Adolescence is the period of transition between puberty and adulthood. Adolescence is roughly considered to be the period between 12 and 19 years of age. It refers to the time between the beginning of sexual maturation (puberty) and adulthood. During this period, adolescents are expected to become capable of adult behaviour and response, and autonomous decision-making. Adolescents experience not only physical growth and change but also emotional, psychological, social and mental change and growth.
Glossary
Knowing Yourself
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Assertiveness
To state something clearly, confidently and strongly without being hostile, rude or nasty. To assert yourself is to stand up and speak out for yourself.
Attitude
Feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way of behaving that follows from this feeling or opinion.
Autonomy
To freely determine your own decisions and course in life. This implies freedom of thought, expression and action. Our autonomy is limited by the right of others to have autonomy. It is a rights-based concept.
Behaviour
The manner of conducting yourself; the response of individuals or groups to their environment.
Flirting
To behave as if (sexually) attracted to someone, although not seriously.
Friend
A person who you know well and who you like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family. Someone who is not an enemy and who you can trust.
Gender
Refers to widely shared ideas and expectations (social and cultural norms) concerning women and men. These include ideas about how women and men should behave in various situations.
Gender Equality
Gender equality means equal treatment of women and men in laws, policies and behaviours, and equal access of women and men to resources and services within families, education, health services, communities and society at large.
Gender Roles
The particular economic and social roles that a society considers appropriate for women and men. Men are mainly identified with productive roles that tend to be sequential, while women have more roles: domestic responsibilities, productive work and community activities, which often have to be carried out simultaneously. Gender roles and responsibilities can vary between cultures and can change over time. In almost all societies, women’s roles tend to be undervalued.
Humiliate
Make (someone) feel ashamed and foolish by injuring their dignity and self-respect, especially publicly.
Identity
Who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group which make them different from others.
Intimacy
Feelings of closeness and trust with another person.
Love
To have strong feelings of affection for another adult and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to feel great affection for a friend or person in your family; strong feelings of attraction towards, and affection for, another adult, or great affection for a friend or family member; a person that you feel attracted to.
Manipulate
Handle or control (a tool, mechanism, etc.), typically in a skillful manner: “he manipulated the dials”.
Personality
Personality reflects the way people are seen from the outside, also called their reputation. Personality can be defined by characteristics such as self-confidence, sociability, integrity, charm and creativity, or their opposites. There are often important disparities between people’s identity and their reputation.
Puberty
Puberty refers to the onset of sexual maturation (girls age 8-10, boys age 10-12). Puberty is the period when the child experiences physical, hormonal and sexual changes and becomes capable of reproduction. It is associated with rapid growth and the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. Adolescence is the period of transition between puberty and adulthood.
Secrecy
The action of keeping something secret or the state of being kept secret.
Self-awareness
An awareness and understanding of your own being, feelings and emotions.
Self-esteem
A person’s sense of his or her own worth and value. Feeling good about yourself, respecting yourself and trusting your capabilities.
Solidarity
The integration, and degree and type of integration, shown by a society or group with people and their neighbors.It refers to the ties in a society – social relations – that bind people to one another.
Values
Beliefs held by one person or a group of people. Values shape people’s opinions, attitudes and actions, as well as their ways of thinking and are often influenced by a person’s family, religion, culture and life experiences.