CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Development is the process that influences human body and way of thinking. Development is decipherable as qualitative growth process that refers to the quality of the function of physical organ. Development process will be continuous to the death.
Development process has been started since the human being was born. Even since someone still intrauterine. It is started from baby, after that round into children, then become adolescent, and finally become adult. These phases namely development phase. Development process that happen in every phase is different each other. The problems are appearing and the way to overcome them is different too. A very susceptible phase and needs extra attentions are childhood period and teenager period because in this period, psychologically our way of thinking is very labile and susceptible about development influence. In this period someone is being adapted with his/her environment and needs help from adult people.
As an educator, it’s very important to know the development phases either its characteristics, the problems that appear or the way to overcome the problems that appear in every phase, especially in childhood and teenager period. Thereby an educator can do appropriate treatment to every problem that is faced by the students, especially students in childhood and teenager period because giving wrong treatment will appear fatally effect for students’ future.
Because of knowing about childhood and teenager period is very important, so we are interested to make a paper with the title “PHASE OF CHILDHOOD AND TEENAGER DEVELOPMENT”
1.2 Problem Statement
Human development consists of many phases. But, in this paper we narrow down the problems we discuss just about childhood and teenager period. The problems we discuss in this period consist of:
1. Definition of childhood and teenager.
2. Development phases of childhood and teenager.
3. Characteristic of childhood and teenager development in every phase.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
2.1 CHILDHOOD PERIOD
Children are like adult. They need another people to help them to develop their ability because children bear with all weakness so without another people a child will not achieve normally humanity stage.
2.1.1 DEFINITION OF CHILDREN
John Lock (in Gunarsa, 1986) said that a child is a person who still pure sensitive with stimulations from environment.
Meanwhile, Augustinus (in Suryabraata, 1987) said that children are not same with adult. Children have inclination to deviate from the rules because restrictiveness of knowledge and understanding about the reality of life. Children are easier to learn from examples they got from the compulsive rules.
Sobur (1988) interpret a child as person who has different mind, feeling, attitude and interest from adult with all weakness.
Haditono (in Damayanti, 1992) said that a child is a creature who needs a care, affection, and place for his/her development. Besides that, a child is a part of a family and family give chance for a child to learn an important behavior for better development in this life.
The definition of children is including the period of children’s existence itself. It’s important to avoid confusion about the definition of child in its relation with parents and the meaning of children itself after become a parent. Kasiram (1994) said that a child is a creature, who is in development level that has feeling and own desire which is the psychological totality and characteristics, and also the different structure in every development phase
2.1.2 PHASE OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Every people will experience development phases in his/her life. Childhood period has phases too. Start from bearing, speaking, and crawl.
Childhood period is divided become two phases, those are early childhood or preschool period for children between three and six years of age and middle childhood or intellectual period for children between seven and twelve years of age.
1. early childhood
Children can be termed “preschoolers’ when they are between three and six years of age. Preschoolers are children who still in kindergarten, playgroup, or in crèche. Early childhood is a time of rapid change in all areas of development. In this period, children develop a unique behavior. Development process in this phase is about mastering and controlling the environment. How their mechanism, how their feeling, and how they can become the part of their environment. Children master most motor skills by the end of this period and can use their physical skills to achieve the goals.
Generally, preschoolers are active and like the activities which they do by themselves. Children’s physical growth is marked by the loss of their characteristic protruding an abdomen as their legs and trunk growth faster than their heads.
Besides that, in this phase children have one or two close friends, but it change soon and generally close friends who are chosen is someone who has same gender. Play group is small and unorganized. Preschoolers express their emotion avowedly and free. They often feel jealous with their friends because they often fought over their teacher’s attention.
Development process of childhood period consists of cognitive development, physical development, and socio emotional development.
a. Physical development
Physical development describes the changes in the physical appearance of children as well as in their motor skills. During the preschool years the sequence in which all children develop motor skills is generally the same though some gain skills faster than others.
