Dealing with adolescent not a child’s play

Abstract

Adolescents are one-third of the country’s population and dealing with adolescents is not a child’s play. According to the WHO, around 1.2 billion people, or 1 in 6 of the world’s population, are adolescents aged 10–19. Adolescence is the second growth spurt of life and poses lots of challenges for the adolescent, parents, and caregivers. It marks a transition characterized by physical, emotional, and social changes. It is one of the most crucial and challenging periods of life with peak intelligence and stamina. The physical changes that herald adolescence are – the development of breasts, axillary and pubic hair, and first menstrual periods for girls and deepening of voice and broadening of shoulders for boys, which are the most striking markers of this stage. Developing brains bring new cognitive skills that enhance their reasoning ability and abstract thinking but these changes occur few years later than the physical development which brings in challenges for the adolescents and their caregivers. Adolescents develop cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. It prepares them to experiment with new behaviors. There is a high chance of adolescents getting into smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse. Changing sexuality predisposes for early unprotected and premarital sex. Some of the reasons for high- risk behavior in adolescents includes Living in increasingly sexualized societies, impact of media, rapid growth of cities, and breakdown of traditional family structure. HEADSS criteria are the best way to assess the characteristics of an adolescent (1) H – Home, (2) E - Education and employment, (3) A – Activity, (4) D – Drugs, (5) S – Sexuality, (6) S – Suicide/depression. Adolescents (20%) are important asset to our nation. Pediatricians with a little training can deal with the adolescent in a comfortable way.