Childhood: voyages in development

Among males, these changes take place a bit slowly compared to females. It is, therefore, important to note that some boys’ may experience the changes early while others in their late teens. The physical changes that occur in males are such as the enlargement of the penis, development of the pubic hair below the armpits and around the private parts, slight swelling on their breast area as a result of hormonal imbalance, breaking of their voices, hairy skins, especially on the hands, chest, and legs, oily skins, increased sweating, frequent erections which sometimes happen unexpectedly for no specific reason at all and finally the body, begins producing sperms as they occasionally have wet dreams (Rathus, 217).
With females, the changes occur earlier in their teenage and are mostly influenced by hormonal changes in their bodies. Females experience more physical changes in their bodies compared to males, especially their bodies completely take a new physical appearance. The following changes occur to girls during puberty. Their breasts start developing and growing in size, hair starts growing on the private parts, increase in body size and weight, oily skin and acne start developing, and after some time they start menstruating. Girls may also experience mood changes, for instance, they tend to feel sleepy most times (Rathus, 218).
Individuals going through early puberty are anxious and in some cases, are at a higher risk of becoming depressed. If they do not understand what is happening to them, they end up engaging in drug or substance abuse. Children who experience early puberty can also engage in early sexual relations as compared to their peers. Early maturity leads to low esteem and poor body image among girls. Poor academic performance can also be a consequence of early or late puberty depending on the individual (Rathus, 229).
Identity Development is a situation where an individual begins to realize oneself and in most cases discrete himself from others. These characteristics are the core values and reputation that an individual shows during this stage. Adolescence can greatly contribute to the Identity of a person. This is because it is during adolescence that a person develops self-esteem which in turn contributes to the development of one’s identity. Marcia’s theory about identity formation shows that an individual Identity is influenced by the choices and values they have (Rathus, 231). He argues that the adolescent stage has no connection to a person’s identity and can neither bring identity confusion nor resolution. Instead, he argues that a person’s identity is defined by his or her location, environment, gender roles, relations, or religion.
In addition, he came up with four statuses of identity development. The first one was identity diffusion which defines adolescent persons that have not yet established their future direction in life. The second one was identity foreclosure where an individual is committed to some identity but does not consider it as the best. In this case, a person is in a dilemma and does not stop searching the identity to be committed to. Identity achievement is, therefore, when an individual achieves self-realization through having goals and objectives (Rathus, 225). Identity formation is developed from the maturation biologically and the environmental experience of a child. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, children do construct an understanding of the surrounding world. The knowledge acquired at this stage is hence able to develop the identity of an individual.
In conclusion, human development is both biological and psychological due to hormonal changes which are different between males and females especially how they behave. It can also affect the formation of Identity as well. Therefore children should be taken good care of during puberty. It is also important to learn how to handle and relate with persons going through puberty or adolescence.