Preview

The Healthy Transition from Adolescent to Adulthood. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1833 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Healthy Transition from Adolescent to Adulthood. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
Many adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. Questions are raised on careers, friends, school and family. "How do I know I made the right decision?" "What career do I wish to pursue?" "Why is this change so difficult?" Some, at times, even wish that they had an influence or guide to help them. For many, this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed, especially during this difficult transition. However, this is not always the case. Some parents allow the adolescent to make the move alone and endure the hard times. But, in the end, what are missing are the values and morals needed to survive on the real world. A good relationship with parents makes adolescents ' transition into adulthood easier and instills family morals and values that will prevent he or she from becoming blind to the real world and possible tragedies to follow.
A good relationship with parents is necessary to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood easier. Young adolescents have to make important decisions that affect the entire life course (Muuss 5). The decisions can be difficult, but with a parent 's help, things can run more smoothly. In Joyce Oates ' "Where are you going, Where have you been?" Connie experiences not having an active mother or father in her life. As a result, she takes her life into her own hands and makes decisions based on how she feels. For example, Connie has a different personality when she is at home than when she is with her friend(s) (Oates 496). This change can be a result of her parents not taking part in discipline or teaching her correct morals. It is suggested that children and adolescents learn their values from adults and/or their parents rather than being self-taught (Damon 170). With the correct parenting and also cooperation on the adolescents ' part, the difficult transition into adulthood can be enjoyable and easier. "Adolescents not only want parents, they



Cited: Atwater, Eastwood. Adolescence. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992. Damon, William. The social world of the child. California:1977. Duvall, Evelyn. Family Development. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1967. Gessell, Arnold and Freances Ilg and Louise Ames. YOUTH: The years from Ten to Sixteen. New York:Gesell Institute of Child Development, 1956. Muuss, Rolf. Adolescent Behaviour and Society. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing 1990. Vail, Ann. Taking Sides:Clashing views on controversial issues in Family and Personal relationships. United States:McGraw-Hill,1999.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Becoming an adult involves much more than becoming physically mature, though that is an important part of the process. The transition from childhood to adulthood also involves changes in patterns of reasoning and moral thinking, and adjustments in personality and sexual behavior. Though the process is complex, most adolescents cope reasonably well with their changing circumstances. (Kassachau, 1995)…

    • 2414 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is common for parents to be concerned about their children’s teen years, with rebellion, mood swings, and poor decisions being frequent grievances. Parents dread this “phase” and enter it with trepidation while being urged by their teens to give them more freedom as a person. What parents don’t realize is that their incessant complaints regarding their children’s unbounded freedom can have a negative impact on them. Many teens hear these complaints and believe that their parents would not approve of their choices and they must navigate their personal issues without assistance. Hormones alone are not what guide teens’ seemingly irrational behavior, but the absence of constructive parental guidance, too much freedom, and the stress associated…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You been?” readers are introduced to a young female, Connie, who wants to do be herself. She wants to experience a lot of things and her experiencing got her in a stage where she cannot get out. Oates portray in the story that you should not want to be an adult before your time. Connie had not realize that she is not ready to be an adult because there is a lot of things that she do not understand yet. In Oates’ story she has several themes in which she uses them to get her point. Themes such as Connie’s search for independence, Connie’s fantasy, Connie’s freedom, Connie’s identity disclose that she wants to have her own way and not let others tell her what to…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Parenting Styles

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The adolescent is being introduced to a big new world, and the reality of a more complex life in which they are still learning to cope with. The intent of this position is not to cut the adolescent youth slack and leave them be, rather be more empathetic, supportive, and provide them with a wise knowledge to motivate them to function in more adaptive ways.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Who Is Holden Caulfield?

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cited: Judd, Lewis. “The Normal Psychological Development of the American Adolescent.” California Medicine. (1967): 465-470. Print.…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sherry Turkles

    • 1784 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Adolescents today have it easy; mom and dad are there just a phone call, even a text away. They have lost the experience of looking at the world differently how it should be; to feel the independence and responsibilities of growing up, the first experience of real life on their own. Like Turkle says in this quote from ‘The Tethered Adolescents’. “There used to be a moment in life of an urban child, usually between the ages of 12 and 14, when there was a first time to navigate the alone. It was a right of passage that communicated. “You are on your own and responsible. If you feel frightened, you have to experience these…

