In “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” by Robin Marantz Henig she opens up discussion on the theories of why twenties’ year old are not reaching milestones in the way that earlier generations have. This brings up the idea of emerging adulthood, and the argument of incorporating emerging adulthood into life phases. While in the article it does seem like emerging adulthood is only for the privileged, including emerging adulthood has more potentials benefits such as giving people the opportunity to learn about themselves and for their brains to fully develop, while the only risk is seeing if the theory applies to all the youth. The brain does not stop developing until about the age of twenty-five. In most countries eighteen years old is the …show more content…
This self-discovery journey helps for people to realize what they truly want to do with their lives. People now want to live their lives for themselves, unlike the past generations. In earlier generations, there was milestones to live by. Now, people are realizing there is no use for these milestones. Young adults are not getting married now or having kids because they have realized that they were never properly taught how to love themselves or anyone else. Throughout generations people have been taught that the only way to succeed was to go through these milestones, but while every generation grows up believing this, they start to realized that they are not getting anywhere. People are now seeing that parents are what directly effects how people act later in live. This is touched on in the article when Henig mentions, “We have come to accept the idea that environmental influences I the first three years of life have long-term consequences for cognition, emotional control, attention, and the like” (204). If earlier generations would have been able to go through emerging adulthood they would not have messed the next generation up. Kids are growing up thinking they need to follow specific milestones, while these milestones are not able to be reached because of economic, political, and social reasons. The only reason these milestones are forced is because their parents had no chance of self-discovery and to do things that …show more content…
While this might seem true, the reason emerging adulthood is for everyone is in the basic fundamentals of the theory. Everyone goes through a self-discovery time, and some never stop discovering things about themselves. That applies to everyone no matter the background. White kids from nice families have the luxury of time to learn about themselves, but that does not mean a kid from the ghetto does not. They are both discovering themselves, but they are doing it in different environments. And these environments are what is going to teach people about themselves. In many minorities they do not want to recognize that kids need to have freedom and support to be themselves. There is a cultural expectation for minority kids to be mature without any time to actually become mature. But that does not mean they do not go through a ‘self-discovery’ phase, if emerging adulthood was recognized, it would drop the risks of it alienating everyone and give freedom for everyone to be
Leon Botstein, the author of “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood,” serves as the president of Bard College, as well as a professor of arts and humanities. Botstein wrote this article after the tragic shootings at Columbine high school in 1999. This event triggered something inside Botstein causing him to think negatively about the American high school system. In the article “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood,” Botstein explains, in his own words, of the corrupt happenings of present day American high school (368-369). Although Botstein may have high credentials, he provides no evidence to support his negative claims and opinions about teenagers and American high schools.
In today’s culture, the number of issues that the average person has to face on a daily basis, are astronomical. Millennials, in particular, have been greatly affected by this, so much so that a new phase in the human lifespan has been created just for them! Dubbed “emerging adulthood” by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, plopped smack dab in the middle of adolescence, and adulthood, this phase captures any, and all doubts that 20-29 year olds are plagued with. From their economic standing, to racial, ethnic, and identity issues, and to disabilities ranging from both mental, and physical, this phase captures every single uncertainty, fear, and qualm that one person can possibly have in a neat little package.
Each and every one of us learns throughout our daily lives. We learn from others and through our experiences. As we grow older and become more mature, we develop a deeper understanding of ourselves as we slowly move away from following others to constructing our own perspectives on the world around us. Self-discovery is what gives us a self-realization of what we value, care and love, and thus allowing us to affirm our values in society.
J. J. Arnett argues his theory about a developmental stage individuals go through of 18-25 year olds as a new concept, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 469). He describes emerging adulthood as being a sustained period of time where this age group, as mentioned previously, explores their roles preceding being an adult. These movements can include events similarly by taking longer than previous years to get married and have children, moving back in with their parents at a point during this age span, exploring self-identities, not feeling like an adult and feelings of self-failure. James E. Cote, who is a previous colleague of Arnett argues the opposite about this concept being an unexperienced developmental stage Arnett calls, “Emerging Adulthood”. Cote states
Emerging Adulthood represents the period of development from late teens through their twenties, mainly focusing on the ages 18-25. This is the period which people start exploring and realizing the capabilities of their lives, which then helps them characterize as adults and no longer teenagers. This topic of psychology is compelling to me because it’s a stage that every adult has lived through, it’s interesting that we have all experienced it differently based on our life circumstances and demographics. It’s interesting to see the changes throughout the years and eventually it will be easier for young people to explore these years as more young adults are going to school nowadays. It teaches me to further understand why emerging adults go through
Extensive demographic and cultural shifts have taken place over the past few decades that have made late adolescence and early twenties into a new transitional developmental period known as emerging adulthood for young individuals across industrialized societies. Arnett (2000) argues that emerging adulthood is a “distinct period of the life course” that is “characterized by change and exploration of possible life directions” (469). Additionally, a critical area of identity exploration during emerging adulthood is love and romantic relationships. Arnett contends that “demographic changes in the timing of marriage and parenthood in recent decades has led to prolonged periods of adolescence and delayed adulthood transitions” (470). By postponing
As times have changed, so has our culture. Our country tends to veer children towards one particular individualization over another. It seems developmental individualization is more common. People have expectations by society which they must fulfill, and are expected to do so at particular times in their lives, as said by Tamara Haraven who argues the importance of “… the timing of transitions, with those to adulthood becoming more uniform and orderly.” People are expected in life to go to school, work, get married, start a family, all these things are expected to be done at a certain time in their life. People may not want to do all this in this order and whatever point in their life, but they do because they are expected to do so. This is all supposed to happen developmentally. People are molded by society, actively making decisions and trying to be ahead of life’s obstacles. This is occurring in not only America but as well as in Europe, as Wallace observes how instead of becoming their own individual people, people “choose identities from among and increasingly complex array of options”. Sven Morch makes similar observations, on youths who must ‘master’ their adolescence ‘ways’ in order to become successful adults, showing the importance of structure to their culture. Life must be followed in a particular sequence according to ‘contemporary capitalism’ in order to succeed in life. With a million and one people trying to get the same task done, people do things because they have to, not because they want to.
