Developmental psychology/Chapter 10/Close Relationships

We will be going over the closest spheres for an adolescent and their influences.

• Parents: affects identity, expectations and daily life. Peers do not replace the parents. Conflict between adolescents and their parents peaks in early adolescene because of the natural urge for teens to achieve independence vs. a parent's want for control and supervision. Parents should use positive messages vs. negative messages ("I'm glad you are protecting your lunges" vs. "Stop smoking or I'll hit you"). Parents must maintain a supportive hub rather than enforcing strict ruling in order to migitate conflict. Communication, support, connectedness and control are all studied aspects of a parent-child relationship. This also brings in question of the validity of familism, the notion that family members should always support each other no matter what. Parental monitoring is a parent's understanding of every aspect of their child. If supportive, the child will follow through - if strict and cold, the child will often be rebellious. Cultures matter as well as the US is more relaxed with their children vs. a refugee family from Syria.
• Peers: Emotional friends grow in friendship. Friends guide them through the emotional trials of puberty and growing up. Peer pressure is defined as children pressuring other children to do unwanted things. Contrary to popular belief, social media is a good tool vs. what most parents think it is. Kids online can connect with friends that may relate to them more. Peers may exhibit deviancy training, where one peer convinces their friend to do unwanted things. Teens select their friends while those friends faciliate good or bad practices. Teens usually involve themselves in romantic partners, often experiencing a wide range of emotions throughout the process. Sexting and revenge porn are realities in relation to these relationships. Sexual orientations come out to light, with LGBTQ youths at a higher risk of depression due to the pressures surrounding them - from countries that accept them (USA) to countries that oppose them (Uganda). Culture and cohort affects one's sexual orientation.
• Sex: Teens normally have strong sexual urges and usually learn about sex through multiple ways: parents, friends and especially media. Some may learn sex from their religious institution. Sex education begins at home, most likely ripening up with mothers-daughters vs. fathers-sons - usually pertaining to pregnancy and cautiousness vs. pleasure. Personal details are kept private. What teens brag about is what influences their peers. Sexual education may not be too effective because of the short timing and content. Some advocate for education regarding sex while others advocate for teaching children to abstain from sex - but the natural sexual urge of teenagers may override this. Statistics show that there are no differences in abstinence-sex education vs. regular sex education to when kids begin sexual activity, but rather STD rates are higher in the former vs the latter.