The “between” years, sometimes known as “tween” years, describe the age group 8 to 12. In contrast, youth 13 to 19 years old are typically considered teenagers. The two age groupings are known collectively as adolescents. They have more similarities than differences even though their bodies and actions may betray that statement. Middle-school tweens and high school teens are very similar phases in a person’s development. Both of these stages involve turbulent changes the children go through on their road to adulthood.
While every child is different, these two stages of development share many similarities. The most common similarities between middle-schoolers and high school students involve changes in their physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development. Their collective changes are often generalized as going through “puberty.” While their bodies are changing at a rapid pace, hormones and growth are not the only catalyst for their development and sometimes non-normalized or incoherent behaviors.
Adolescence is a period in life that marks the transition from childhood into adulthood. This period is marked by many changes in cognitive, emotional, physical, and emotional development, so children and youth need a lot of support in transition through this critical developmental stage.
Cognitive development in adolescence represents the progression in cognitive skills and thinking from the way a child does to the way adults do. This development is a function of the “re-wiring” of the prefrontal cortex as the adolescent re-learns skills and cognition that once came quickly.
Both middle-schoolers and high school students develop more advanced cognitive skills that involve the ability to think hypothetically and use logical thought processes. While tweens and teens develop the ability to think abstractly, they can now move from concrete and egocentric thinking. This allows them to imagine things, love, develop empathy, consider possibilities, and predict outcomes. As they grow these skills are developed further.
During these stages of development, children begin to question social standards and authority, express their thoughts about a variety of topics, form their own code of ethics, use systematic thinking, and begin to think long-term. Towards the end of adolescence, youth develop idealistic views on specific topics, express thoughts about concepts such as justice, morals, politics, history, and environment.
The progression through adolescence causes middle-school-aged kids and teenagers to struggle with their body and hormonal changes, along with pressures from school and social circles, developing independence, and identity. Hormonal changes that happen in the teen’s body during this developmental stage can influence their thoughts and emotions, which may make an adolescent feel confused, lonely, frustrated, sad, angry, or even scared. These intense emotions can also lead to mood swings or cause a young person to mask their feelings with aggression or become emotionally distanced.
The disparity between the development in some parts of the human brain may limit the adolescents’ ability to perceive and judge risk successfully and cause challenging behaviors during this stage of development.
Throughout adolescence, there are changes in the structure and function of the brain. Neuroscientific research has shown that the prefrontal lobe of the brain (responsible for impulse control, judgment, decision-making, and problem-solving) is not completely developed until the early 20s. Because this part of their brain is still developing, adolescents may rely on the part of the brain known as the amygdala (connected with emotional life, impulses, intuition, instinctive behavior, and aggression). They essentially can shift from using their prefrontal cortex to their amygdala to make decisions and solve problems. In short, the amygdala matures sooner than the prefrontal cortex, which may explain adolescents’ moodiness, impulsivity, and risk-taking behaviors.
The transition from childhood into adulthood is a challenging process for both children and their families. Adolescents experience a lot of changes, experiment with risky behaviors, test the boundaries, and engage in a variety of social relationships. They may experience anxiety, depression, extreme loneliness, low self-esteem, substance abuse, and eating problems. On this road, adolescents need adults to set boundaries and to provide love, stability, and ongoing support.