Child Development Ninth Edition Textbook By Laura E. Berk

Adulthood is a stage of life that most humans confuse. Some people believe that they do not reach adulthood until they are completely independent, and others think it all depends on the age they mature. In this case study, I interviewed five college students to see how much knowledge they had on adulthood. Some of the students did relate to the “Child Development Ninth Edition” textbook by Laura E. Berk and others thought more about their experiences from childhood to now. The textbook by Berk states that adolescence start to develop into adulthood when they are 18 to 25 years old (Berk, p. 6). The book also points out that on adulthood stage, we tend to have a high self-esteem, consider love, career, and job competence.

The first college student said, that she thinks she has reached adulthood because she has more duties than she use to when she was in high school. She is 19 years old and she is allowed to make her own decisions in terms of her things. The example she gave was that she decides when to attend class but she knows it is her responsibility to pass all her classes, which is why she tries not to miss any of her 4 classes. As a young adult, she says she is only

focusing on her career. She wants to finish a career, so she can become a successful adult. She wants to be someone educated, that way when her children become young adults; she can show them that if she did it, than they can do it too. According to the Berk, adolescences that reach early adulthood think about getting a career before anything else. This student can relate to this because she is thinking about finishing a career before she focuses on something else. She wants to make herself proud of the things she can accomplish. The text also says that when we start to reach adulthood our self-esteem rises. She has a high self-esteem about the things she wants to accomplish.
The second college student said, that he does not believe that he has reached adulthood because he is not completely independent. He said he does not pay rent, house bills or extra payments. He thinks that in order to be an adult you have to be able to pay all the house bills and have a full time job. This student does not believe that people have a certain age to reach adulthood because he says some mature at an early age, 20 to 22, and others mature when they are older. This student does not really relate to the book because he thinks that adulthood is when you can do all things on your own.
The third college student said, she thinks she has reached adulthood to some point. She does not have anyone pushing her to achieve her goals. She also says, she feels like she has reached early adulthood because she is learning how to become independent, and responsible. She goes to college and work so, her schedule is adjusted almost the same as an adult. This student believes that she is not far from being an adult because she has accomplish her past goals, and she will continue to do it. She has a good self-esteem about the goals she wants to reach. Self-esteem is still rising when adolescence reach adulthood as stated on the book (Berk, 469).
The fourth college student said, that she thinks she has reached early adulthood because she is no longer a little girl that needs a babysitter to know from right and wrong. Her other perspective of adulthood is the way humans body change. “Boys and girls become young adults when their body starts to change” she said. Then she stated, “For example, when young girls start emerging adulthood their body start to change. Their breast grow and their body get thicker.” She feels that her body has really changed ever since she turned 18. She relates so much to the book because Berk goes into depth about puberty. Berk states, “Female puberty usually begins with the budding of the breast” (Berk, p. 203)
The fifth student believes he has reached adulthood because he goes to college and work.

He strongly believes that someone who is able to manage his or her time wisely can be considered an adult. He says, he is taking 4 classes every Monday and Wednesday from 2p.m to 9 p.m. He goes to work the other days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. He thinks that age does not matter in terms of becoming a young adulthood. His perspective about adulthood is being able to get things done without having someone to hold his hand, and guide him. This student is creating his identity of ho he wants to become but in an isolated way. This is similar to what Berk says in the book about Erik Erikson’s theory (Berk, P. 16). Erikson believed that young adults continue to be companionless because of the sorrow of their

childhood.
In conclusion to the interviews, quizzes and Berk’s book, I was really surprised with all the research about adulthood. Personally I use to think that we would reach adulthood until we were 21. I didn’t even think about whether I was independent or not; I just thought that was the correct age to be seen as a young adult. On the one hand, I was really surprised that only the second student said he thought he hadn’t reached adulthood because a lot of us have the mentality that we have to be a certain age or be independent in order be considered an adult. In the other hand, I do agree to some extent with the other students to why they think they have reached adulthood but the fourth student grabbed my attention the most. I think she is right when she says that we grow to be young adults when our body changes. Puberty is a process all that boys and girls go through at different ages, as stated in Berk’s book. The responses from the Quiz were also unexpected, especially number 10 because as I was growing up I did not like to be alone and even now I don’t like to be alone. Although Erikson’s theory does that that young adults like to be alone during that stage.