Middle adulthood is a complex time period that requires a multidimensional outlook to understand all of the processes and changes that are taking place. The many changes during middle adulthood include physical, cognitive and social differences. Many of these changes create significant stress and it is important to understand ways of coping with the anxiety. Many of these coping mechanisms include mindfulness and cultivating a sense of self-efficacy and mastery (pg. 482). There are many changes during middle adulthood that may require stress management techniques and interventions.
Adulthood has often been associated with independence. It serves as a turning point in life where one has to take responsibility for oneself and no longer being dependent on his or her family. Early adulthood, usually begins from late teens or early twenties and will last until the thirties (Santrock, 2013). Early adulthood revolves around changes and exploration while middle and late adulthood are more of stability. The transition from adolescence and adulthood differs among every individual. The onset of the transition is determined by many factors such as culture, family background, and the personality of the individual. Emerging adulthood (as cited in Santrock, 2014) is the term to describe the transition period from adolescence to adulthood.
Risk Factors There are several risk factors common to all emerging adults which do affect emerging adults reentering the community after incarceration. However, the risks facing this specific group are heightened and broader than those just facing any emerging adult. While a risk factor for any emerging adult might be substance abuse, this risk may be greater and more detrimental for someone recently exiting the prison system. Substance abuse is a risk factor for many emerging adults due to the social ideas around alcohol and drugs held by many young people and the party atmosphere. As stated above, emerging adulthood is a time of exploration for many people, however if one relies upon alcohol and drugs too much, it can damage one’s cognitive
When I debate public forum style, I have to be quick on my feet and make split-second decisions. If I impulsively blurt out a wrong or inconsistent fact, I can lose the entire round based off that statement alone. If I lose focus even for a second and am not present in that moment, I can hurt not only myself, but also my partner since we debate as a team. On the other hand, if I make the right decisions and have razor-like precision with my arguments and refutations, my partner and I will likely achieve victory. My debate journey, in a real sense, mirrors my path to coming of age. I began debate in sixth grade as a shy, awkward eleven year old. The huge volume of research and the thought of speaking
When you are a child, from the minute you are born, you began to learn. You are constantly learning how to grow up. From learning how to brush your teeth to learning how to drive, you are constantly learning. When you finally become an adult, you want to be sure that you are ready for the world that you have to face. You especially need to be ready emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually.
Brain Development is a nonstop development, we never stop learning so our brain isn’t going to just stop I mean well when it’s our time, but it won’t as long as you continue to learn and grow. The human brain begins to develop as early as three weeks after conception. But our brain development is a lifetime process. It doesn’t just stop developing at a certain age. There is a difference in brain development in children and adults the early life is impressionable then in the maturity aspect of life. This is a positive thing because as children they learn new thing they’re open to new and exciting things but then again it can be negative because children tend to be vulnerable to development problems. Our brain develops not only from nurture
Transitioning and progressing through adulthood appears different for each individual. Some people fear the thought of becoming older while others look at it as a natural process and do not think much of it. In order to see what people are like at different stages of life I decided to interview my sister, an emerging adult, and my mother, an adult. Emerging adulthood is the period of time when an adolescent has begun their journey into adulthood. It is usually marked by the ages of eighteen to twenty-five.
Becoming an adult, also known as young adulthood, is a very crucial stage in one’s life. This is the climax of physical and health processes. This is the point in life when we make plans of our futures. It is the time when we think of what life will be like as an adult and make plans for the future. Most importantly, it is when we lay the starting point for developmental changes that we will undergo throughout our lives. An adult is a person who is fully grown or developed. Some people believe that you become an adult when you are 18 years old, other believe you are an adult when you can legally buy and consume alcohol, that is, at age 21 in the United States. Others believe that you are an adult when you are supporting yourself