Adolescence: Stuck in the Middle

In the early 1920’s, an individuals life expectancy averaged at 42 years.  Since then, life expectancy has doubled and life has changed because of it.  Without a doubt, the causes for these increases have significant connections to the scientific advancements, however, not enough research has been done to chronicle the effect of prolonging life. 

That being said, the most resent research points to a significant shift in the transition from childhood to adulthood, a period referred to as adolescence.  Typically, an individuals transition through adolescence occurs in two stages: early and late.  

During early adolescence, an individual asks questions like who am I or why I am I growing hair in places I’m not comfortable talking about.  And often, but not necessarily, the psychological development of an individual mirrors the physical changes that occur during puberty.  

Late adolescence is indicated by the final stages of being recognized socially within a community.  At various points, you would be considered an adult when you married, had children, solidified proper employment, and so on and so forth.  These events marked your status within a community and validated your adulthood.

Yet, with the emergence of the Millennial Generation, another stage has been added to properly describe a new phenomena taking place: mid-adolescence.  

Mid-adolescence refers to the period after an individual begins to ask the question who am i and before they are recognized by their larger society as contributing members of it.  Chronologically, this period is often the time an individual would be in High School or College, but can extend well into a persons late 30s.  

Chap Clark, a leading scholar in identifying the concerns and problems of adolescents, describes this period as a world beneath the surface of the main stream.  In his book, Disconnected, he describes it as the following:

“The world beneath refers to the lone safe relational place mid-adolescents believe they have left – other kids. It is in this world where loyalty to each other is (usually) the greatest value they have.  It is their own world where they do not feel they will be hassled or judged.  It is the world where they have their own language, style, music, and for most kids at least during the mid-adolescent years, worldview.  No matter how ‘cool’ they are, adults are not welcome, because the reason the world beneath exists is for protection from the multiple agendas that control and manipulate mid-adolescents” (Disconnected, 69).

Recently, his claims have been strengthened by an increased awareness and research surrounding the effect of parents lying to their children.  This lying, regardless of how innocent the intensions can be, has created a divide between these two groups (parents and their children) and, as a result, a great deal of suspicion continues to effect the millennial worldview.   

Other trends that has formed the Millennial generation in terms of adolescent psychology are increases in divorce rates and the changes in defining family.  I suspect this too has something to do with honesty, or at least sentimentalism, but the basic premise cannot be denied - the increase in life expectancy has brought about a prolonged adolescence where the challenges of reaching adulthood have been made more difficult do to cultural shifts.  These shifts are not hard to identify.  But the Church needs to be more aware of the changes that are taking place and begin to address these challenges in more thoughtful and engaging ways, rather than abandoning them because the conversations that might take place might be uncomfortable.