the topic about teens finding their identity this week. As a parent I didn't particularly like this phase in adolescence with my own children, I was always so frustrated by the things they did, especially my daughter. After reading more about why teens go through this phase I can understand it better. I as a kid didn't go through the same intensity as my daughter, nor did my son, so I was always shocked by the things she would do. Learning about how teens develop their identities through hypothetical reasoning, practicing different selves and trying to figure out which one fits them best can be very scary as a parent, however reading through the chapters I found myself having a lot more compassion for teenagers. 

I found it very fascinating about how scientists are discovering more and more about the developing brain as they mature through puberty. I read that they have been following kids from a very young age and as they are growing up, they are performing imaging on their brains to monitor the changes. If I could ask the scientist more questions I would like to know why they are only doing the imaging every two years, would it be too dangerous to do it more often?  I also kept asking myself why was it that my daughter went through this phase with such a passion. She would sneak Gothic clothes to school changing her entire look and then changing back before coming home, and then within a year she was trying out for cheerleader. I read that much of the experimentation is revolving around possible career choices that kids imagine themselves to be in and related behavior can stem from that. When I look back my daughter was very much of the artistic type, so expressing herself in the ways she did now make more sense to me.  No wonder 15-year olds spend so much time goofing off, they spend most of their time being in the diffusion status, being so overwhelmed with trying to find who they want to be that they just find it easier to ignore trying to figure it all out and opt to sit and watch TV or play video games instead.