Understanding Adolescents Online Course

Parents, family members, teachers and related support staff, child and youth workers, counselors, nurses and the like will all benefit from the information shared in this course.

You will learn about the many physical, emotional, and cognitive changes that affect the teens in your life and understand the significance of these changes, both for you and the adolescent. You will look at relationships inside and outside the home and how they shape the development of a teen's identity. You will explore personality, moral development and the role of faith.

By the time you finish this course, you should be very well-prepared to understand, appreciate, and meet the needs of the teens in your life.

What you will learn

• Learn about three stages of adolescences
• Become familiar with biological processes occurring during adolescence and the impact this has on others
• Understand the role and purpose of friends and peers on our social development during adolescence
• Discover how the changes to the adolescent play a role in their moral development
• Learn about many issues the adolescent faces and how best to parent them

How you will benefit

• Gain a deep understanding and appreciation of your adolescent's development and behavior
• Gain valuable information on how adolescents think, how they feel, and how their identities develop
• Be well-prepared to understand, appreciate, and meet the needs of the teens in your life

Outline

Introduction

Your first lesson explains the term adolescent development and familiarize you with some terminology. You will also learn the three main stages of adolescence to help you become familiar with the tasks and milestones inherent in each stage.

Biological Development

Adolescence is a time of change. These changes occur on the outside as well as on the inside. This lesson focuses on some external changes, including puberty and the impact it can have on the adolescent. You will also learn how these changes can affect how you treat an adolescent.

Cognitive Development

This lesson focuses on internal changes kids experience during adolescence. As children's bodies take huge leaps forward, so do their brains as they learn and discover new ways of thinking and reasoning.

Social Development I

The dreaded peer group. In this lesson, you will take a close look at socialization, peers and peer groups, friends, intimacy, and social changes in your adolescent's behavior.

Social Development II

One of the things that changes most during adolescence is a child's family relationships and how family members interact with each other. This lesson focuses on some of those changes and the impact this may have on both the adolescent and the family.

Emotional Development

Emotional development is one of the internal changes that evolves during adolescence. This lesson explores some aspects of emotions and their development, and the significance this may have for adolescent development.

Identity and Self-Concept

This is the "Who Am I?" lesson. This lesson delves into how people think about themselves, how their identity develops, what might influence their identity, and their self-concept.

Moral Development and Faith

This lesson is all about moral development and how the changes to the adolescent play a role in their moral development. You will become familiar with the overall thoughts, ideas and processes that seem common to adolescent moral development.

Stress

This lesson takes a close look at stress, anxiety, frustration, and defense mechanisms. You will also explore how these things affect people and how some of this is demonstrated during adolescence.

Influences on Development

This lesson looks at four separate things: nature versus nurture, temperament, personality, and resiliency. The main thread carried throughout this lesson is how a better understanding of yourself can help you to better understand others.

Adolescent Needs

This lesson reviews some of the adolescent needs and how they affect LGBTQ+ youth. You will learn about the issues these individuals may be faced with.

When Something Goes Wrong

Your final lesson shifts from the normal to the abnormal part of adolescent development. The focus of this lesson will be a brief overview of disorders or conditions that are consistently viewed within the adolescent population.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.