    • 1784 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Oates conveys the consequences of allowing the youth to be led astray. The climax of the story leaves the reader with a sense of urgency to address the issues that press individuals in their transition to adulthood. The dire consequences witnessed in this story can be used to illustrate how imperative it is for the youth to be guided by a figure of consistency and standardization. The author Joyce Oates’s uses Connie’s traumatic experience to give insight into the complications that arise when a young person embarks on a journey without a clear…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenagers have always had it harder than the rest of the age groups. Whether it is the frustration of having old-fashioned parents or the annoyance of being too young to experience nearly everything, the minds of those under eighteen become a never-ending fantasy of being an adult. The seemingly carefree lifestyle of older kids seems to be impossible to wait on. 15-year-old Connie is no exception to this way of thinking. In a hurry to grow up, Connie, in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, naively executes the perfect role as an eager, under aged adolescent who lets her insecurities, dissatisfaction, and curiosities land her in irreversible danger.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is almost disheartening to watch a child’s loss of innocence as it grows into adolescence. To know this is to observe as a child discovers that Santa Claus and the Easter bunny aren’t real, or for a parent to watch as their son or daughter make life changing decisions. Decisions like which colleges to go to, or to decide to marry their high school sweet heart. A teenager’s loss of innocence is the focal point of Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where are you going? Where have you been?” featuring the main protagonist, Connie. Connie is forced to face the ordeal of becoming an adult at the age of fifteen in a matter of minutes. She spurns her parents in an effort to be rebellious, she goes out at night with her friends in search of young…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Transition to Adulthood

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The entering of a young adult into adulthood is a monumental step in a person’s life thatg requires many major changes in decision-making, responsibilities, and behaviors. It appears there are gender differences between males and females, as females appear to go through the major transitions to adulthood at a younger age and leave home faster than men (Holloway, 2010). My hypothesis is that females have an earlier transition to adulthood and will leave home at a younger age than males because females have a stronger drive for independence and a readiness to leave their sheltered lives at home and have been able to find “who they are” earlier.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Mom it’s not just a phase, this is who I am now and you can’t change who I am.” The very idea of anyone attempting to control our actions can be unpalatable. Every teenager has experienced scrutiny and orders from their parents up to the point where the household begins to feel like a dictatorship. As children, our determination to explore different activities the world has to provide overrides the dictation of our parents. However, we often forget that our parents were once in our shoes and their rules are meant to prevent us from experiencing the hardships that they endured. Although we should respect our parents, we should not abide by every rule that our parents place on us, because they don’t always coincide with our personal goals.…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Autonomy In Childhood

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During adolescence, emotional autonomy demand transformation, not a separation, of family members. They can become emotionally autonomous without becoming detached from their parents (Laursen & Collins, 2009; McElhaney et al., 2009; Van Petegem, Vansteenkiste, & Beyers, 2012). Also, those adolescents who are capable of keeping a stability between autonomy and connectedness in their relationships with parents also are better able to balance autonomy and intimacy in their friendships and romantic relationships (Oudekirk, Allen, Hessel, & Molloy, 2015; Taradash, Conolly, Pepler, Craig, & Costa, 2001). Some theorists have kept the idea that “we view the development of emotional autonomy in terms of the adolescent’s developing sense of individuation” (Blos, 1967). Individuation starts in infancy and continues into late adolescence and imply a growing improvement of one’s self as autonomous, competent, and detach from parents.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    High Self Esteem Essay

    • 2664 Words
    • 11 Pages

    ‘It is good for a person to have a high level of self-esteem.’ Critically discuss.…

    • 2664 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Joyce Carol Oates

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many critics have found that the possibility of the psychological changes of a teenager is a discussable topic to learn and argue about. Connie, the young teenage girl in the story of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” faces an unpredictably-dangerous situation that challenges her knowledge of insecurity and adulthood. As a matter of the fact, Connie is molded into the central character of the story and at the same time she functions as a character representing a normal teenager. Any other teenagers in another family could be the next “Connie”, who could get confusion with his or her psychological concern. There are several factors discussed below, arguing to be contributed to Connie’s psychological senses and behaviors:…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    How to parent teenages

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Parents can help shift the way teenagers view situations, so that they see it from a different view and have a better understanding of their choices and the potential outcomes. Young people tend to respond better when we show curiosity, ask questions and try to understand their point of view rather than asserting our parental authority or offering advice immediately. At parent line we have professional counselors on hand to talk through the concerns you have about how you teenager is thinking and thus behaving. There is no magic wand that helps change perspectives but there are some things we can do that assist. So therefore this essay will discuss the elements on how to parent teenagers and the parenting style that will help parents to parent teenagers. Additionally here are some elements that can help parents in parenting teenagers and they are; love, trust, respect and understanding1.…

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays