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HSC English First Paper | Unit: 5, Lesson: 1 | Adolescence | The Storm and Stress of Adolescence

HSC English First Paper | Unit: 5, Lesson: 1 | Adolescence | The Storm and Stress of Adolescence
1. Warm up activity:

Discuss the questions in pair.
* What age group do you belong to? (16-17,18-21,22-23).
* Do you think you are old enough to lace the world?
* Do you ever feel that people do not pay you much attention because of your age? Why?

2. Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:
i. Children must pass through several stages in their lives to become adults. For most people, there are four or five such stages of growth where they learn certain things: infancy (birth to age 2% early childhood (3 to 8 year?), late childhood (9 to 12 years) and adolescence (13 to 18 years). Persons 18 and over are considered adults in our society. Of course, there are some who will try to act older than their years. But, for the most part, most individuals have to go through these stages irrespective of their economic or social status.

ii. World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies adolescence as the period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and "before adulthood. This phase represent* one of the critical transitions in one's life span and is characterized by feat paced growth and change which are second only to those at infancy. Biological processes drive many aspects of this growth and development with the onset of puberty marking the passage from childhood to adolescence. The biological determinants of adolescence are fairly universal; however, the duration and defining characteristics of this period may vary across time, cultures, and socio-economic situations. This period has seen many change over the past century-puberty for example, comes earlier than before, people marry late, and their sexual attitudes and behaviors are different from their grandparents, or even parents. Among the factors responsible for the change are education, urbanization and spread of global communication.

iii. The time of adolescence is a period of preparation for adulthood during which one experiences several key developments. Besides physical and sexual maturation, these experiences include movement toward social and economic independence, development of identity, the acquisition of skills needed to carry out adult relationships and roles and the capacity for abstract reasoning. While adolescence is a time of tremendous growth and potential, it is also a time of considerable risks during which social contexts exert powerful influences.
HSC English First Paper | Unit: 5, Lesson: 1 | Adolescence | The Storm and Stress of Adolescence
iv. Many adolescents face pressure to use alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs and to initiate sexual relationships putting themselves at high risk for intentional and unintentional injuries, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Many also experience a wide range of adjustment and mental health problems. Behavior patterns that are established during this period such as the use or avoidance of drugs and taking or abstaining from sexual risk can have long-lasting negative and positive effects on future health and well-being. As a result, adults have unique opportunities to influence adolescents.

v. Adolescents are different both from young children and adults. Specifically, adolescents are not fully capable of understanding complex concepts, or the relationship between behaviour and consequences, or the degree of control they have or can have over health decision-making, including that related to sexual behaviour. This inability may make them particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and high-risk behaviors. Laws, customs, and practices may also affect

adolescents differently than adults. For example, laws and policies often restrict adolescents' access to reproductive health information and services, especially when they are unmarried. In addition, even when services do exist, provider attitudes about adolescents often pose a significant barrier to the use of those services.

vi. Adolescents depend on their families, their communities, schools, health services and their workplaces to leam a wide range of skills that can help them to cope with the pressures they face and make a successful transition from childhood to adulthood. Parents, members of the community, service providers, and social institutions have the responsibility to both promote adolescent development and adjustment and to intervene effectively when problems arise.

[Source: http://www.who.int/maternal child adolescent/topics/adolescence/dev/en/ http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/teens_stages]

3. The passage above has six paragraphs (i-vi). Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs (i-vi) from the list given below. There are more headings in the box than the number of paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

               List of headings
a. A journey towards adulthood
b. Adolescence and education
c. Stages of human life
d. Need for collective efforts
e. An observation by World Health Organisation
f. A transition period
g. The adverse effects of taking drugs
h. Influence of culture on adolescents
i. Potential health hazards
j. A vulnerable age

4. Match the words in Column A with the meanings in Column B in the table below:
Column A
Column B

adolescence
extraordinarily large in size, extent, amount, power, or degree

determinants
something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition

acquisition
to become involved in something (such as a conflict) in order to
have an influence on what happens

tremendous
the period of physical and psychological development from the onset
of puberty to maturity

exert

susceptible to injury or disease

consequence
a change from one thing to the next, either in action or state of being

vulnerable
the act of acquiring or gaining possession

intervene
a factor or cause that makes something happen or leads directly to a
decision

transition
to put forth effort to do something



5. Answer the following questions:
a. What changes are experienced by the adolescent youths?
b. What are some of the potential health risks faced by the adolescents?
c. How are the adolescents different from the children and adults?
d. What role can the society and community play in promoting the adolescents?
e. Do you think you are getting enough support from your family, school and community? What do you expect them to do for your proper development?

6. Suppose you are going to give a presentation on the possible health problems that adolescent youths may face: What problems will you highlight and what solutions would you offer? Write a paragraph (about 150 words) introducing the topic.

7. What do the following words and terms mean?
a. infancy
b. puberty
c. transition
d. defining characteristic
e. provider attitude

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:
Lesson 2: Adolescence and Some (Related) Problems in Bangladesh


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