How can we describe young people? When referring to young people, we generally refer to that period between childhood and adulthood, usually between 12 and 18 years of age. This is a very particular period in a young persons’ life since they are expected to make important decisions which would affect their lives, major stepping stones for their future. Every person reacts differently to this period and some find it harder to cope than others. Although there are different debates revolving around the time frame of adolescence, it is usually divided in three phases – the early, mid and late adolescence. Usually early adolescence is the period between puberty through 14 years, mid-adolescence from 15 years until 17 years, and late adolescence begins at age 18.
Main issues related to young people
By nature, adolescence is a time of change and both adolescents and persons close to them need time to adapt to these changes. It is natural for an adolescent to experience physical and psychological milestones. During this period, they strive to develop a sense of identity and start questioning old values.
Physical milestones are different for girls and boys. Physical changes are quite dramatic and young persons will have to learn how to live with them. Both boys and girls develop pubic and body hair growth, girls start getting menstrual periods and breast developments; they experience growth in height and boys especially experience change in their voices. All this leads adolescents to be more self-conscious and concerned by their appearance, and to start comparing themselves with their peers. These affect each adolescent differently. That is why they should be prepared of what is to come, so as not to feel overwhelmed when these changes actually take place.
In the first phase of adolescence, young persons start developing their sense of identity, and they often ask themselves who they are, where they belong and where they are going. Developing a sense of identity will help them understand better who they are. They start making choices and choosing between what, in their opinion, is right or wrong.
Young persons start separating slowly from their parents, becoming more autonomous. This might head to conflicts in families, especially in non-compliant parents since they would still want their adolescents to be completely under their control. Unfortunately, it is very common for adults to forget the changes a young person has to go through in this period, and they may judge them inappropriately.
Adolescents start to seek more time with peers and less time with family members. They engage in activities together, enjoying each other’s company, share similar ideas and support each other. They tend to seek the approval of their peers more, especially because peers would be presumably passing through the same stresses and issues.
During mid-adolescence, friendship would start possibly including even romantic friendships. During late adolescence, young people would have established a sexual identity and start feeling more at ease with their body and sexual feelings. Young people react differently to relationships and interactions since this depends a lot on their background and what type of relationships they were exposed to when they were younger.
Even though young persons start spending more time with friends rather than with family members, they would always need a secure base to return to. Therefore, it is very important for them to feel safe, protected and cared for, within their family environment.
Young persons would be expected to conform more as adults thus creating an amount of stress. In itself, adolescence is a stressful period to young people because of the changes they have to adapt to and the decisions they have to make. Uncertainties about their future add to their stress level. This can lead to lack of motivation, defiance and anxiety. It is reported that young persons increase the amount of sleeping time, which is very beneficial especially during this time of rapid physiological change.
It is normal for them to extend their sleeping time especially in the mornings and even though there is this increase in sleep, they may still complain of tiredness again during the day. Young persons actually need more sleep than they did when they were younger and this is due to the stresses and changes that this period requires them to go through. If they do not sleep as much as they need to, they may tend to be more irritable and moody.
Another issue revolving around young persons is that young persons usually long for some excitement and embark on exciting activities, risk taking behaviours and new experiences such as drug experimentation. Unfortunately they sometimes underestimate how dangerous these activities might be. On the other hand, a good number of youths find their excitement in music, sport and other positive elements. This issue of excitement sometimes puts them more at risk because they tend to think that nothing will ever happen to them. Thus, they wouldn’t think twice about for example, driving under the influence of alcohol or experimenting with drugs as they do not believe in the harmful effects of such substances.
The type of communication an adolescent has with parents affects how in reality he/she will go through this period. Sometimes parents find it difficult to dedicate time to young people by communicating and expressing themselves. This happens especially now that adolescents have started forming their values and opinions. Parents might start to lecture more, and expect the young persons to understand their perspectives only, instead of taking into account the young persons’ view. It might also be the case that parents criticize the young persons’ new way of thinking. This may lead adolescents to start avoiding communication.
It is important for both parents to have mutual agreements as to what their values are and to pass on the same message to the young person and support each other in doing so.
The above are all issues that young persons may go through during the mentioned period. Often, people ask at what point they would require help. It is normal for young persons to be moody, rebellious and rather aggressive. However one should seek help when the behaviour increases up to a point where young persons start to be dangerous to themselves or others, are expelled from school, start having problems with the justice system, start using drugs or other substances, run away, or exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviour. It is very important for both parents and young persons to be aware of these difficulties and also to seek help immediately without allowing the behaviour to escalate further.
Service and help offered
Within Aġenzija Appoġġ, the service Youth in Focus provides assistance to adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age, with severe emotional and behavioural problems. The aim is to improve the overall well-being of these young people. Youth in Focus aims towards delivering a comprehensive service in order to promote the physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being of adolescents with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Youth in Focus provides social work interventions with adolescents with the scope of assisting them throughout their adolescence, by addressing their needs and empowering them to reach their full potential. Whilst the focus is on the adolescent, the social worker still involves the parents/carers as much as possible.
There is a wide range of difficulties that the team encounters and deals with. These include: anger management, involving oneself in vandalism, turbulent relationships with parents, partners and others, promiscuity; coming out; self identity crisis, addictions and addictive behaviour; time management, bereavement, employment, petty crime, emotional abuse on parents, past traumas, difficult past health traumas, problems with self-esteem, poverty & homelessness, money management.