Blog Post #6

My interview with my grandpa was very interesting. I learned so much about his past and life as a teenager. I also learned how life was as a teenager sixty years ago, which is quite different from our teenage life today. I was very surprised when my grandfather told me that he completed two grades in one year! Now I definitely know where our family's "smart gene" came from! In terms of physical labor, my life as a teenager was so much easier than my grandfather's. His mother died when he was nine and therefore had to do all the chores and had no time for extracurriculars. There was one aspect, though, that was exactly the same: my grandfather never got enough sleep because he was up all night doing homework! He was always low on sleep, which is not good on a person's body. I have the exact same problem! I believe I could have been a teenager at the time because I don't mind physical labor, but I do not think that I would like it as much as I like my own life now.



I believe the "Parenting and Adolescence" video makes some extremely good points dealing with adolescents. I found it interesting how Donna Gaines perceived adolescents as poor people, who have no rights, no civil liberties, and are controlled by adults because I believe that this is how a lot of "rebellious" teenagers see themselves as this, while parents and other adults simply see teenagers as younger who still need guidance before they are able to become 100% responsible for themselves. I believe this is a huge factor in adult-teenager conflictions. I really like the advice the video gives to parents to protect and guide their teenager, but to let them express themselves and do things (as long as it does not conflict harm, or serious results) that they want.





My time as an adolescent has been amazing! My teenage years has been a great roller coaster ride, with several ups and downs, but I would not change it for the world. Overall, my experiences have been filled with fun and memorable times, but I am still thankful for all of the bad experiences and choices that I made. All of my mistakes and bad times have helped me and made me stronger. I've learned several things over my teenage years, which will stay with me as I become an adult. I believe that is exactly what adolescence is all about: make choices and have experiences (as long as they do not cause harm or damage). This is the time to make mistakes, while we still have a structured life at home. As we grow older, we look back at our adolescent days and realize how stupid we were for the things we did, but how would we know they were stupid if we never did them?



In chapter 4 I learned that an enriched environment and experiences contributes to enriching our brain cells to have a heavier and thicker cortex. I thought this was really interesting because if you think about older people, they are wise and have more knowledge because they have so many more experiences than younger people. I can apply this in my everyday life by realizing that I need to experience as many things as possible to be wiser and to have "better brain cells."

In chapter 5 I learned what the stages of cognitive development are. I find these very helpful in my life because I never really knew what should happen when in a child's development. With this knowledge I can observe and realize what stage a child is on and whether they should be on that stage. By doing this one may also be able to identify problems in a child if they are greatly ahead or behind the correct stage(s) for their age.