The major physical accomplishment for preschoolers is increased control over the large and small muscle development. Small muscle development sometimes called fine motor activity refers to movements requiring precision and dexterity such as tying a shoe and writing letters of alphabet. Large muscle development or gross motor activity refers to movements as walking and running.
By the end of preschool period most children can easily perform self-help tasks such as buckling, buttoning, snapping, and zipping. They can perform fine motor skills such as cutting with scissors and using crayon to color a predefined area. Besides that, they begin to write letters and words.
b. Cognitive development
Cognitive development that is happened in early childhood period is preoperational cognitive development. This development process begins when children have had complete mastery about object permanence. It means that children have had awareness about the existence of things even they have leaved it or have not been seen or heard anymore. So, their view about the things is not only depending on observation.
In this period the delegation of children’s mental enable children to develop their deferred-imitation. That is the capacity to imitate someone’s behavior that they never seen before to give response to the environment.
Besides that, there is an insight-learning indication too. That is learning indication according to their mind prediction. In this case, children have been able to view a problem and decide the solution.
Cognitive development is related to language acquisition too. In this period, children begin to use correct words and able to express short sentences but effective.
Language development involves both verbal and written communication. Verbal communication develops early, and by the age three, children are ready skillful talkers. By the end of preschool years, children can use and understand an almost infinite number of sentences, can hold conversation, and know about written language (Gleason, 1981; Menyuk, 1982, Schickedanz et al., 1982)
Besides that, most children begin to grasp the fundamental of writing during early childhood. Children as young as three years of age recognize differences between print and drawing. Children invent spellings by making judgments about a sound and by relating the sounds they hear to the letters they know.
c. Socio emotional development
A young child social life evolves in relatively predictable ways. The social network grows from an intimate relation with parents or other guardians to include other family members, nonrelated adults, and peers. Social interactions extend from home to neighborhood, and fro nursery school or other child care arrangements to formal school. Socio emotional development is influenced by parenting styles, peer relationship, and friendship.
Parenting styles is general patterns of behavior used by parents when dealing with their children. Research which have been done by Diane Baumrind (1973) identified three main styles that varied around the degree of parental control, clarity of parent, child communication, parents maturity demands, and nurturance
Authoritarian parents: these parents don’t encourage verbal give-and-take, believe children should accept parental authority without question, and tend to be harsh.
Permissive parents give their children as much freedom as possible and place few expectations on them
Authoritative parents however, attempt to direct their children’s behavior in ways that respect children’s abilities, but the same times express their own standards of behavior and expect those standards to be met.
Peer relationships. It is during early childhood that peers, other children who are a child’s equal, first strongly influence a child development. This relationship lets them assert themselves, present their own views, and argue different viewpoints. Peer relationships help young children overcome the egocentrism. Peer conflicts let children see that others have thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints different from their own. And also heighten children’s sensitivity to the effects of their behavior on others.
Friendship is the central social relationship between peers during childhood, and it undergoes a series of changes before adulthood. Between the age of three and seven, children usually view friends as momentary playmates. Children view friendship as temporary relationship based on certain situation rather than on shared interest of beliefs.
2. middle childhood
Middle is the developmental period that extends from about six to eleven years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years; sometimes the period is called the elementary school years. Children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they are formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child’s world, and self-control increases.
In this period, children begin to master the responsibility, begin to understand the rules, begin to master logical thinking process, and more comprehend their selves and friendship
In middle childhood period or elementary school years, children learn about skills to form a good behavior about themselves as organism that is growing, learn to commune with their peers, develop their impulsive, morality, and above par scale. Learn to free their self dependence to develop good behavior about group and institute.
In this period children have been basically egocentric, and their world has been that of home, family, and possibly nursery school or day care center. During these stage children trying to prove that they are “grown up”. Work becomes possible. As children’s power s of concentration grow, they can spend more time on chosen tasks and they often take pleasure in completing projects. This stage also includes the growth of independent action, cooperation with groups, performing in socially acceptable ways, and concern for fair play
a. physical development
As children progress through the primary grades, their physical development slows in comparison with earlier childhood. Children change relatively little in size during the primary school. In this period, girls are slightly shorter and lighter than boy until around the age of nine, when height and weight are approximately equal for boys and girls.
