Sharmin D. Foronda III-Edelweiss Adolescents Issues Life on earth has many stages.

Youll experience being an infant, toddler, grade school, adolescent, young adult, adult to elderly. But according to some, adolescent period is the most critical among all ages. They have this strong curiosity in them that needs to be answered and satisfied. They have this urge or willingness to fit in on what is acceptable to societys standard. They seem to act like they know everything. Adolescence can be a difficult time for both young people and their parents. It is a time where young people begin to distance themselves from their parents, increase their independence, explore and develop their sense of identity as well as trying to find their place in the world and because of these, dangers may arise. Some of these dangers are injuries because motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of mortality and it is often associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs. This days, suicide rate of adolescent has also increased drastically. Females attempt suicide more often than males but males are likely to suceed due to their difficulty of verbalizing their feelings. And the most common danger adolescents are facing now is pregnancy. This pregnancies are physically, psychologically and economically costly for the adolescent mother, the infant, the family and to society. Many adolescent mothers ae poor, do not complete high school and are at risk for complications involving pregnancy and the infant. Fad dieting and habitually eating to fast foods are common among this group age. For those obsessed with body image, severe eating disorders can result like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Adolescents experience rapid rates of growth and maturation of the reproductive organs and glands. Together, these physical changes accomplish the biological task of transforming a child into an adult. Rapid change combined with wide variation among individuals tend to make adolescents extremely sensitive to their appearance. At no other time in life are feelings about the self (self-esteem) so closely tied to feelings about the body (body image). Adolescents today face complex and changing environments in which many things can go right and wrong. If we are to serve and protect them, we must have a full appreciation of these environments as well as societys opportunities to shape them. By exploring current and past issues young people may become more aware what is going on for themselves and how they can overcome their issues. Through counseling a young person can see the strengths and skills they already posess, while developing new internal and external supports. During adolescence teens experience rapid physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. Problems arises because parents do not change their parenting

style. Treating a teen as a young child - not taking into account his/her intellectual growth and ability to think through a situation in a way that was not previously possible can belittle the teen and cause conflict. He or she is also seeking more independence. Instead of mandating rules, including the teen in discussion of some rules can help them in learning to work through problems and arrive at solutions that may involve compromise.