Muscular development is outdistanced by bone and skeletal development. This may cause the aches commonly known as “growing pains”. Also, the growing muscles need much exercise, which may contribute to the primary-grade child’s inability to stay still for long. By the time children enter primary grades, they have developed many of the basic motor skills needed for balance, running, jumping, and throwing. During the primary years skills involving the large and small muscles are improved through practice. As development progress, children can switch from using oversized pencils to regular-sizes ones, and from activities like finger painting that use awkward whole-arm movements to building intricate models, and using delicate finger movements to play the piano and stringed instruments. In addition, the eyesight of children often improves during this period.
Nine-years-old boys and girls are similar in both weigh. Children who have entered the middle childhood period show more resistance to fatigue and disease. They are better coordinate than seven- or eight-years-old.
During the latter part of the fourth grade, however, may girls begin a major growth spurt that will not be completed until puberty. By the start of the fifth grade, almost all girls have begun this spurt. By the end of fifth grade, girls are typically taller, heavier, and stronger than boys. Early-maturing boys do not start their growth spurt until age eleven. By the start of sixth grade, therefore, most girls will be near the peak of their growth spurt and all.
b. cognitive development
Cognitive development that is happened in middle childhood period is concrete operational cognitive development. In this period, children find additional knowledge namely system of operations. This is functioned for children to coordinate their mind and idea with certain event in the system of their own thinking.
In operational intelegance, children who are in operational concrete phase have cognitive operation that consists of: 1) conservation; 2) addition of classes; 3) multiplication of classes.
c. socio emotional development
An important area of personal and social development for elementary school children is self-concept, or self-esteem. Self-concept includes the way we perceive our strengths, weaknesses, abilities, attitudes, and values.
When children begin school, they tend to judge themselves on specific accomplishments rather than on a general sense of worth (Damon and Hart, 1982). The primary grades give many children their first change to compare themselves with others.
Relationships with brothers and sisters affect relationships with peers, and routine from home are either reinforced or must be overcome in school. For both boys and girls in the upper elementary grades, membership in groups tends to promote feelings of self-worth. Not being accepted can bring serious emotional problems. Herein lies the major cause of the preadolescent’s changing relationship with parents. It is not that preadolescent careless about their parents. It is just that their friends are more important than ever.
Partly as a result of their changing physical and cognitive structure, children in upper elementary grades seek to be more ‘grown up’. They want their parents to treat them differently, even though many parents are unwilling to see them differently. Nine-to twelve-years-old still depend heavily on their families and generally report that they love their parents. They also report that though they feel their parents love them, they not think they understand them.
2.2 TEENAGER PERIOD
2.2.1 DEFINITION OF TEENAGER
Adolescent is age phase that comes after childhood period end. It’s signed by rapidly physic development. Rapid development that happen in adolescent body, bring the big effect to attitude, behavior, health, and authoritarian of adolescent. Adolescence is the alteration period from childhood period to preparations to become adult.
Psychologically, adolescence is the age when someone does interaction with adult. The age when children have not thought under stage of adult but there are in the same level of money, a little less about right.
There are some characteristics of adolescent. They are:
1. Adolescence is the alteration period; this is a shift from childhood period to adulthood preparation.
2. Adolescence is problematic period
3. Adolescence is identity searching period
4. Adolescence is the age that appear anxiety because adaptation problems with their new condition of their self.
5. Adolescence is the sill of adulthood period
2.2.2 PHASE OF TEENAGER DEVELOPMENT
The adolescent period of development begins with puberty. The pubertal period or early adolescence is a time of rapid physical and intellectual development. Middle adolescence is more stable period of adjustment to and integration of the changes of early adolescence. Later adolescence is marked by the transition into the responsibilities, choices, and opportunities of adulthood. In this section we will review the major changes that occur as the child becomes an adolescent.
a. Physical development
Physical development during adolescence period is marked by puberty. Puberty is series of physiological change that render the immature organism capable of reproduction. Nearly even organ and system of the body is affected by these changes. The puberty age of maximum diversity is thirteen for males and about eleven for females. The purpose of puberty is to make people able to reproduce.
Table 1:
| Girls | Boys |
| - Initial enlargement of the breasts occurs (breast bud stage) - Straight, lightly pigmented public hair appears - Maximum growth rate is attained - Public hair becomes adult in type but covers a smaller area than in adult - Breast enlargement continues - Underarm hair appears | - Growth of the testes and scrotum begins - Straight, lightly pigmented public hair appear - First ejaculation of same occurs - Public hair becomes adult in type but covers a smaller area than in adult - Maximum growth rate is attained - Underarm hair appears - Growth of mustache and beard hair begins |
b. Cognitive development
In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, adolescence is the stage of transition from the use of concrete operations to the application of formal operations in reasoning.
The cognitive development of adolescent is formal operational cognitive development. In this last phase of cognitive development adolescent have had ability to coordinate something, not only by all at once but also in a series and two kinds of cognitive skills, those are: 1) the capacity to use a hypothesis; 2) the capacity to use abstract concepts.
c. Socio emotional development
In adolescence, someone has understood that he/she live in a social environment with another people. Every people has own goal, right, and duty. And as a part of the social community he/she has to learn to be tolerate with another people, and also obedient the norm and social rules in the society.
Besides that, peers are the focus of adolescence, much to the consternation of parents and teachers. Friendship, popularity, conflict with peers, dating, and sexual relationships all take a tremendous amount of the adolescent’s time and energy. The action and opinions of peers may loom large as adolescents try to establish their own identity.
Adolescent with similar interests and values form a group. But, group and friendship change quickly and instantly during adolescence. In early adolescent a new need arise. That is the need for intimacy, for relationships in which person can share feelings and thoughts with an equal.
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSSION
3.1 CONCLUTION
1. Childhood period consist of early childhood period and middle childhood period.
2. Preschoolers are children who still in kindergarten, playgroup, or in crèche.
3. The major physical accomplishment for preschoolers is increased control over the large and small muscle development.
4. Cognitive development that is happened in early childhood period is preoperational cognitive development. This development process begins when children have had complete mastery about object permanence. Cognitive development is related to language acquisition too. In this period, children begin to use correct words and able to express short sentences but effective.
5. Socio emotional development of early childhood period is influenced by parenting styles, peer relationships, and friendships.
6. Middle is the developmental period that extends from about six to eleven years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years.
7. By the time children enter primary grades, they have developed many of the basic motor skills needed for balance, running, jumping, and throwing.
8. In this period, children find additional knowledge namely system of operations. This is functioned for children to coordinate their mind and idea with certain event in the system of their own thinking.
9. When children begin school, they tend to judge themselves on specific accomplishments rather than on a general sense of worth (Damon and Hart, 1982). The primary grades give many children their first change to compare themselves with others.
10. Physical development during adolescence period is marked by puberty. Puberty is series of physiological change that render the immature organism capable of reproduction.
11. In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, adolescence is the stage of transition from the use of concrete operations to the application of formal operations in reasoning.
12. In adolescence, someone has understood that he/she live in a social environment with another people. Every people has own goal, right, and duty. And as a part of the social community he/she has to learn to be tolerate with another people, and also obedient the norm and social rules in the society.
3.2 SUGGESTION
1. Parents should give extra attention for their children especially when they children there are in childhood and teenager period because this is the important phase of human life. Besides that, in this phase someone need help very much and sit labile.
2. For the educators, the teaching method has to be adjusted with the development phase of students. So all aspect of students’ development can be developed well.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mitchell David. 2008. The Essential Phases of Child Development. Http//:www.why waldrof
Works.com
Slavin E, Robert. 1994. Educational Psychology: theory and practice. England: Allyn and Bacon
Stevens, Jake. 2008. Adolescence Development. Http//:www.iloveindia.com
Syah,Muhibbin. 2006. Psikologi Belajar. Jakarta:PT. Raja Grafindo Persada
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